Shepherd's Pie and Paddy Whisky

Hello lovely people! So it's been over a week since I posted last...and I figured there's probably no better day to get back into the rhythm of things than the holy day for Flanagan's itself, St. Patrick's Day! I'll skip all the small talk and get down and dirty and into the recipe for the slightly Irish dinner I cooked up tonight, shepherd's pie. Okay...I know it's an English dish, but it's only an Irish sea away, and that's close enough in my books!

Traditional Shepherd's Pie

5-6 large russet potatoes

1-2 pounds lean ground beef

4 medium sized carrots

1 onion

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 

 1 tablespoon of canola oil

worcestershire sauce, to taste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 cup frozen baby peas

3/4 cup beef stock

2 tablespoons flour

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and dice the potatoes, and bring them up to a boil in a large pot of water until soft.

Meanwhile, dice up the carrots and onion, and cook them in a large pan with 1/4 cup of the butter and the bit of canola oil until fairly done.

Then add the ground beef to the onions and carrots, and cook until the pinkness is gone from the beef.

Add the worcestershire sauce, thyme, peas and beef stock to the pan and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Add in the flour and stir well, and season the mix with salt and pep.

Drain the potatoes when they are finished cooking and mash using the remaining butter.

Pour the beef mixture into a large enough baking dish, and top it off with the mashed potatoes. Use a fork to make little ridges/peaks so the potatoes get extra crispy in the oven.

Pop the dish into the oven until the potatoes are nice and golden and the pie is bubbling!

I have to say - I love Shepherd's Pie! It is the ultimate comfort meal for me... And while I'm saying things, here's the reason I even made dinner tonight!

You see, it was actually Dad's turn to make dinner tonight...but he let his ancestry get ahold of him and got a little carried away with the "Paddy's". That's okay though...we are Flanagans!

With the shepherd's pie we just had a nice, simple green salad in an attempt to off-set all the starch on our plates!

Ahh it feels good to post again...I cannot let this much time go in between posts again!

xoxo

Mariel