Our best bites: Nish style.

I really do have the best husband to cook for. He never ever complains, eats almost all our leftovers (especially the ones I want the fridge to suck into its black hole) and he is willing to try everything. Sometimes it's almost hard to cook for someone this easy to please, ironic I know, because even if he isn't a huge fan of something he will still tell me its delicious. So the only way I can really decipher what recipes are worthy of my growing personal collection, is when he puts in specific requests for dinner during our weekly Sunday meal planning sessions.I know that if he wants me to make it again that we have a winner. One of those recently discovered gems was Shepherd's Pie. I never grew up being a huge fan, and one day last month decided I really wanted to try my hand at it and see if I could come up with one that I would enjoy. Plus I figured if it was a success I'd have a great freezer meal for when baby arrives. Well I was wonderfully surprised with how it turned out, and obviously so was the hubster because he asked for it again this week. I'm not a food blogger but I do love getting recipes from blogs when I need to try something new, so I thought I'd share my shepherd's pie recipe for those who are a little stuck on dinner ideas as we so often are. This recipe is great for feeding a lot of people and doesn't take any fancy ingredients. Plus it's so easy to adjust to you and your family's tastes. This dish also makes me feel like a super wife because while it's in the oven, I have time to do the dishes (there aren't many!) and set the table so Gordon has a nice meal in a clean kitchen to come home to. Meals that I can have cleaned up before I even eat them are really the greatest. I would have posted a picture but our pie is currently already half eaten and in the fridge so it doesn't quite have the same appeal....

Shepherd’s Pie

• 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided in half
• 1 cup frozen veg, thawed or cooked (depends on how much bite you want)
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• clove of garlic
• 2-3 tbsps worcestshire sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons ketchup
• one can beef broth (or little less)
• pepper and chili powder to taste

Directions

1. Make mashed potatoes (I don't think I need to elaborate on this. Make them how you like them) 
2. Mix half the cheese in with the potatoes.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.)
4. Brown ground beef. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Season with pepper and chili powder. Add crushed garlic, worcestshire, ketchup and beef broth (add less of the worcestshire, ketchup and beef broth if you want drier meat, I like sauce). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes (can thicken with more flour if needed).
5. Spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Next, layer the veggies on top (you can leave them frozen if you like them with a bite). Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
6. Cover, and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes
7. Remove the cover and broil for 2-3 minutes to brown top. **This step really does make it that much more delicious. Just be careful to watch it so it doesn't burn!)