Shepherds Pie

With Spring waxing and waning up here in the mountains, yesterday’s cooler weather made me long for some comfort food. Peering into the refridgerator, I remembered I had some ground bison, and eyed some sweet potatoes on the counter, so I decided to make Shepherds Pie, with a twist. All of the other ingredients were readily available in my pantry. I also think many substitutions would be fine, like yukon gold potatoes instead of sweet, just peas and carrots, instead of the mixed veggies, fresh herbs instead of dried, beef or veggie stock instead of chicken stock and ground beef, lamb, turkey or chicken instead of bison.

This really easy to make all in one meal may seem a bit daunting, with several pots and pans going at once, but all in all it took less than an hour from start to finish to prepare this dish from scratch AND it got rave reviews from my family.

Ingredients

• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
• 1 onion, diced
• 16 oz of ground bison (or beef or lamb)
• 2 cups of chicken stock, divided
• 1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, corn, green beans)
• 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• Worchestershire Sauce (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tsp Dried Parsley
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp Fresh, minced or Powdered Garlic
• 1 tsp All purpose seasoning
• 1 tsp Coriander
• 1 egg
• 2 TBS sour cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• Salt to taste

Honestly, I know there are quite a few ingredients, but I just pulled everything out as I was going along the cooking process and created this dish on the fly. Let’s break this down into 4 simple steps.

Step 1 – Boil the potatoes

Bring a pot of water to boil, and add a dash of salt. Carefully place the sweet potato chunks into the water, turn the heat to medium so the water is at a soft slow boil. Set your timer for 20 minutes.

Step 2 – Cook the Filling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the water is heating up for the sweet potatoes, add 1 tablespoon of the butter to a large pot and melt over medium heat. Add the diced onion and saute for about 5 minutes until soft and slightly golden. Add the bison and mix around every once in a while to make sure it cooks evenly. Add a splash of worchestershire sauce (2 tsp?) and about 1/2 cup of the chicken stock. Add the parsley, thyme, garlic, and all purpose seasonings, mix. Once the bison is no longer pink, and cooked through, add in the mixed veggies and warm through over low heat. Set aside.

Step 3 –

While the potatoes and bison are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons of butter over medium low heat in a saute pan and then whisk in the flour. It might look a bit like crumbles at first, but let it turn golden and stir a bit. Once golden, whisk in about 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock until it turns into a creamy golden gravy. Add a few splashes of worcestershire sauce, a pinch of salt and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. Turn off heat and set aside.

Step 4 – Mash the potatoes and put it all in the oven

In a medium bowl combine the sour cream, milk and egg. Beat together. Add the remaining 1 TBS of butter and the drained sweet potatoes. (I just use a slotted spoon to transfer from the pot of water into the bowl, but take care you don’t get more than a few drops of the cooking water into the bowl.) The heat from the potatoes should melt the butter. Add the coriander and about 1 tsp of salt. Mash until smooth and creamy.

In a casserole dish or large pie dish, layer the meat and veggie filling, then the gravy and top with the potatoes, sealing the edges with the potatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.