Shepherd's Pie

Paul loves shepherd's pie. The first time we made it together was when we were engaged. We followed Paul's family's standard recipe that consisted of green beans in tomato soup, topped with ground beef and mashed potatoes. Not bad. But when St. Patrick's Day came around the following year, I decided to make sheperd's pie but searched for a more authentic recipe in honor of the holiday. I'm not sure how truly authentic this recipe is, but it has now become our standard. We love it and hope you will too!

Sheperd's Pie

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions(finely chopped)
6 large carrots (sliced in rounds)
2 tomatoes(chopped)
1 cup beef stock or bouillon
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper(to taste)
5 large potatoes potatoes (boiled and mashed)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown the beef in oil. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Drain most of the accumulated fat from the pan.
4. Sauté onions and carrots in reserved beef drippings until tender, and then add chopped tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add broth and stir in herbs and seasonings.
6. Add beef to the broth and vegetable mixture and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
7.Transfer all ingredients to a 9x13 inch ovenproof casserole.
8. Top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle cheese on top.
9. Bake uncovered in 375-degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until cheese is melted. We like to turn on the broiler for the last few minutes to get a nice, bubbly cheese crust on top.

Chicken Casserole

I rarely make casserole anymore (due to high blood pressure and the fact that most casseroles use prepackaged foods with more sodium than I can handle), but this was a favorite when I was growing up and I just needed to share it's simple goodness!

1 chicken cut-up (or whatever kind of chicken you like)
1 pkg pepperidge farm stuffing (small package, can't remember exact ounces)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 stick of butter

Place chicken in large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until chicken is done, remove from liquid and let cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in bottom of 13X9 pan. Pull chicken from bone, removing skin and place chicken pieces in the buttered pan. Combine 2 cans of soup with one can of water then pour over chicken. Mix stuffing with liquid left from cooking chicken. Make a really moist stuffing mixture as it will be baked for awhile and will dry out a bit. Spoon stuffing mixture on top of soup and bake for approximately 30 minutes.