Shepherd's Pie - A Classic

A cold-weather favorite for me, I love the mingling flavors of Shepherd's Pie!

Now if you want to cheat, you COULD use those powdery potatoes, but if you are going to do this, why not do it right, right? I throw four potatoes into a pot and boil them until the water is almost gone - er, until a fork comes back out without effort. Drain the water and let them cool for a while.

Meanwhile, brown 1lb extra lean ground beef with some diced onion, pepper, and a dash of salt. Oh, and some Worchestershire sauce adds a lovely wink, wink, to the meat. Once mostly brown,

pour in 1 packet mushroom gravy powder with a cup of cold water and whisk over the heat until thick. - I rarely cheat like this, by the way, meaning, using pre-fab stuff. You may make a rue and flavor it with the very lean meat drippings if you are die-hard scratch, which I am, too, but I like mushroom because you can get it without MSG. Once thick, pour the meat mixture in the bottom of a 9x9 square pan.

Righto? Slice two large carrots, and nuke on a plate with a TINY sprinkling of water for a 2 minutes at full power. This makes them tender, see? While they are cooking, grab two cups of frozen peas and run cold water over them. Drain and repeat until they no longer resemble oversized hail (aren't frozen). Pour over the meat. Pour the now partially cooked carrots over the peas.

Back to those cooled potatoes, just pull those peels right off with your fingers. Mix in some fat free 1/2 and 1/2 and mash until creamy. Lump those mashers right over the carrots, and top with a little shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so to let those flavors get to know each other a little better. Ta-da! Enjoy!