Perfect Shepherd's Pie

Did you grow up eating Shepherd's Pie? Since this was never in my culinary repertoire its name always confused me as a kiddo. Is it a pie made of shepherds? Is it a pie made for shepherds or by shepherds?

For the uninitiated, Shepherd's Pie is a sort of meat and potato casserole, with a layer of meat and veggies in their gravy on bottom and mashed potatoes on top, broiled to toasty perfection.

This recipe from America's Test Kitchen is nearly perfect, but I found it to be...seasoned in the French style? As in, not really seasoned at all (sorry Frenchies)! So here's my version of a spiced up Shepherd's Pie.

There are a lot of moving pieces here, so I strongly recommend you get your mise-en-place on for this one, especially if you're dumb like me and want both parts going at the same time.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ pounds 93 percent lean ground beef  
•  2 tbs plus 2 tsp water
• Salt and pepper
• ·       ½ teaspoon baking soda
  ·       2 ½ pounds russet potatoes , peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
  ·       4 tbs unsalted butter , melted
  ·       ½ cup milk
  ·       1 large egg yolk
  ·       8 scallions , green parts only, sliced thin
  ·       2 tsp vegetable oil
  ·       1onion , chopped
  ·       4 ounces white mushrooms , trimmed and chopped
  ·       1 tbs tomato paste
  ·       2 garlic cloves , minced
  ·       2 tbs Madeira or ruby port
  ·       2 tbs all-purpose flour
  ·       1 ¼ cups beef broth
  ·       2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  ·       2 sprigs fresh thyme
  ·       1 bay leaf
  ·       2 carrots , peeled and chopped
  ·       2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tbs of your favorite spice mix, such as shawarma mix, taco seasoning, Italian pasta seasoning, etc. Yes, tablespoons.
• 
  
• DIRECTIONS

1. Without kneading it, add 2 tbs of water, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/2 tsp baking soda to ground beef in a bowl. Return to fridge for 20 minutes.
2. Place potatoes in medium saucepan, with just enough water to cover. Add salt and bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to medium-low simmering 8-10 minutes until knife tip meets no resistance in potato.
3. Drain potatoes and return to saucepan over heat to evaporate any remaining water.
4. Remove from pan and mash, adding melted butter.
5. In small bowl whisk together milk and egg yolk, then stir into potatoes.
6. Stir scallions into mashed potatoes and add salt + pepper to taste. Set aside.
7. In broiler-safe skillet (I used cast iron, but anything without a rubber handle should do), heat oil until shimmering.
8. Add onion, mushrooms, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper cooking 4-6 minutes until vegetables are just starting to soften and dark bits form on skillet (see picture above).
9. Add tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more, then wine while scraping browned bits off of the pan, then add flour cooking 1 minute more 
10. Add broth, Worcestershire, thyme, bay leaf, carrots, and spice mix then bring to a boil while scraping some browned bits.
11. Reduce heat to medium-low, add beef in 2-inch chunks to broth, and bring to gentle simmer. 
12. Cover and cook until beef is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring and breaking up meat chunks with 2 forks halfway through.
13. Stir cornstarch and remaining 2 tsp water together in bowl. Stir cornstarch mixture into filling and continue to simmer for 30 seconds. 
14. Remove thyme and bay leaf, add salt and pepper to taste.
15. Adjust oven rack to 5 inches below broiler and start broiler on high.
16. Spoon potatoes into zip lock bag with corner cut off and pipe over pan covering entire surface and all edges. Smooth surface with spoon and rake with fork to create texture.
17. Place skillet in oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown on top. You'll know it when you see it

Shout out to  my awesome sister Venus for hosting this cooking adventure and for hand modeling in the video above!

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, my ever-loving food guide.