sweet potato shepherd's pie

I take pride in regularly attempting to ruin my boyfriend's Netflix recommendations. See, I like cartoons and nature shows, whereas he's more of the blood-and-guts type. After I watched a few episodes of What Not To Wear, a whole stream of terrible reality shows invaded the queue.

He surprised me by actually watching one of them--Extreme Cheapskates. Yes, this show is about as disastrous as you'd imagine, but one of the couples had a clever name for a very sensible idea--a "fiscal fast," where you spend a few days trying not to spend any money and using up what's in your house.

Now, they do it for a whole week. This is perfect for people who have vast pantries with hidden things, but in my apartment with relatively little storage space it didn't make much sense to do it for that long--we'd be eating straight ketchup by day 4. I knew I could do it for at least a day or two, though, so I set about cleaning out my freezer.

Grass-fed ground beef? Check. Frozen corn? Check. Things were looking promising until I remembered that I didn't have any regular potatoes.

My bag of sweet potatoes caught the corner of my eye. Checking the internet, it seemed like people had done this before. That gave me all the confidence I needed.

And let me tell you, it paid off. It turned out so much more spectacular than I imagined! It was even followed by a request to make it again, and soon, which means it wasn't just crazy old me who enjoyed it.

I don't say this often--because I am frequently a purist--but I like this so much more than the original! It will definitely be a staple in this apartment as the frigid Oregon winter encroaches, and it should be in yours, too!

Yum-o!

~*~

Serves 2-3
Total time: ~45 minutes

4 small or 2 large sweet potatoes
4 tbsp salted butter
2/3 cup, divided, + 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
1 rib celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash sweet potatoes. Pierce skin with knife several times on either side of each potato. Place on a plate and cover with 2 wet paper towels. Microwave for 6 minutes. Turn sweet potatoes over and microwave for another 6 minutes.

Once sweet potatoes are done, cut in half and use a spoon to scoop out the insides into a bowl. Add 3 tbsp of butter and 1/3 cup of broth. Whip, whip, whip away! If you need your mixture to be warmer to melt your butter, you can zap it occasionally in the microwave or do this in a pot over the stove. Once butter and broth have soaked into the potatoes, add your next 1/3 cup of broth and whip until you have a light, airy mixture.

Unmashed...

Whipped into shape!

In an oiled pan over medium-high heat, cook garlic, celery, and carrot until they begin to soften. Add your ground beef, then add salt & pepper. Cook beef until brown.

Add a handful of frozen corn or whatever veggies you like to your beef mixture.

Corn is pretty much required in shepherd's pie!

Create a well in the center of your beef mixture (push the beef to the sides of the pan so that there is a clearing in the middle). Put in 1 tbsp salted butter in the center and 1 tbsp flour, stirring to remove lumps and mix the flour into the butter. Let cook for 2 minutes, then mix to distribute it through your filling. Add your extra 1/2 cup broth and stir. Once broth has soaked in and a gravy-like sauce forms, about 2 minutes, you can take your pan off the stove.

Almost there...

Spray a thin coating of cooking oil onto a loaf pan. Load in your beef mixture. Lightly spread your mashed sweet potato over top. Bake for 15 minutes until bubbling slightly.

Before baking...

All done!

Let it set for 5 minutes, then scoop away!