Home Cooking 101: Shepherd's Pie

I'm recently becoming more adventurous with home cooking. I also have a stack of food magazines and recipe books that I read all the time. One of the recipes that I recently dared to cook is Shepherd's Pie.

I've read versions of this dish from food websites and magazines, but this one's a modification from Chef Tatung's recipe from Breakfast Magazine (Oct-Nov 2012 issue).

Shepherd's Pie

This dish looks kinda complicated to do, but it wasn't difficult at all. I just thought that it would be another dish that the kids would like, but surprisingly, it was my dad who liked this.




Ingredients:

3/4 kg ground round beef
1 white onion, chopped
minced garlic
1 carrot, cubed
1 can green peas
1 can whole kernel corn
1 kg potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tbsps tomato paste
1 tsp tomato catsup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper

Instructions:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes. Drain water and mash with butter until smooth. You may use a hand mixer for mashing potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Saute onions and garlic in butter
3. Add ground beef, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add beef broth and cook under low heat for about 10 minutes.
4. Add green peas, carrots, and corn.
5. Place beef and veggies in a baking dish. Put mashed potatoes on top.
6. Bake in a 200 C oven for about 30 minutes.

Shepherd's Pie

I was satisfied with the result. However, I had to add more mashed potatoes because I added too much salt to the first batch. You may also add green bell pepper and button mushrooms to the beef. It's best served with leafy greens on the side. Since it was my dad who liked it, I might add some chili powder or hot sauce to the ground beef next time. :)