A New Recipe

Max took a  couple of very good shots of  our damaged red maple tree this morning.




The  wind is so strong, I am sure the leaves will all be gone very soon.

I love English novels, and always am curious about the foods they mention.  I have been known to grab my tablet and look up various ones before continuing the read.  My latest was Cottage Pie (or Shepherds' Pie).  I found a recipe on All recipes and after reading the comments, made it using some of my own changes.  We really liked it and for my DH to comment on a new food positively, that's a real endorsement.

We ate some before I remembered to take a picture:



I copied the All recipe version and went back and added my comments.  I hope it is clear.

Ingredients

6 servings 512 cals

• pound lean ground beef (I used ground pork but added beef base)
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Reduced to a pinch!)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (I used my own mix of garlic, oregano and thyme)Taste!
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I actually had this growing)
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth (subbed water and beef base)
  

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 cup milk (ignore this amount and just make regular mashed potatoes)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 pound shredded Cheddar cheese ( I didn't do cheese topping)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. To Make Meat Filling: Place a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in ground beef and saute 1 minute. Add onion and carrot, then continue to saute until meat is no longer pink and onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Mix in flour, cinnamon, mixed herbs, and parsley.
3. In a small bowl, combine beef broth and tomato paste. Mix together, then add to beef mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. ” Lower heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of liquid has been absorbed. Note: I stirred  the flour and spices into the meat mixture then added rest of ingredients and lowered heat and cooked until tender and very little liquid remained.
5. Spoon mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.
6. To Make Potato Topping: Place diced potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and place over high heat. Allow to come to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain.
7. Mash potatoes until smooth, then add butter or margarine, followed by milk. Whip until fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes over beef filling. Sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until top is browned and cheese is bubbly.
   

Note: Since DH's favorite vegetable is peas, I tossed in a handful of frozen peas to meat mixture before adding to pie plate. Be sure to taste for salt and pepper.

This filled a deep dish 9 inch pie plate and made enough for at least two meals and maybe three for the two of us.  It was a great cold weather meal.