I adapted this recipe from a Shepard’s Pie recipe I’ve made before by fellow Florida blogger, the Hungry Housewife, Leslie Green. I had the opportunity to work with Leslie several years ago in my day job as a publicist. Not only is she a talented home cook and blogger,
For the base of my Cottage Pie, I browned grass-fed ground beef in just a little bit of olive oil over medium heat and seasoned it generously with salt and pepper.
After it was browned, I added nearly an entire bottle of Guinness Stout. I’m not a big fan of stouts, but the beer really adds to the flavor. And my local grocery store sells individual bottles of beer, so I didn’t have to buy an entire six pack. Sweet, right?
If I had had a jar of Marmite in my pantry, I would have added a generous tablespoon because I really enjoy the earthy flavor it provides.
Anyway, I poured in the Guinness, turned the heat up just a little and let the alcohol reduce. To make a bit of a gravy, I added a slurry by mixing about 2 spoonfuls of
The corn starch definitely helped thicken it up to the consistency I was looking for.
While the meat was cooking, I microwaved about a ½ cup of frozen corn for about a minute to a minute and a half… just enough so that it was defrosted a bit.
When the meat and corn were finished cooking, I poured them into a casserole dish, sprinkled on some fresh parsley.
I’ll admit, I’ve never made mashed potatoes from scratch. I usually get the ones that come in a crock in the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Oprah has a line of food called That’s So Good that helps you get your veggies in by adding them to other foods. I’ve wanted to try her mashed potatoes with cauliflower for a while, so this
I spooned and spread the potato cauliflower mash on top. Good thing I used a smaller casserole dish because there was just enough!
Then, into a pre-heated 375-degree oven went the casserole dish. I added a couple pats of butter on top of the mash hoping it would turn golden brown.
About 20 minutes later my Cottage Pie was done. After I sprinkled on some fresh parsley, it was ready to eat!
The butter didn’t work out exactly as I hoped, but didn’t detract from the dish, either. All in all, the recipe took between 30-40 minutes. Definitely do-able if you’re looking for a homecooked meal on a weeknight.
Don’t you like my Lennox Christmas china? I always look forward to the holidays just so that I can use them!
I enjoyed my dinner in front of the telly, watching one of my favorite Christmas movies, The Holiday. And yes, I still have
For dessert, I may or may not have eaten the entire bag of Candy Cane Mint Milano cookies (You can only get them at Christmas, you know) with my detox tea. Which I’m sure balanced everything out. LOL!
Don’t judge.
Calories don’t count in December, right?