My Husband’s Favorite Meal

It’s Father’s Day week.  Happy early wishes to all the dads.  There are several different “dads” in my life…men who mean so much to me.  Of course, my own dad – whom I seem to miss more every year since he has been gone.   There is also my sweet husband – such a good dad to our children – and even my brother who has two great boys.  I love each of them in a special way and I hope Father’s Day is special for them both!

Today, I am thinking particularly about my hubbie. His dependability, his practicality, and his loyalty have been the rocks of stability that all of us – both of our children but especially me – have depended upon over the years.  Especially during the years of grief and missing Tyler. Dads are often “forgotten grievers” but he continues to support each of us, and has grown himself along the way. He is even becoming somewhat of a “softy” in his old age! 🙂

I thought I would share one of his favorite recipes. It is so incredibly easy that I almost hesitate to share it – but he loves it! Shepherd’s Pie! Just the name of this dish would make my children cringe when they were young.  It is definitely not one of their favorites but, growing up, they knew every time it was Dad’s turn to pick dinner, there would be shepherd’s pie for dinner! My hubbie loves any dish that mixes everything together.  The rest of us, not so much.

This dinner is definitely a complete meal in one dish deal.  With just the two of us for meals and I don’t eat meat…well, this one is all for him:)  I don’t make it nearly as often as I once did because it can be tricky to make a small portion, but he will even eat the leftovers of this dish:)

Shepherd’s Pie

Brown about one pound of ground beef in a skillet. I season my ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and some dried onions. Season yours to taste. Drain the beef and turn the heat to low. Stir in a can of golden mushroom soup and about a half can of water.  I have also used regular cream of mushroom soup and even jarred beef gravy here but my husband likes golden mushroom soup the best.  (The soup turns into a tasty gravy).  A more traditional shepherd’s pie would have mushrooms added here….but Hubbie is not a mushroom fan so that would ruin it for him.  Simmer the meat mixture on a low boil while you make your mashed potatoes.

Make mashed potatoes your favorite way. I do not care for “homemade” mashed potatoes and neither does my husband (very nice how that works out).  We also do not care for the potatoes flakes but usually use fresh mashed potatoes, such as Ore Ida in the refrigerator section, that you microwave. I season these to taste with milk, butter (plenty of butter), salt/pepper, and sometimes sour cream.

When the potatoes are ready, transfer the ground beef mixture to a casserole dish. Layer your favorite vegetable on top. I have used peas, corn, peas/carrots or even mixed vegetables. This is often a good time to use up leftover veggies in the fridge. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the vegetables.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 until the potatoes are golden brown and the gravy is bubbly. If your pan is shallow, you might want to put your casserole dish on a baking pan to catch boilovers. Serve with fresh dinner rolls or biscuits and it is a complete dinner.

Will you be making a favorite meal this weekend?  Maybe grilling out?  (We are terrible grillers around here!!)  Let me know what’s cooking at your house this weekend.  And happy Father’s Day to all the special men in your life!!

 

2 thoughts on “My Husband’s Favorite Meal

  1. Sounds delish. I am going to try this recipe. It is sure to appeal to my PC, too. A blogger friend of mine who lives in London shared this recipe with me. Want to make it this week:

    So here is the recipe for my minced beef pie:

    You will need
    1 pack of shortcrust pastry
    1 lb minced beef
    1 onion chopped
    1 carrot grated
    1 tablespoon tomato puree
    1/4 pt beef stock
    1 tablespoon flour

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees

    Roll out pastry, cut out lid for top of pie and then line pie dish with the rest of the pastry

    Fry sliced onion until soft
    Add beef mince and cook until brown all over
    Add grated carrot and tomato puree
    Stir in flour
    Season with salt and pepper
    Add stock and stir until thickened.

    Leave to cool a little before you put meat mixture in pie, add pastry lid. Brush lid with a little milk
    Bake for about 25 – 30 mins or until golden brown on top.

    We normally have this with either mashed potato, mashed sweet potato or jacket potatoes and a green vegetable. It serves 4 so we always freeze the half that isn’t used!

    1. W,w this sounds good and like something my hubbie would enjoy for sure. And I would look so fancy with a pie crust on top and all:) I love that your friend serves it with jacket potatoes!!:)

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