Shepherd Pie-Thit Bo Xay voi Khoai Lang Tay Cha Bot

Shepherd's pie or Cottage pie is a comfort dish original from British (United Kingdom) consisted of a layer of ground meat underneath a layer of mashed potatoes.  This recipe adapted from Rachael Ray and Alton Brown.

Ingredients for 4 serving (2 cup each)

Mashed Potatoes

2 pounds potatoes (my favorite is Yukon)
2 Tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup of whole milk

Meat filling

1 pound ground beef

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small yellow onion about 1 cup coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely mined

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon chopped Thyme leave about 3-4 sprigs, fresh or frozen

1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup chicken broth or beef broth

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

Topping

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parley

1/4 cup grated cheese like mixed cheese; cheddar, Parmesan, etc. (optional)

1 pinch of sweet paprika or red power pepper
4 -2 cups ramekins ovenproof
8x8 baking casserole dish
1 rimmed baking sheet

Direction

1. Peel and cut potatoes in small 1/2 inch chunks.  Place in a medium pot, cover with cold water.  Bring it to a boil. Then lower the heat down to gentle simmer, covered. Cook until soft and tender about 10-15 minutes.  Drain potatoes in a colander then return to the same pot on low heat. Add butter, stir around with a potato masher or a spoon until butter melt.  Add salt, pepper, and egg yolk.  Continue mashing potato and gradually adding milk just enough to make potato smooth and creamy.
2. While potatoes boiling, prepare the filling.  Heating oil in a large 12 inch pan over medium high heat. Stir in garlic until fragrant and slightly tan.  Stir in onion, carrot, beef, salt and pepper.  Cook and crumble meat about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the mixture with flour and toss/stir to coat about 1 minutes. Scrape the mixture at bottom of the pan careful to prevent burning. Adjust the heat lower if needed.  Stir in chicken broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and thyme.  Mix well.  Bring it to a boil.  Then reduce the heat down to slow, covered, simmering about 10 minutes.  Stir in peas and corn. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
3. Preheat oven to 400 oF with a rack in middle position.  Divide the filling in 4 ramekins ( 2 cup size, ovenproof) or a  8x8 casserole dish.spread evenly.  Spoon potatoes over filling. Use a spoon or fork, spread potato  evenly atop of filling. Press potatoes slightly against the edge to  preventing  the mixture bubbling around the edges. Make curling pattern on top of potatoes.  Then sprinkle with red pepper, grated cheese and 1/2 parley.  Put them on a rimmed baking tray and bake until potatoes slightly golden brown about 20-25 minutes.  Sprinkle remaining chopped parley and let them rest at least 15 minutes before serving.  leftover can be freeze in air tight container.