Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie

It's feels like a year since I've done a food post, so let's get back to it!

I'm a fan of making things I've never made before, and if the Irish people can inspire me, all the better.  So...I decided to make this delicious and hearty Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie for this cold season ahead.

In truth, I made this last September.  It was still turning cold though, so it counts!  I geared up to make it early and have it on the table for Drew when he got home, but then I got sidetracked by an old friend who Facebook messaged me while sitting at an airport in the Middle East awaiting his flight home to end his deployment!  I then kept forgetting to upload the pictures and put it on the blog, so I'm doing it now.  I only wish I could make this at the moment...but alas, there's no one here to eat it with me.  So maybe I'll make it in a month when Drew's done working.

Anyway, let's cook!

The Cast of Characters: celery, carrots, ground beef, butter, garlic, red wine, potatoes, onions, sharp cheddar, milk, salt, pepper, thyme, and tomato paste, which I forgot to capture in the picture.  The recipe didn't call for it, but I also added some worcestershire sauce to the mix.

 Scrub and cut your potatoes into large chunks...

Hmm.  These look a little suspect.  But I just bought them! 

And cover them in water.  

Salt those pups and bring it up to a rolling boil to get them nice and tender.

After that, peel and chop up some large carrots.

Now it's time to brown the ground beef!  You know how to do this - hot pan, stir it up until it's not pink, drain it if it needs it, and set it aside.

Done!  Voila.

Chop up some celery...

...and a very large onion.

And add all the veggies to the pot and let 'em cook!

Add your chopped garlic too.

(I always double the amount of garlic the recipe tells me to, because I like it.  Is that bad?  Now people might not want to eat what I make them, knowing this.)

Now add in 1/4 cup flour...

And a tablespoon or two of tomato paste...

...and stir to combine!

The potatoes are done!  Drew came home and took a picture of me with the hot pot.

Weirdo.

 Drain those potatoes, and while they're draining, add the ground beef to the vegetable mixture.

Now it's time for the "large glass of red wine"...

...and 850 ml (about 3.5 cups) of beef stock.

And the worcestershire sauce!  (About 2-3 tablespoons, depending on how you like the flava!)

Oh, and the dried thyme.  (1/2 teaspoon, but I just toss it in there.)

Now for the taters!  Finish draining them, and add in...

...a shit ton of butter...

...a load of sharp cheddar (but save some for the top!)...

...and smoosh them all up! 

Oh man, this stuff is GOOD.  Add some nutmeg to it too if you're feeling nutty.

Look!  My beef and veg mixture has thickened up and it's simmering there in it's heavenly sauce.  Yummmmm.

You can then pour it into your favorite baking dish (though I'll tell you that a square or rectangle one will make for easier cutting/serving/picture-taking).

This is the bottom of my dutch oven.  Disaster.  I always have to go to great lengths to remove this junk.

You'll then top it with your buttery, cheddary mash!

Go ahead and add some more cheese and butter to the top of your masterpiece, to take it to the next level.

Ohhhh baby yeah.

 Bake at 450° for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  And happy.

Ooooo la la.

See, the picture below doesn't showcase my masterpiece like a perfectly square piece of pie would, but...you get the idea.

It was hearty, it was warm, and above all, it was SCRUMPTIOUS...all week long.  Yay!

As I do, which might bug people, I did my Shepherd's Pie research and actually combined two of the recipes.  One was from Martha Stewart (I know, not very Irish), and one was with the BBC (also not Irish but more so than Martha!)  The BBC recipe had a lot more flavorings (wine, worcestershire, beef stock) than Martha's, but I used the basic method that she described in hers.  So if you feel inclined to make this popular pub dinner (and I feel like most of you should, seeing the weather all over the US SUCKS right now), you can find Martha's recipe here and the BBC recipe here.  

Cheers!

Friday Rambling

TGIF!  I love Fridays.  I mostly used to love them because it signified the end of the work week but I still love them because it means the end of DREW'S work week and that means happiness for me.  And as I no longer drink during the week, it means I can have a glass or 5 of wine!  La la la.  

I just competed in a 4 mile race.  With myself.  And I won!  Yay!  I've been trying to do my "long runs" for my 10k training on Friday afternoons so I can enjoy my weekend and today the sun was out for once so I WENT FOR IT!

