Comfort Food, Easy and Great Tasting

Basic Meat ‘N’ Taters

You just can’t get more basic than this comfort food I’ve served the family for years. I don’t remember how I came up with the idea for this, but, we’ve found Shepherd’s Pie, which is similar. In fact, we’ve found Shepherd’s Pie everywhere, a restaurant in the middle of nowhere in Ireland, at Disney’s Epcot, and at our favorite Irish Pub, McGuire’s, in Pensacola. Maybe it has something to do with potatoes, an Irish staple and food Americans embrace in our comfort foods (French Fries, mashed potatoes…).Sometimes, in restaurants, it’s made with lamb, sometimes stew meat, but I’ve brought it down a notch, using basic ground beef. Some restaurants make it, and you can too, with other veggies, such as carrots, celery, or green beans, mixed in with the meat. The common denominator is that the meat layer is covered with mashed potatoes. How can you get better than that?!

Meat ‘n’ Taters can be dressed up at the top level too. The potato layer can be topped with cheddar cheese, canned fried onions, Panko (coarse Japanses bread crumbs), or all three. It’s also a great use for leftover crushed potato chips. The last chips and crumbs from a bag of potato chips can be stored in a baggie in the freezer for uses like this.

In fact, you can add your own touches to this basic dish, and it will still taste better than fancier dishes at a formal dinner party. This is a guideline for you to flex your cooking muscles easily, and have results almost guaranteed to please anyone.

For 4 to 6 servings (we always go back for seconds):

Basic Meat ‘N’ Taters

* 2 lbs. lean ground beef

* 3 to 4 cups mashed potatoes- freshly-made, leftovers, real or instant (you will want to dilute them a little with milk, to make spreadable)

* Salt and pepper, to taste (I use sea salt, but regular is fine)

* Seasoning, optional- Cajun, chili seasoning, or seasoned salt (omit regular or sea salt)

* Minced onions, optional, and to taste- if using dehydrated, rehydrate in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons water, for about 5 minutes

* toppings- ¾ cup shredded cheddar, Mexican/taco cheese, Panko, canned fried onions, or potato chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Add rehydrated onions and seasonings. Drain any grease. While beef is cooking, make mashed potatoes.

Place beef mixture in a sprayed 2-3 quart baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes, then toppings of your choice.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, until heated throughout and cheese (if used) is melted. Potatoes may be browned under broiler of a couple of minutes.

Serve with ketchup, if desired. Vegetables and salad round out a quick dinner everyone will love. It’s great when you can be a hero to the family with a dinner so simple.

Hope you enjoy this dish, and have fun with adding your touches to it.

Kathy Lowe