Losing It In The Kitchen: Thatch or Shepherd's Pie

Tonight hubby Jeff has a sore throat & is feeling sick… its also a bit cool here today… so I decided it was time to make up some comfort food…

I have a recipe that I came up with a while back, and it seems like every time I make it I do it differently… hence the non-specific name :)

What I made tonight used ground beef, and was relatively spicy… it can be done with any ground meat (chicken, lamb… or even small bits of non-ground meat)… it can be done with a variety of different mashed vegetable toppings… and it can be done with different spices - especially in the topping… here's what I did tonight…

Topping Ingredients:
1 3/4 pounds of mash-able vegetables (potato, parsnip, heavy squash, etc…)
1 Tbl wholegrain mustard
1 Tbl prepared horseradish (straight, not creamy)
1 Tbl butter
1/4 cup skim milk

Tonight I took a Butternut Squash & cooked it in a pot with a steaming basket… I could have chopped up the squash & boiled it and mashed it, but for squash the steaming seemed like an easier method (and required almost no mashing)…

To the cooked vegetables add the wholegrain mustard, prepared horseradish, butter, and milk. Mash & mix until smooth. Set aside until filling is complete.

This is the mashed topping mixture...

Filling Ingredients:
Spray Olive Oil
1 large portobello mushroom cap, chopped coarsely
1/4 medium onion, chopped coarsely (more onion will be listed later)
1/2 medium bell pepper, chopped coarsely
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp whole peppercorns
3/4 tsp dried whole rosemary
3/4 tsp dried sage leaves
1/2 pound lean ground meat (beef, chicken, lamb)
1 tsp Sausage Spice (see recipe) - optional, but adds great flavor
1 cup diced carrots
2 ribs celery, sliced thin
1 medium onion, diced
2/3 cup water
1 tsp Better Than Bouillon Beef
2 Tbl cornstarch

Spray a non-stick pan with olive oil (tonight I used a non-stick dutch oven). Place in the pan the mushroom, bell pepper, and 1/4 onion that's been coarsely chopped.

Grind the salt, pepper, rosemary & sage then mix in the crushed garlic.

I like a mortar & pestle for grinding dry spices.

Cook the mushroom, bell, and onion until the onions are soft & translucent. Add the ground spice mixture and cook another minute to incorporate the spices and allow them to warm.

Remove the vegetables from heat & allow them to cool enough to be handled. Once cool transfer them to a food processor.

Grind the vegetable mixture to the consistency of ground meat.

Put the vegetable mixture back into the pan, add in the ground meat and sausage spice.

Cook until the meat is cooked through, breaking it up as you go. Once the meat is cooked add in the carrots, celery, and diced onion. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; during that time mix together water, bouillon, and cornstarch - a fork works well for stirring in the cornstarch. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan & bring to a boil (it will thicken quickly - you want a thick consistency).

Set the oven to 400F. At this point you can transfer the filling to a casserole dish, but tonight I just decided to leave it in my dutch oven (its oven safe). Spread the topping evenly over the filling, all the way to the edges of the dish/pan.