Shepherd's Pie (or Cottage Pie for purists)

Disclaimer: I know that Shepherd's Pie is specifically made with mutton and that it should really be called Cottage Pie since I make it with beef, but, too bad :P In Ireland they call it all Shepherd's Pie and we tend to do the same in Americaland so deal with it :D

So, I actually made this for dinner when my sister was here last week, but apparently I took a picture of it so :D Now you must suffer through hearing about it!

Shepherd's Pie is pretty easy to make, but the one thing that really makes it for me is the potatoes! If you use fake mashed potatoes for the top, it's just squishy and gross. I happened to have some left over Yukon gold potatoes that I mashed up for the top and it was divine :D The meat part was a mix of onion, carrot, peas, corn, and some other spices to give the beef a bit of kick. Topped it with cheddar cheese and baked it until it was gold - best thing to do is rough up the top of the potatoes with a fork before you bake so it gets crunchy peaks.

Fortunately I made lots, since everyone had seconds!