I’ve been on an Alton Brown kick lately. His Southern biscuits are heavenly and super easy, and so I was inspired to try his Shepherd’s Pie. (Really Cottage Pie since it’s made with ground beef, but let’s not quibble.) I halved Alton’s recipe, since it serves 8, and I used bacon drippings instead of olive oil, since the ground beef we had was super lean, and I added a tiny bit of maple syrup. Crazy delicious!!!

For the mashed potatoes:
1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled and cut into ½” chunks
1/8 cup half & half
3 Tbsp butter, cut in chunks
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the meat filling:
1 Tbsp bacon drippings or olive oil
1 medium chopped red onion
2 carrots, washed well and diced small
½ tsp garlic powder
1 lb ground beef
½ tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp tomato paste
½ cup chicken broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried rosemary, roughly crumbled
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
½ tsp maple syrup
handful frozen corn kernels
handful frozen peas

Boil potatoes with a good pinch of salt in a large pot of water. Turn down to a simmer and let cook 15-20 minutes until very tender. Drain, add butter and mash. Stir in half & half, salt and pepper and check seasoning.

In another large pot, add bacon drippings or olive oil. Add onions and carrots and cook over medium heat 5-6 minutes, until onions are a translucent and carrots are softening. Add garlic powder, ground beef, salt and pepper and cook several minutes, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid at the bottom of the pot has dried up and the meat is browned. Add the flour and stir well. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme and maple syrup, and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes until everything has thickened up a bit. Stir in corn and peas, and check seasoning.

Spread in a 9×11 baking dish. Drop the mashed potatoes by heaps onto the beef and spread to cover completely.

Bake at 400 for 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest for a bit before serving.

You can dab the top with butter, and if you want the top with browner bits, you can put it under the broiler for 2 minutes.