Shepherd's pie with a twist

Tonight's dinner took many a u-turn.  First I was going to make pesto meatballs, but when I opened up the container of basil I bought on Sunday I found that it had molded in the middle.  Lame. 

At least I got to use half of it for bruschetta!  (Ooh, I'm going to have to blog about making bruschetta sometime).  That's what I get for buying discounted basil. 

At that point I had already thawed my ground beef, but I didn't want to make burgers, meatloaf, or spaghetti again and I didn't have the ingredients or energy for burritos.  I thought, hey I'll make shepherd's pie!
I thought I still had potatoes.

I had 4 teeny tiny potatoes left.  Lame.  This is what happens when I don't meal plan for the week.
Shepherd's pie still sounded like the most appealing thing to this preggo tonight though, so I decided that I'd just top the ground beef stuff with another starch.  So instead of mashed potatoes, I made cheddar biscuits.

It's more like ground beef and veggies with a cheddar biscuit top.  Eh.  Whatever you want to call it, it was good.  It actually tasted a lot like a foil dinner from the good old university retreat days.

Here's what I did if you feel like recreating my tasty experiment.


Cheddar biscuit Shepherd's pie

Ingredients
1lb ground beef
4 carrots (I had really skinny carrots, so feel free to use less if you want to) diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 onion diced
2tbsp flour
1c water or beef broth

salt and pepper to taste

1 recipe Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits
(I substituted 1cup of wheat flour for 1cup of all purpose flour and onion powder for cayenne pepper.)


1.  Brown the beef, onions, and garlic together on medium heat and season with salt and pepper.

2.  Add carrots, peas, and green beans to the beef.  Saute for a minute or two then cover and reduce heat to low.  Let it cook for 5 or 6 minutes until the carrots are slightly soft.

3.  Sprinkle 2 tbsp flour over the beef and veggies and mix to incoporate.  When you can't see any more white, add the water or broth. ( I would have used beef broth if I had it tonight, but water and a bit more salt and pepper worked fine.)  Simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce is thick.

4.  Take the meat and veggies off the heat while you prepare the biscuit dough as stated in the link.

5.  Transfer your meat and veggies into a casserole dish and top with biscuits. 

6.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes then cover with foil and bake for another 10 minutes.   (I had to add the extra time because the biscuits take longer to bake on top of the meat.You need the foil on top so the biscuits don't burn) 



Mmmm.  Not bad looking for an experiment right?  Tasted decent too!

A simple yet satisfying dinner on the feast of a Saint who lived simply and wonderfully.



Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Dear God,

  Saint Francis taught us to live simply and be poor of heart.  Help us to follow his example so that we may draw closer to you, the Good Shepherd.  Amen.