Cooking From the Heart: Comfort food...yes!

What could possibly taste better than shepherds pie? In an English pub? With a view of the outer walls of Windsor Castle? Well...not much! But I have learned to make a variation of this dish that I enjoyed all those years ago with my mother and sister sitting in that pub in Windsor. Aaaaahhhh...it was a dream come true...and so was the trip!

I make a lot of dishes using ground beef. But let's face it...it's cheap! And when you have this many mouths to feed, you can stretch a pound of ground beef pretty far. Especially in casserole type dishes. And shepherds pie is one of my family's favorites. It's fresh, full of veggies, and very comforting.

I use just one pound of ground beef for this recipe, and it makes a full pan. So it feeds a lot! You'll also need 4 packages of instant mashed potatoes, two jars of gravy, four good sized carrots, a bag of frozen corn, a can of green beans, Worchestershire sauce, garlic, a quarter of an onion, salt, and pepper, and about 1/2 a cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Before you get started, the only prep-work you'll need to do is to chop the onion, and peal and chop the carrots. Chop them small, so that they'll cook faster. Not crazy about super crunchy carrots in my pie.

As with all of my recipes, I start by sauteing the onions with a tablespoon of butter, on low heat, until they're translucent. Then add the ground beef to the skillet along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and turn the fire to high. Next add a tablespoon of Worchestershire sauce and stir the meat. Break it up finely and cook it until it's good and brown.

As soon as the meat is browned, add the carrots, corn, and green beans to the pan. You'll need to make sure you add at least 1/4 teaspoon of salt for each new ingredient. Stir these around with the meat and then add the jars of gravy. I use one beef gravy and one mushroom gravy. Both are beef based. You could make your own gravy...but why? This is so much faster and easier!

Stir this all really well and cover the pan. You want this to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Now you need to heat your oven to 350 and start making your mashed potatoes according to the instructions on the package.

Once your mixture has cooked for a while, pour it into a 9 by 13 baking pan. Cover the pie with your mashed potatoes, completely. Then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top.