Shepard's Pie

N. and I made Shepard's Pie this weekend! Layers of ground turkey, creamed corn, and mashed potatoes then baked in the oven.

First, start the mashed potatoes. This will take the longest to cook. We had 1 large potato and one med size potato. 1 large one would have been enough for us. Dice potatoes to about the same size. I didn't peel them. Add them to a pot of water. Then put on the stove and bring water to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, aka when you stab with a fork it slips right off. And anyways, you are mashing them, you want them softer rather than harder.

 

Mash the potatoes with a fork or masher until there are no more lumps. As my mom says, "If you leave lumps in the mashed potatoes, everyone knows they are real potatoes." While mashing I added in some salt, butter, garlic powder, and sour cream until it was the consistency I wanted. If you don't want to use sour cream you can also use milk.

While the potatoes were cooking we diced up some onion. We heated up some oil (with a dash of garlic powder) and added the onions when the pan was hot. Then we added in the ground turkey and cooked it until there was no pink left.

Lastly, creamed corn. Open can. :)

Assemble the ingredients, meat in the dish, then creamed corn, and then put the dollop the mashed potatoes on top. Add some pats of butter to the top and cracked black pepper.

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 25 minutes. Take foil off and broil for about 5 minutes or until mashed potato topping starts to get golden.

Next time? Maybe add some tomato paste/ketchup or Worcestershire sauce to the meat while its cooking. I tried not to mess with it like I normally do with recipes.

Shepard's Pie
Makes approx 4 hearty servings

Mashed Potatoes
1 to 2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
Salt (to taste)
1/2 stick of butter (but do it tbsp by tbsp until its the flavor you want)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup sour cream or milk (could probably use a little more if you want softer texture)

 Place potatoes in water in a pot. Bring water to a boil. Cook until fork tender, approx 20 - 30 minutes. Drain potatoes. Add butter, garlic powder, and milk/sour cream. Mash until desired consistency, adding in additional butter or sour cream as needed.

The rest of it...
1 lb ground turkey (or beef, or chicken)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup onion, diced
Salt & Pepper
1 can creamed corn
Additional butter for topping casserole.

Heat oil in pan, add garlic powder, add onion. When softened add ground turkey, add salt and pepper. Cook until no pink is left.
Assemble in baking dish, meat and then corn, and then mashed potatoes. Leave pats of butter and some cracked black pepper to the top.

Cover in foil, cook 25 minutes. Cook additonal 15 minutes until everything is heated throguh (corn will bubble up the sides) and if you want a golden crunchy potato top, heat for about 5 minutes under the broiler.

Enjoy!!