Vintage Thingies Thursday: Shepherd's Pie in Pyrex

Welcome to another edition of Vintage Thingies Thursday! Today I am showcasing my new collection of vintage Pyrex, well at least one piece! And I'm offering up a great recipe to fill your Pyrex or other baking dishes.I've started collecting the Spring Blossom line of Pyrex and the matching dishware by Corelle. I'm a big fan of green (can you tell?) This pattern goes great with my dark red and yellow kitchen. I love the vintage look as well. It's fairly easy to find at yard sales and thrift stores and the prices of the pieces aren't that outrageous.

So check out this yummy Shepherd's Pie in my vintage Pyrex casserole dish. (And be sure to check Pyrex Love for more great vintage Pyrex info).

Shepherd's Pie
from "The Harlow's Bread and Cracker Cookbook" ©1989 (located in Epping, NH)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds hamburger, ground lamb, or ground turkey (I used 1.4 lbs of local ground moose)
• 2 medium onions, finely diced (used local onions from a veggie stand on Oak St. in Rochester, NH)
• 3 TBSP tomato paste
• Thyme (for beef version) or rosemary (for lamb version) or sage (for turkey version); season to taste
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups beef stock (chicken stock with ground turkey)
  
• 2 cups (or 1 frozen 10-ounce package) whole kernel corn (I used my frozen corn that I sliced off the cob this summer)
• 2 cup (or 1 frozen 10-ounce package) green peas (I used my local frozen green beans since we prefer that vegetable)
• 3 pounds potatoes (local from Wally's Farmstand on Rt. 236 in S. Berwick, ME)
• 2 eggs (local from Elf's Garden Center)
• 2/3 cup milk (local from Brookford Farm)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Saute the meat with onions. When it is cooked, stir in the tomato paste and herbs, then spread the meat out in a layer in a large (or several small - as I did) casserole dish(es). Make a gravy by cooking the oil and flour together to make a roux, then stirring in the beef stock. Sprinkle the corn and the peas (or veggies of your choice) over the meat, then spoon the gravy over them.

Peel and boil the potatoes, then mash them, whipping in the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper a little at a time. With a cooking spoon or a spatula, spread the mashed potato over the top of the casserole(s) so that it makes a smooth top layer. Just for good looks, mark a cross-hatched pattern in the potato with a fork.

At this point, the casserole(s) can be wrapped and frozen if you are not ready to cook right away. To finish the dish, it may be microwaved or baked in a conventional oven at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. I prefer to use a conventional oven so that the potatoes crisp up on top. In either case, cook the casserole so taht it is piping hot all the way through.
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So there it is! A very yummy casserole to make as the fall season continues to set upon us. Give it a try and feel free to play around with the meat and veggie choices.

Oh and here's a quick picture of my large serving bowl in the coordinating Corelle pattern. The biscuits are beer biscuits, but I refuse to give you the recipe as these things were one big flop! Let's just say they were bland and very rubbery! Just enjoy the pretty picture...

And be sure to stop by Confessions of an Apron Queen for more Vintage Thingies Thursday posts!