Mini Shepherd Pie

I like to bake shepherd pie because , it is really a filling complete meal in itself. You got meats (chicken, beef, lamb), veggies (carrot, mushroom, onions) and of course the mashed potatoes. originally Shepherd pie is originally made with lamb, it originated to England to in the early 18th century where North England and Scotland have a large number of sheeps. Nowdays, however we used the term Shepherd Pie is used widely to denote all types of meat fillings. It is also known as Cottage Pies.

This time around I tried my hand at making this mini shepherd pie, into indidividual serving to be taken for a picnic at the beach recently. I have adapted the recipe from AllRecipes.com and modified it to my taste as follows:-

Ingredients
7 potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 tablespon butter

few teaspoon of milk

500g lean ground beef

1 big onion, diced
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (i used campbell's soup)
1/2 cup of milk

mixed italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste

Cheese topping

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender, about 15-18 minutes. Drain ,then mashed the potatoes with 3 TBS butter and a few TBS milk. Set aside.
3.In a large skillet, brown the onions, follow by the ground beef over medium-high heat unitl tender. Drain fat from pan. Stir in mushrooms, mixed vegetables, mushroom soup, milk, and herbs,salt and pepper; heat through.

4.Put a thin layer of mashed potatoes into the bottom of each alumunium cup,spooned in the meat filling, cover with mashed potatoes, and layer the top with some shreded cheese .
5.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese are golden. Served hot .