Individual Shepards Pies (made with Bison)

I've always known that I am a lucky girl. Nothing makes me feel luckier than when I look around my kitchen. My kitchen is filled with gifts from family and friends; spices, vanilla, cast iron skillet, Kitchen Aid mixer. There is no doubt, I'm a lucky girl.

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow and its time that I cooked something Irish. Shepards Pie is my favorite Irish pub dish to eat. How can you not love the savory meat with the buttery mashed potatoes on top? Its delish with a tall glass of Guiness.

This was a perfect opportunity for me to use my new potato ricer from my best friend (and sister-in-law) Caroline. I gave this same tool as an engagement gift to my cousin and her fiance's reaction was, "is this a torture tool?" It is not. You simply place boiled pieces of potatoes in this little gadget and it (for lack of a better term) spews out perfectly mashed potatoes. Please see the example below.

Ok, it perfectly mashed once I used a fork and mix all that potato mess together.

These little ramekins are the perfect size for a healthy portion of Shepards Pie. Thats why my housemates and I ate two each. If you noticed from the top picture, I used Bison meat. This purchase was made during a Farmers Market trip with Adventures in Shaw. This woman seems to have a knack for getting me to buy things. The bison meat was...different. It doesn't taste like ground beef as much as I thought it would. Similar but not quite.

Individual Shepards Pies (made with Bison)

Recipe adapated from Simply Recipes

• 1 lbs ground bison (or beef) - $5.94
  
• 1 onion chopped- $1.20 each
  
• 16 oz bag of frozen vegetables - diced carrots and peas- $1.50 each
  
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)- $3.99 for a 5lb bag
  
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)- free from previous purchase
  
• 1/2 cup beef broth- $0.99 per can
  
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce- $1.49 per bottle
  
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice - free from previous purchase
  

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 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 into ramekins about half way. 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.

The entire dish cost about $16. This could be cheaper if using ground beef. I loved eating this dish out of ramekins but I do recognize that I am turing a manly meat and potatoes dish into a danity girlie dish but whatever. It tasted so good.