Remaking My KIds' Favorite: Kicked Up Shepherd's Pie

One of my kid's favorite meals is Shepherd's Pie. For years this dish has been a quick and easy weekday meal, but for me has always been marginal because we always use prepared ingredients that are in the pantry. Our usual way of making this dish is to brown a pound of ground beef, mix in a can of mushroom soup, pour in a can of drained corn and top the dish with instant mashed potatoes and bake the whole thing in the oven. (Sounds gross, I know). I decided to do this dish, but to kick it up a notch, (to quote Emeril). I browned the beef as usual and deglazed the pan with a little beef stock. Then I browned some chopped onions and sliced mushrooms. I mixed these with the beef as well as some left over corn I had cut off the cob. Then I mixed in a thick bechamel sauce. Next I made fresh mashed potatoes that I enriched with cream cheese. Finally, I topped the whole casserole with Muenster cheese and cooked it in the oven until it brown and bubbly. It came out pretty good!

Kicked Up Shepherd's Pie

Filling

2 T butter
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion
1 lb ground beef
1/2 beef stock
1 c thick bechamel sauce
1 & 1/2 cups corn removed from the cob or a can of corn
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. sweet paprika
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground allspice
salt & pepper

Saute the onion until slightly caramelized. Remove from pan. Saute mushrooms until soft. Remove from pan. In the same pan brown the ground beef. Pour off excess fat. Remove beef from pan. Deglaze the pan with beef stock. Return all the ingredients to the pan. Blend in bechamel sauce, corn and spices. Pour into a casserole dish.

Topping

4-5 medium potatoes, boiled
2 T butter
1/2 c. cream cheese
milk
1/2 c. shredded Muenster cheese.

Mash potatoes with butter, cream cheese and milk. Spread on top of beef mixture. Top with shredded cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to one hour until top is nicely brown and the filling is bubbly.

Enjoy!

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