YUM!

Sometimes I come across recipes that really stick with me and tonight was no exception :) I thought I'd share it with you all. It's one of those "1 dish meals" and I've made a version of it a few times before, but this was by far my fave.

It's pretty close to Sunny Anderson's (food network) "Shepherds Pie with Mushroom Onion Gravy", but I'll post exactly what I did with it.

2 lbs russet potatoes, washed and cut into chunks (I like the peels on)
1 Tbl dry minced garlic, or 1 clove smashed
Salt (I like Kosher)
6 Tbl butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 lb ground beef
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Tbl tomato paste
1/4 cup beef broth
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 zuchinni, julienned
2 carrots, julienned or about 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots cut in half
8 oz. corn
1 tsp Paprika,
16 oz. cheddar, shredded
Mushroom-Onion gravy (recipe below)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes and garlic with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add some salt and bring to boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-high and cook unitl fork tender, about 15 min. Drain and return to pan, and mash together with 3 Tbl butter and the heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper (and I added parsley for color and a dash of cayenne pepper) and set aside.

In a large pan on medium-high heat combine 1 Tbl butter and 1 Tbl oil. When butter has melted, add beef, worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until meat is brown. Stir in tomato paste and saute for a few minutes. Add beef stock and bring to a simmer. Place meat in a casserole dish and set aside.

In the same pan, add remaining butter and 1 Tbl oil and saute onions until almost tender.
Add corn, zucchini, carrots and paprika. Cook until tender, about 1o min. Remove from heat and mix with meat in casserole dish.

Place a very light layer of the cheese and then cover with mashed potatoes, smoothing out to the edge with a spatula. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese across top and place in oven until cheese has a nice texture, and potatoes are brown around the edges, about 30 minutes. Serve with Mushroom Onion gravy.

Mushroom Onion Gravy:
1/4 onion, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbl oil
3 Tbl flour
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
Salt and cracked pepper

In the same saucepan over medium heat, saute onions and mushrooms in oil until tender and mushrooms release their moisture, about 5 min. Add flour and stir to evenly coat. Slowly whisk in wine and broth. Simmer until thickened and season with salt and pepper, to taste. This is a very rich reduction, and a little goes a long way, but you will be surprised how much it really pops all the flavors!

I served this with a romaine salad that had cucumbers, grape tomotoes, red onion, avacado, walnuts, sweet almond slivers and diced celery with Ranch. And SWEET TEA, of course :)