Guinness Shepherd's Pie

It's almost St. Patrick's Day! I heard of this dish somewhere recently, and decided it would be a perfect dish for the holiday weekend. I had to make it a day early because people weren't going to be home to share it with on the actual day, so I made it tonight, and everyone can just binge on leftovers for the next couple of days. It was also a nice excuse to get some Guinness beer for celebrating as well! ; )

I looked online for a good recipe for this, and I'd say it turned out pretty good. I think next time though I'd adapt my original Shepherd's Pie recipe I normally use and add the Guinness to it. But this one works pretty well. I had to adapt it a little so I could dirty fewer dishes and some of the original ingredient amounts didn't quite work. Anyways, check out the recipe below.

Here's the recipe adapted from The Hungry House Wife.

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds ground lamb

1 (1lb) bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (I used a combination of two different vegetable bags, but this can be adapted to anyones tastes)

2 packets of dry Brown Gravy Mix

1 medium onion

Olive Oil

2 bottles Guinness Beer (I used Guinness Extra Stout, which reduced nicely, but you could also use drought)

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (We had some Mexican blend cheese already shredded in the fridge so that's what I used)

3 pounds baking potatoes

¼- ½ cup milk

1 stick butter

Salt and pepper

Green onions

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender.

3. Drain completely and place back in pot so all of the water evaporates.

4. Add butter to pot with potatoes along with some salt and pepper.

5. Mash until smooth, while adding the milk for a medium consistency. Then use a hand mixer to whip until all lumps are smooth.

6. Cook and drain ground beef.

7. Place drained beef back in skillet and add onions, cooking until translucent.

8. Add tomato paste to meat

9. In a medium sauce pan, prepare the brown gravy according to package directions, however, use beer for half the liquid called for (1 cup water, 1 cup beer)

10. Add one bottle of beer to meat mixture, cooking until beer is almost completely evaporated.

11. Pour gravy mixture into meat mixture and cook all together until you get a nice thick gravy.

12. Add mixed vegetables to the meat and stir together.

13. In a 2 quart baking dish, add meat as bottom layer with the vegetables, and then add the mashed potatoes. Spread with a spatula so it completely covers all of the meat, sealing it completely. Top with shredded cheese.

14. Cook at 375 for about 20 minutes or until cheese in nice and bubbly. (You may want to put it under the broiler for the last few minutes of cooking time, because it won't get golden and bubbly at the regular baking temperature.) Top with some chopped green onions and serve!