Minced Beef Shepherd's Pie

Me and ES are trying to break the mochi's guinness record. We've been spending every weekend cooking! yes. amazing. I hope we keep up this passion and soon before you know it, we'll be competing in iron chef. woohoo.

Anyway, we've been attempting western cusines due to the influence of all the american culinary shows. Should try whipping up some simple homemade dishes soon which is less time consuming and more practical as daily meals. My dream is to be able to serve my mama san a real chinese homemade dinner. Akan Datang!

I've finally fulfilled my dream of making shepherd's pie. Beef is usually used for shepherd's pie. But I'll attempt chicken next time. ooohh.. and guess which part of the pie I love the most? The mashed potatoes. I'm a carbo fanatic. It's nice though. Loved the texture and it was pretty flavourful coz I used lots of herbs, black pepper and thyme for the beef.

~ furla...I kept this much for U! too bad....lalalala.~

~ ES boiled these crayfish which we caught the other day and stir fried it with butter and salt. really high in sodium but really tasty. Great appetizer.~

Easy Shepherd's Pie Recipe (courtesy www.simplyrecipes.com)
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs ground round beef (marinated with salt, black pepper, thyme and italian herbs)
1 onion chopped
1-2 cups vegetables - I used peas
1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth (I used chicken broth in replacement)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (omitted this coz I didn't have it! but still taste pretty ok)
Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

METHOD
1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).
2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.
3 Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.
5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.
7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Serves four