• Meat Filling
• 2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons A-1 or other steak sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup beef stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (recipe follows)


• Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
• 3-4 pounds Golden Yukon gold potatoes (or any other potato you prefer), peeled & quartered
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups grated mature white Cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste

Place butter and oil in a large skillet and heat on medium heat. Sauté onions, carrots, celery and garlic until tender (about 7 to 10 minutes). Once the vegetables have softened and start to brown a little, add the A-1 Sauce and tomato paste and stir to mix evenly. Add the ground beef and cook until beef is no longer pink (about 10 minutes). Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Transfer meat mixture to a casserole dish and spread meat mixture evenly into dish. Spread Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (recipe follows) on top of ground beef mixture evenly, pressing up to sides of dish, making sure there are no open spaces. Once the top surface has been completely covered, rake through top of mashed potatoes with tongs of a fork to make peaks that will brown nicely.

Place the casserole dish into the preheated oven and cook until browned (about 20-30 minutes). Spoon out the shepherd's pie and serve.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
Fill a large saucepan with cold water and a tablespoon of salt. Add potatoes to the water and bring to a boil. Let potatoes cook until soft and easily pierced with a fork or pointed knife (about 20-30 minutes). Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the potatoes in a colander, then return potatoes to the saucepan for mashing. Add butter and cream to potatoes and mash with a potato mashing tool (or beat with hand-held electric beater) until potatoes have a semi-smooth consistency. Add cheese and mix well with spoon or rubber spatula. Season with salt and pepper.