Cottage Pie Recipe

You may have noticed that I do not have many recipes or anything on here and there is a reason for that. I really cannot cook very well. Now, I try, but somehow I usually manage to mess up my recipes or do something that isn’t quite right. I have managed to learn a few different recipes and I want to share with you all, my new favorite recipe.

Thanks to my boyfriend’s dad, I learned how to make Cottage Pie. This is just like Sheppard’s Pie, but instead of lamb you use ground beef. If you do not eat ground beef or are watching your fat you could substitute in ground turkey for the ground beef.

Things you will need:

Cast Iron Skillet
Large Pot for potatoes
Baking Sheet

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
5 or 6 Medium Russet Potatoes
3 Medium to Large Carrots
1/3 1lb bag of Frozen Peas
1/3 1lb bag of Frozen Corn
Beef Broth (or other broth)
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to Taste
Powdered Garlic to Taste
Butter (to taste for mashed potatoes)
Milk (to taste for mashed potatoes)

Directions:

Preheat the over to 350 °F.

1. Peel and chop the carrots and set them aside.  I used my food processor to chop them up for me.  In addition peel, wash, and cut the potatoes up and put them in a large pot of water to boil them for mashed potatoes.

2. Cook the ground beef in the cast iron fry pan.  You want to cook this thoroughly and make sure the meat is in small pieces.  Once you have done  this drain it WELL.  You do not want any grease left in the pan or on the meat.

3. Once this is done add beef broth to the pan.  I add approximately 1 1/2 cups though I do not measure. I pour until I can see it in the pan with the meat.  Add the carrots, corn, and peas.  Finally, add the pepper, garlic powder, and salt to taste and let this simmer.

4. Drain the potatoes, and add the butter and milk and mash the potatoes.  I use about 1/2 a stick of butter and a 1/4 cup of milk for mine.

5. Once the potatoes are mashed turn down the heat and start to spread the mashed potatoes over top of the meat and veggie mixture in the cast iron pan.  You will want to spread this as evenly as possible across the top of the whole pan.

6.  Put this pan on top of a cookie sheet on the middle rack in your oven.  The cookie sheet will catch any drippings from the broth boiling over as it cooks.  You will also add four thin slices of button over top of the mashed potatoes for color and flavor.

7. Put in the oven until the top of the potatoes are just a little crunchy and crisp.  Once done take out the oven and let sit for a couple of minutes as it will be very hot.  Serve on plates or in bowls and enjoy!