Sam's Shepherd's Pie!

A few weeks ago my critique partner (who has become a really cool friend) and I were talking about food. We got chatting about our favourite meals, what we like to cook, who taught us how to cook and so on.

So, Faith (CP) said she loved fried chicken, which sounded deeeelish!

Mine, well it was a tough decision as I love food fullstop! To decide on one sole food its a toughy, but certainly one of my favourite is Shepherd's Pie. Except my Shepherd's Pie is made with beef mince instead of lamb (yuck!)

Here's a little run down on how I make my version:

Ingredients

* 500g of beef mince
* 3 tomatoes
* 2 onions
* 1 teaspoon of bovril (or any beef stock)
* a cup of water (doesn't really have to be measured, as much or as little as you like)
* a spoonful of gravy granules
* a sprig of rosemary
* half a tin of baked beans (optional but well nice!)
* few gloves of garlic
* a handful of potatoes
* some cheese
* a few glugs of milk
* a little spoonful of butter

Really simple, chuck the mince in a pan and cook until all brown. Add the onions (finely chopped) and the spoonful of bovril and cook for a few more minutes. Add the chunkily chopped tomatoes, the water, the gravy granules, garlic (finely chopped or crushed) and the rosemary. Cook for about 15 minutes on a medium heat. Add the baked beans (sounds really strange but trust me, its really nice), cook for a further 5 minutes until a fair amount of the juice has reduced.

Pour into a oven dish and set aside to cool. I find letting it cool a bit helps the mash potatoes stay firmly on top and not sink through the meat mixture.

For the topping, peel and cut the potatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until they are soft. Drain and mash them, adding the milk, butter and cheese. Spoon the potatoes on top the meat and spread evenly, covering the whole dish.

Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes, and then just before serving stick under the grill to crisp the top! 

And voila! There you have it! I admit, my version does look a little messy but tastes sooooo yummy!

Give it a try :-)

'Til next time! x