Last week I had asked my husband one day what he wanted for dinner. We had a variety of foods in the house to work with - I had some steak, ground beef, ground chicken and regular chicken. He picked beef, and wouldn't you know that the daily e-mail of the day topic from Cooking.com was beef!
This dish caught my eye right away, but we didn't have any hash browns in the house. I decided to make a version of the dish anyway, but using mashed potatoes.
I used instant mashed potatoes because I had some in the house, but my lovely cousin-in-law who follows my blog told me she had a really good mashed potato recipe that she made that she had to e-mail me. (Melissa, I am still waiting!)
This dish took some time to compile, not too much time, but to me, it is not something I could throw together quickly after work for dinner. I also feel that it tasted better as leftovers rather than fresh. The night we ate it, I was like, eh, it's okay. My husband really enjoyed it - I think I am just not a mashed potatoes over beef kind of person because I don't LOVE Shepherd's Pie either. But then when we ate our leftovers, somehow the potatoes tasted much better with the beef. Weird!!
Despite it taking a little bit of time, it was really easy to make. I substituted dried mustard in the original recipe for turmeric, because we don't own turmeric. It worked just fine. I also didn't roast the broccoli, and steamed it instead. (I tend to burn vegetables every time I try to roast them, so steaming was by far the better way to go.) Since I steamed and didn't roast, I could eliminate one of the tablespoons of oil. I also used olive oil instead of canola oil. Also, since I didn't use hash browns, I had no need for the egg.
The recipe I am going to post is for 8 servings, but I halved it to make just 4.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets (about 6 cups)
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (we use 93%)
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
4 cups low-fat milk (we use skim)
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, preferably orange
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (we used dried mustard)
4 cups frozen hash-brown or precooked shredded potatoes *(we used a pouch of instant garlic mashed potatoes))
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Canola or olive oil cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Directions:Preheat oven to 450°F.
Toss broccoli with 1 tablespoon oil in a large bowl. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once halfway though, until just soft and browned in spots, about 15 minutes. *** (Again, I did not roast the broccoli, I used my handy dandy microwaveable vegetable steamer and steamed it!)
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add beef and onion and cook, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon, until the beef is browned and the onion is softened, 10 to 12 minutes.
Stir in Worcestershire, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Whisk milk and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat (but watch that the milk doesn't bubble over!), whisking often, until bubbling and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, 6 to 8 minutes total.
Remove from the heat and stir in Cheddar, 3/4 teaspoon salt and turmeric (dried mustard) until the cheese is melted.
Spread the beef mixture in a 9-by-13-inch (or similar 3-quart) baking dish. Top with the broccoli and pour the cheese sauce evenly over the top.
Combine potatoes, egg, pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole. Coat the top with cooking spray. ***(Since I used instant mashed potatoes, all I did was add some pepper into them. I did not mix them with an egg or more salt, or put cooking spray over the top of them.)
Bake the casserole until it is bubbling and the potatoes are beginning to brown, about 40 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika. ***(I actually sprinkled the paprika on top of the mashed potatoes BEFORE I baked the dish. I thought it tasted great!)
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
