shepherd's pie

Zach and I decided to make this on St. Patrick's Day.  It is actually a traditionally English meal, but at least it was in the same realm and most good Irish Pubs have it on the menu.  In my opinion it is one of the few meals from that region that is actually good.  Zach loves it and when we make it we usually have leftovers for awhile.  It is sort of one of those easy things to put together in a casserole so you don't have to make anything else for dinner.  Jimmy also loves it.  We have tried a couple of different recipes, but this one was the easiest I found and they all tasted about the same.  I recommend just buying bags of frozen carrots, peas, and corn because you can buy them already all together (although I keep them on hand in seperate bags for Jimmy anyway).  You can mess with the seasonings (when I haven't had Worcestershire sauce, I made up other things) and  people can add their own salt and pepper to taste.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)... I used 6 medium sized ones and it was just right.
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup beef broth (I used chicken though)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

METHOD

1. Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3. Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4. Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5. Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6. Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7.Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.  Serves Four.