Cheesy Shepard's Pie with a Twist

I have confessed to you before that I am addicted to cooking shows.  Well for some reason, this week, nearly every cooking show, or cooking segment on a morning show has made some sort of casserole.  Is it national casserole week?  I don't know, but I figured I'd jump in on the bandwagon.

As you know, I grew up in a very Italian family and I had never heard of Shepard's Pie until I went to middle school got to eat cafeteria food for the first time in my life.  Well the Shepard's Pie in my school cafeteria was a scary concoction of ground beef, vegetables and gooey mashed potatoes on top. Back in the 70's when casseroles were all the rage, I tried to feed my family Shepard's Pie a few times, but it was not a hit.

This morning on the Today Show, Al Roker made Shepard's pie, and I got the idea I would try it again.  I did change his recipe drastically.  He used ground beef, I used left over cooked chicken. He made his gravy with dark beer and bullion, I used white wine and chicken stock, but  I did like his idea of putting cream cheese and sour cream in the mashed potatoes though.  Yumm.

This is a meal that lends itself to using up left overs, which is what prompted me to try it.  I had some left over cooked chicken in the freezer, left over green beans from dinner the other night, as well as a little bit of left over mashed potatoes.  I did have to cook more potatoes to make sure there was enough.

This is one of those recipes that you can adapt to whatever you have in your kitchen. Feel free to change up the combination of vegetables. Use red and green peppers if you like, or frozen mixed vegetables, the possibilities are endless. The ingredient list is long, but this went together in the time it took me to cook the potatoes, honestly!  Have fun with this!

3 cups diced cooked chicken
2 large potatoes cut up
1 onion diced
2 cloved minced garlic
1 cup of carrots diced
1 green beans, cut into small pieces
1 cup frozen corn
6 tablespoons butter divided
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine
about 2 cups chicken stock plus more for the mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (do not use garlic salt)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Begin by boiling the potatoes in salted water.  Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet and add the onions, carrots and garlic.  When the vegetables have softened after about five minutes add the corn, green beans, salt, pepper and rosemary.  Saute until the corn is cooked.  Now add the flour of the pan and cook for about three minutes over medium high heat.  Add the wine and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add the chicken broth and worcestershire and cook over high heat until mixture thickens.  You may add more broth if it gets too thick.  Remove from heat and add the parmesan cheese.  Mix well.  Prepare a casserole dish with non stick cooking spray and pour the mixture into the casserole.  Now drain the potatoes and return to the pot.  Add the cream cheese, sour cream butter and garlic powder, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and mash.  Add chicken broth until you have a smooth consistency.  Spread the potatoes over the casserole and top with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, Heat your broiler, and place under the broiler for about three minutes, or until the top begins to brown.  Enjoy!

Please leave questions and comments in the comment section below this post and don't forget to share with your friends!

Happy Cooking!
Carol

a.k.a.
Nonnie