Where Latin Flair Meets With The Irish

I have a confession to make – I’m a Latina and I love food! 

I can’t help it. I love to taste and experiment with foods from other cultures and countries.  I love all types of foods from all over the world. What can I say, I’m a big time foodie! My top favorites are Italian, Chinese, Jamaican, Irish and Indian food.  My husband’s brother-in-law is Irish and his mother is one of the best cooks I know and the sweetest women you’ll ever meet too. She loves to cook and can make a mean Irish Soda bread, stuffing, Guinness Cake (with a whole bottle of Guinness beer!LOL) and of course, Shepherd’s pie. She even taught me how to make those delicious recipes but the one dish that I continue to make in my home is Shepherd’s pie, but with a Latina flair! And my kids LOVE it!

It’s really easy to make and the best part is that you can sneak some veggies into your child’s meal too. 😉

Here’s what you need:

5 pounds of potatoes (Russet or Idaho works great for mashing)
2 pounds of lean ground beef
1 bag/box of frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, green beans, peas)
1-2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour (it depends how thick you want it)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of tomato paste or sauce – which ever you have on hand.
Seasonings that you would use to season meat.  I use a packet of sazon, adobo, pepper, cilantro, sofrito, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano. (I like my foods well-seasoned ;))

Steps:

Peel and cut potatoes as you would for mashed potatoes. Dont’ forget to place the potatoes in cold water. You don’t want your papas (potatoes) to be hard on the inside.

While the potatoes are boiling, Brown the meat in a pan and add seasonings while you are browning it. I think if you season the meat while it browns, it makes the meat more flavorful because the seasonings has time to marinate with the meat.

Drain the meat if it’s too greasy.  Add your flour by sprinkling it over the meat. 

Stir. Then add your paste/tomato sauce.  Add the veggies and mix it around. 

Place your meat/veggie mixture into a casserole dish and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, drain it and place them back into the hot pot.  Add your ingredients that you would use for mashed potatoes. I use warm milk, butter, cream cheese and mayonnaise.

Once the mashed potatoes are done, place the potatoes over the meat & veggie mixture and place it in a preheated oven set to 350 degrees for 30 minutes and voila! You’ve got dinner.

Serve it with some dinner rolls and a nice salad and you’ve got yourself a well-balanced meal for you and your family.

Buen Provecho!! Happy Eating!!