It’s the official holiday of KilKenney Kitchen! I also consider St. Patrick’s Day to be my new year. I love that spring is on the door step – well, this year, it’s slowly making its way up the garden path, but I’m confident it will arrive and I’ll be ready when it gets here.
This has been a good year for KilKenney Kitchen – new beginnings at the commercial kitchen in Stillwater, lots of great cooking and recipes. Join me today at Sara’s Tipsy Pies in Stillwater from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM for a St. Patrick’s Day tasting of the ever-popular Shepherd’s Pie (recipe below) if you can.
A new year brings opportunities to learn and grow and that’s my focus this year. I want to add some Stillwater, MN clients to my amazing group of St. Paul clients (so tell everyone you know who lives in and around Stillwater that fabulous, homemade meals can be picked up on Monday’s). I will also create new recipes and cooking classes (both in-person and on Zoom) to share with you all. Click on KilKenney@Home Prepared Meals to see the latest offerings. As always, I love your ideas and suggestions, so please keep them coming!
This Shepherd’s Pie is an oldie, but a goodie, and perfect for this weekend. I invite you to whip up a batch to share with all your Irish (and Irish today) friends and families – Sláinte!
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes or russet potatoes
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Meat Filling
- 1 pound ground beef or ground lamb or turkey
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium Onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3/4 cup chicken broth or beef broth
Instructions
- Wash and cut the potatoes in half and place in a large pot of salted water. (I don’t peel the Yukon Gold potatoes because I like the texture with the skins. If you don’t peel them first)
- Bring the pot to a boil and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender and drain
- Heat the milk and butter in the microwave or small sauté pan. Adding the hot milk to the hot potatoes will create a nice creamy consistency
- Place the potatoes back in the pot and begin to add the hot milk/butter mixture. Mash by hand
- Add the the sour cream, salt and pepper and mash to combine
- Add more milk/butter as needed and stir until the potatoes are nice and creamy. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Cover the pot
Make the meat filling
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- chop the garlic, onions and carrots
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan
- Add the chopped onions and carrots to the pan and sauté until they begin to soften – about 6 minutes
- Add the chopped garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté for another 30 seconds
- Add the meat to the pan and break it up with a wooden spoon
- Sauté the meat until it’s cooked through – about 6-7 minutes and add the tomato paste
- Add the chicken broth and reduce the heat. Simmer until the sauce begins to thicken – about 10 minutes, then add the peas
- Cook for a couple more minutes, until the peas have heated through
Assemble the Shepherd’s Pies
- Place the meat mixture into 6 small baking dishes (or one large baking pan)
- Add the mashed potatoes on top of the meat mixture
- Bake for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the Shepherd’s Pies – until the filling is piping hot and the potatoes have browned
- Serve to all your favorite people and enjoy! Everyone’s Irish when it comes to Shepherd’s Pie
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️
I love your recipes, and I can’t wait to try the
Shepherd’s Pie!