Shepherd's Pie

Happy First day of Spring!! It was beautiful all day, i had the windows open half the day, and  I spent most of it in the kitchen. I started by cleaning the refrigerator, and then went onto all the top cupboards, the counters in and behind everything, then the drawers and finally the bottom cupboards. All i have to do now is sweep and mop, and clean the top of the refrigerator.

I also had company for dinner tonight, and when i asked for requests i got Shepherd's Pie, so that is what i made in my brand new Dutch oven. I have never really made Shepherd's Pie (except for with sweet potatoes), so i started with an internet search. I poked through a few recipes and then just decided to throw one together on my own.

I started with about a pound of hamburger, i fried it up, drained it and sprinkled it with some Italian spice; i also boiled some carrots, but only until they were half done because i did not want them to turn to mush; and i thawed some frozen peas by running them under hot water.

I got these carrots in the City Market, they were yellow, orange and red (the red peeled/boiled off). Next, i made a batch of mashed potatoes, only this time i added chopped garlic and Becel instead of garlic butter, and i used a lot of Old Cheddar, as the request was for cheesy Shepherd's Pie.

Finally, i made a gravy out of about 2/3 of a cup of beef broth, 1+1/2 Tbs flour and a sprinkle of Italian spice, to tie it together with the meat. I whisked them together and let it simmer until it thickened.

Yummy. Now time to layer it. Into my beautiful purple pot went the beef and gravy. 

And then the veggies.

On top of these, i sprinkled some more cheese, and then i spread the potatoes on thick. 

Finally, i threw it into the oven at about 375 F for about 30 minutes, until i could stick a knife through it and it came out hot. 

I served it with some of Mom's homemade Bread & Butter pickles and steamed asparagus. I found the method on a website called Start Cooking. As per their suggestion, i sprinkled some lemon juice over it.Wow, was it ever sour!

So if today is any indication of what the rest of Spring is to be like, bring it on!! Tonight was also the final game of the Seadogs regular season, and they won 7-2, Yay! So, with this win, they are the first team in the QMJHL history to win every regulation time home game in a season(the only loses they suffered were from overtime shootouts), and they tied for the most wins in a season. Yay Seadogs!! 

Happy Spring!!