On Friday mornings, I have Spanish.  I've been reallllllllly enjoying my class - my teacher is a young beautiful Spaniard and is a lot of fun, my classmates are (still) all over 50 years old, BUT there are 2 younger college girls in the class too, that know even less than I do about the world!  They were born in '95 for cryin' out loud!  Just last week they got up the nerve to ask me how old I was (cause they were surprised to learn I was married "so young") and I begrugdingly told them I was 29.  "29?!  You don't look 29!  Wow, I thought you were much younger!  You look good for 29!"  :|  I'm sorry, what is that supposed to mean exactly?  Kids these days don't know that 29 is YOUNG.  Is this how our parents feel?  That they're all 30 year olds trapped in bodies of slightly older but happenin' people?  

The three of us were also talking about Garth Brooks' popularity in Ireland today, and they literally knew nothing about him.  (This is sparked by the fact that Garth is playing concerts here at Croke Park in July.  He started out with 2 concerts, then added a third, then a fourth, then a fifth.  He is now playing 5 NIGHTS IN A ROW and has sold 400,000 tickets.  It is a huge deal and this literally means that 1 out of every 10 people in Ireland are going to see Garth Brooks a mere 3 weeks AFTER we leave.  I'm livid and crazy with jealousy.)  ANYWAY.  One girl said she knew some song about 'having friends in low places' but they don't know much else.  Then they quizzed me on my knowledge of WestLife, an extremely popular Irish boy band that they're all very proud of, and I didn't know a damn thing.  Again...I keep wanting to think I'm younger than I am and that I fit in with those girls but sadly, I just don't.  But I don't fit in with the 50 year olds either!

We had a trivia game in our class today and I was able to correctly answer that the US purchased Louisiana and a big chunk of land from France in 1803, but I was UNABLE to determine when penicillin was invented and in what country Che Guevera made his mark.  So much random shit to still learn.  

Alright - that's enough random rambling for the day.  Off to patiently wait for my boo's arrival home and find us a place to eat tonight.  Happy Friday!

Weeks Lately

I've been away awhile.  Whoops.  I apologize.  I think I haven't written because I don't really have a ton to write about.  I'm not cooking too many new things cause I have no one to cook for and I'm trying to be healthy so I'm making things that aren't fun (grilled chicken breasts and a side of random vegetable - not worth posting about).  My days and weeks are running together and they are beginning to look the same.

Mondays:  Sleep.  Run.  Yoga.  History class.  Writing.  Reading.  Computer time.  Dinner.  TV.

Tuesdays:  Sleep.  Gym.  History class.  Errands or Dublin city activity.  Yoga.  Writing.  Reading.  Dinner.  TV.

Wednesdays:  Free day!  Sleep.  Run.  Yoga.  Lunch with friends.  Lounge around.  More of the same.

Thursdays: Lounge around.  Gym class.  Treadmill.  Yoga.  More lounging, reading, writing.

Fridays:  Spanish class.  Run.  Wash hair.  Get ready for evening activities with my husband who I haven't seen all week and usually put make up on for the first time all week.  Whoops!

So...see?  There's not much to write about.  Not that I'm complaining - I'm happy as a clam with my week's activities and I find myself not having enough time to get things done that I want to.  I'm not sure how I ever managed when I had that God forsaken job but I guess I need to work on my time management skillz.

In other (sad) news, one of my best friends here, Missy, moved back to California a week ago.  We've all been dreading this day for awhile and it's already sucking without her, though we're trying to make the most of it.  Her fiance, Tom, is staying here until early May and will then move back before their wedding in late May...so thats good.  We had some fun last weekends with her so here are some pics!

We finally did a Dublin tourist activity and went to Kilmainham Gaol (jail), which is famous for the prisoners held there during the Irish independence movement.

Cool staircase.

Then we went to our fave BBQ place, Bison Bar, where they have saddles for bar stools.  Drew likes them, obviously.

Pretty day on the river before we walked to the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin.
(Missy hadn't done any of the aforementioned things before so it was an appropriate pre-party send off.)

The next weekend, we all went to Fade Street Social for a fun group din.

And then the girls went to Copper's - a trashy yet awesome rite-of-passage club that evidently everyone needs to go to once in their life.  Most young kids go here to find someone to hook up with but we just went for the music and dancing.  Really fun!  But there might have also been some drunken tears around 4am among all of us, I can't really be sure.

The next night, we had a low key pub night in Ranelagh with some of our peeps.
Missy, me, Autumn.

Hey hey the gang's all here!

And early the next morning, she left.  I proceeded to eat my emotions all day on Sunday and went and got ice cream on a freezing cold day.  Sometimes you just need it.

And then I went running along the coast the next day and saw this big beautiful rainbow!  God?  Is that you?

So...that's all I've been up to lately!  Pretty non eventful but it's been good and I'm still happy doing my thing, planning travel, learning new things, reading and writing, and hanging out!  More soon!