Recipes & Fancied Up Sheppard's Pie

It is cold, icky and we are under a winter storm warning here. The weather turned about 2 pm today and has been getting steadily worse. Right now I can barely see the road. The good news is the gas installer showed up this morning so I was able to get to huge loads of laundry done in half the time the old machines would have taken per load and since they hold almost three times as much the time savings was even greater. My house has been in an uproar with getting this new washer and dryer set up. Last night my husband decided we were eating out and I was just so thankful! I don't do disruptions well. Anyway we had a lovely steak dinner with the fixings and while I normally take the camera for pictures, I was so exhausted that I simply forgot.

A note on any recipe posted here: Any recipe I post has been tweaked by me and is tried and true. In most cases these are family favourites I've used for years. You may have to do a little tweaking yourself as I tend to go lighter on both sugar and salt but the recipes will be fine the way they are written. For some entries you will see the actual recipe as I found it then in my notes what I did to change it. I am getting a fair amount of email requesting certain recipes as well. What might not be apparent from my blog is I make the recipe, take the picture and update the blog all in the same day for about 95% of the entries. For that reason there may be a day like yesterday where the blog is not updated because I didn't do a whole lot of cooking. So be sure to check back as entries are based on the cooking I do.



For tonight's dinner I decided to do a fancied up sheppard's pie. Now some will say this isn't sheppard's pie because it does have lamb but that what we call it so that's how I'm going to present it. This is an easy comfort food, kicked up just a bit and perfect for a snowy, cuddle on the couch day. Oh and this is my own special creation, one that my family loves.

Fancied Up Sheppard's Pie
source: recipe by Garden Gnome

7 med potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 med carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 c cabbage cut into small chunks
1/2 c cream cheese
1/2 c sour cream
1 tbsp butter
2 lb lean ground beef
4-6 large fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 small cooking onion, diced
1 c beef stock
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c frozen corn niblets
1/2 c frozen peas
bread crumbs
sprinkling of chopped chives or sliced green onions


Combine potatoes, carrots and cabbage is large pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to cook until potatoes and carrots are tender. Drain. Place the vegetables in a Kitchen Aid bowl or mixing bowl. Attach the flat beater. Add butter, sour cream and cream cheese. Mix until just smooth. Set aside. Brown ground beef, drain then stir in mushrooms and onions. Return to heat and allow to cook until the mushrooms are cooked. Make a slurry of the water and corn starch. Stir into the meat mixture and allow to thicken. Pour the meat mixture into a large casserole dish. Top with corn niblets and peas. Spread the potato mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle on bread crumbs, a small amount of butter if desired and chopped chives. Bake until warmed through.
Serves 8

Garden Gnome
© 2007