Successful Recipe for Shepherd's Pie

Today as Paula and I were walking during our lunch hour she told me about a shepherd's pie recipe she'd come across that uses left-over stuffing and turkey. Made out of left-overs, it sounded quick, easy, and delicious. I don't have any left-over turkey, vegetables or stuffing. But I had Shepherd's Pie on the brain. I haven't had much exposure to this dish. My mother didn't make the dish, and it wasn't in my repertoire of recipes. I vaguely remember eating something one night at a party back in the early '70's that was called Shepherd's Pie and it was very good - but I don't remember the particulars about the dish as I was rather the worse for drink at the time (back in my wild party days). And so, it remained until a few years ago, shortly after one of my friends bought her first home and invited me over for supper, to revisit Shepherd's Pie. Now don't get me wrong - my friend is a great gal - and we've been friends a long time, but this dish was not a success. The mashed potatoes that topped the dish were lumpy (not mashed/whipped sufficiently) and dried out from baking; the edges were burnt but there were no nice crusty browned peaks of potatoes because my friend had smeared them over the top of the dish like watery frosting rather than giving the potatoes peaks; the ground beef had not been sufficiently broken up during the initial browning process and came out of the oven in hard, large tasteless lumps; the vegetables were soggy and equally tasteless. There was no gravy or sauce (something I'd been led to expect by my friend's description of the dish) - only a lot of water. I have no idea where all the water came from. I forced myself to eat two helpings, to be a good guest and a good friend. After hearing Paula's recipe for turkey Shepherd's Pie, I thought to myself, "Self, you can make a Shepherd's Pie for yourself." I also thought "and it had better turn out better than my friend's unfortunately Shepherd's Pie." I had ground beef at home, for a planned Hamburger Helper casserole. I needed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and something for a gravy. A quick stop at the Pick and Save, and this is what I made for myself this evening - flying by the seat of my pants, sans recipe (I don't do that very often, it ususally doesn't work out well for me): Ingredients 1/2 pound ground beef, browned and drained 4 "servings" of instant mashed potatoes prepared per box instruction (but with extra margarine and I would recommend using less salt, mine turned out too salty using box instructions) - about 2 cups 1/2 of regular size can tomato soup, undiluted 8 ozs. (about 1/2 of a 16 oz. package) frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans) While I was browning the ground beef I cooked the veggies in the microwave per package directions (about 8 minutes on high). After I drained the cooked ground beef, I dumped it in a 9 inch pie plate, drained the veggies and dumped them into the pie plate too. I then mixed the ground beef and veggies together with 1/2 can of the undiluted tomato soup and added some salt and pepper. I used tomato soup because it's one of my favorites, but I think the recipe would also work with cream of mushroom or golden mushroom soup. I then made the instant mashed potatoes. Yes, yes, I should have used regular mashed potatoes, only I didn't have any left-overs and I didn't feel like buying a couple of Idahos, peeling them and cooking them up. The whole point of this recipe is EASE. Using instant mashed potatoes the recipe went together quickly, but if you have left-over mashed potatoes or time to make fresh, go for it! If I were using left-over mashed potatoes I would whip in some milk so they don't over-dry while browning in the oven. I spread the meat/veggies/soup mixture around the bottom of the pie plate, and then plopped small spoonfuls of mashed potatoes on top. I lightly spread the potatoes together to cover voids over the meat mixture, making sure there were plenty of peaks and valleys, and popped the dish into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. It probably could have gone for another 5 minutes, for more browning of the potatoes - but you wouldn't want to bake too long as the potatoes will dry out, unless you make your potatoes a bit more watery to extend the browning time. The dish came out bubbling, with the potatoes lightly browned and crusty around the edges of the dish. I let it cool about 15 minutes and served myself. The "pie" held together nicely in quarter slices and was not watery or soupy at all. I have to say, this is a successful dish! I ate half of it at one sitting! I stashed the other half for tomorrow night. This recipe would probably fill out better in an 8 inch pie plate but using my 9 inch glass pie plate worked fine. The recipe can easily be doubled and would then fill my 9 inch pie plate.