Hooray for Mac Monday: Shepherd's Pie

Here's a note directly from Mac... 

Hi Everyone.  Sorry for the late post but I wanted to make this recipe before I posted it to make sure it was as good as I hoped.  This recipe is based off of a traditional Irish meal, Shepherd’s pie.  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have the ingredients or the proper kitchen equipment to make this dish in the classic style, so I improvised.  For this recipe I will put the ingredients I used followed by the ideal ingredients in parenthesis.  By no means is this the ideal shepherd’s pie, but it is easy and tastes great.  This is not the healthiest meal but it is an amazing comfort food that will leave you more than satisfied.  

SHEPHERD'S PIE

Straight from Mac's college kitchen to your computer

Ingredients:
2 ¼ pound hamburger patties; defrosted and cut up into small chunks* 
4 servings of instant mashed potatoes** 
1/3 a cup of chopped carrots
1/3 a cup of chopped celery
1/3 a cup of chopped onions
5 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of scallions, chopped
¼ cup of chicken broth
Butter, cut into small cubes (about ¼ of an inch)
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil


*You can use hamburger patties or buy 1/2 lb ground beef, whichever is easier.
**If you have the time, fresh mashed potatoes are the best.  If you are going to use real mashed potatoes, use 4 cups of real mash potatoes.  Here's a great recipe for mashed potatoes.


Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  
Start cooking the mashed potatoes as directed.  
Then in a medium cast iron skillet (or another pan that can safely go into the oven) over medium-low heat add enough olive oil to cover ¾ of the pan.  
Add in the garlic and onions and let them cook until the onions become translucent and soft.  
Then add the hamburger chunks (or ground beef).  
As the meat begins to release its fat and begins to brown add the celery and carrots to the pan and continue to stir occasionally.  
Once the meat is completely browned on the outside add in the chicken broth and the scallions.  
Then cover the pan and let the vegetables steam themselves for 4-5 minutes or until they start to become tender.  If the chicken broth hasn’t boiled off don’t worry about it.  It will cook off in the oven.  
Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Now comes the fun part:

Take the mashed potatoes you prepared earlier and spread them over the top of the meat and vegetable mixture.  

Then take the small cubes of butter and place them around on top of the mashed potatoes.  

This will help to give the potatoes a nice golden brown look.  

Now take the cast iron skillet and place it directly into the oven.  

Let the pie cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the potato crust begins to firm up and turns a slight golden brown.  

Now serve and enjoy.  

Remember cook what you love, love what you eat.