Guest Post: Sean's Shepherd's Pie

So I decided that because my damn schedule is as busy as my girlfriends, it would be a nice idea to try to spend some time with each other to find a nice recipe and make dinner together. Being relatively inexperienced in the kitchen, I turned to Ben for some advice. I found a recipe for Shepherds Pie …

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 pound ground lamb (or substitute half with another ground meat)
• 1 cup beef or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk (any fat content)
• Kosher salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil, then add the onion, carrot, and meat. Cook until browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Drain the fat and add the broth, tomato paste, and herbs. Simmer until the juices thicken, about 10 minutes, then add the peas.

4. Pour the mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish; set aside.

5. Meanwhile, bring the potatoes to a boil in salted water. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes; drain.

6. Mash the potatoes with the butter, milk, and salt.

7. Spread them over the meat mixture, then crosshatch the top with a fork.

8. Bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

I basically followed it all to a T except I added a good bit of Worcestershire Sauce while browning the meat, and I topped the mashed potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese. The only hangup we had was that my girl decided to add milk to the mashed potatoes after I had mashed them with heavy cream – she didn’t like all the cream…so we had some liquidy mashed potatoes on top but it basically baked itself into place in the oven.

I was very nervous about cooking something that I felt was going to be complicated – worried that it wasn’t going to turn out well and worried that I would scare myself away from cooking more often. It came out fantastic and I was thrilled with it…we both enjoyed it a lot. I’m really glad that it worked out well, because it proved to me that you don’t need to be an expert to successfully prepare a great meal. I’ll absolutely be trying to find some more things that we can do together. We’re going to try to come up with at least one night per week that we can make dinner with each other. It was a perfect way to spend a great night together…