Shepherd's Pie

There's a super virus circulating around the dorm and it got to me last Thursday... all thanks to this shepherd's pie. I knew a lot of people were getting sick on the second floor but I thought i was safe since i hang out on the right wing of the building and the people who were sick (including my brother) lived on the left. So after cooking that night, i decided to give my brother some shepherd's pie. He seemed fine when i visited with only a sore throat, so i scooped out a plate-full of food for him and left-- this all happened in less than 5 minutes. Six hours later, my throat started to itch but i didn't think much about it and went to bed. Next morning i was woken up by the worst headache ever and a fever of 39 degrees C. 天啊.......怎麼那麼雖!! It was a recurrent fever with 4 spiked temperatures in one day. Sighhh.... so almost a week has gone by and right now I'm still trying to break the coughing spell that i have... 好煩啊!! 好心拿東西給人家吃卻落到這種下場. Sigh, so this is the reason why I haven't been updating as much as i should, soweee. Anyways, on to the Shepherd's Pie (i hope i didn't disgust anyone with the details of my flu)! I've just finished watching the first season of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and I just couldn't get Finn McCool's shepherd's pie out of my head. The piped mashed potatoes were so cuteeeee, I had to try it myself. But I don't know if my mashed potatoes were too dry or if they were too lumpy... my potato mounds just didn't quite get there. Hahahhaa, 超級FAIL compared to this. But like JLo said, " 吃到肚子都是一家人" (translation: it's all family in the belly)-- it still tasted good and that's all that matters :D

btw, HAPPY YEAR OF THE OX!

Shepherd's Pie
INGREDIENTS:

• MASHED POTATOES:
  
• 4-5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
  
• 2 tablespoons butter (or less)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cups milk
  
• Spring onions, chopped (optional)
• Parmesan cheese, to taste
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
  
• BEEF LAYER:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 0.5 kg lean ground beef
• 2 medium-sized carrots, cut into cubes
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 cup beef broth (or water)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

DIRECTIONS:

MASHED POTATOES:

1. Bring a large pot of to boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender but firm. Drain, and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2. Place butter, milk, spring onions, and Parmesan cheese into the bowl with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
   
3. Mash the potatoes to desired consistency. Set aside.

BEEF MIXTURE:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan until hot. Add in the ground beef and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
   
2. Stir the garlic, onions, and carrots into the beef. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree and thyme and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
   
3. Pour in the beef broth (or water) and reduce until almost completely evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

ASSEMBLE:

1. Transfer the beef into a 8 x 10 inch baking dish, spread it out evenly [picture 1].
2. Spoon the mash potatoes into plastic bag and cut an opening on one of the edges [picture 2].
3. Pipe the mash potatoes in mounds over the beef [picture 3] or just simply spread the mashed potatoes over the beef.
   
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until bubbly and golden brown.
   

Shepherd's Pie