Buppy Cooks Comfort Food

First though, we shall start with a movie review. One of my new coworkers and I get along rather well and seem to have a similar taste in movies. We decided to trade a few that we were shocked the other hadn't seen; I lent him Team America and he borrowed me House of 1,000 Corpses (we'll call this one HC) as well as Fierce Creatures (FC). HC was awful. Horrible. As in, almost 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back. FC was better, although still not something I'd watch again. He assumed I'd enjoy HC since it came out (and supposedly explains) The Devil's Rejects, which I love. I didn't. It doesn't. Don't do it. Period.

Now, onto better topics . . .

Because my hours at my new job are quite different from what I'd been working almost since I moved to MD, meals are different now as well. I don't get home until 7:10pm or so on weeknights, later if I get caught up with something at work. Because of this, Buppy usually feeds the kids before I get home, then he and I eat together after they've gone to bed. I've told him he can make the meal and I'll just reheat it when I get home (so that all 3 of them can have dinner together) but he chooses to wait for me. How sweet! This past week he and the kids were all pretty sick, so Wed. night I picked up some hot & sour soup for Buppy and I (as well as a few egg rolls). It was the first time I'd had that kind of soup and it was good; I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I did. And man, they make some bangin' egg rolls at that Chinese place too!
Thursday night Buppy made Shepard's Pie, which is something I've never made but he's really good at. Granted it's a pretty simple recipe to throw together, but he makes it just right. Friday night was a chicken-broccoli braid, but that will be blogged about at another time. Super tasty too!

Buppy's Shepard's Pie

1 lb. ground beef or turkey (we use turkey now as it's healthier)
1 packet Lipton Beefy Mushroom soup mix
1 jar Heinz mushroom gravy
Corn (as much as you'd like)
Potatoes (enough to make as thick a layer on top as you'd like)
Shredded cheese (whatever kind you like)

So here's what Buppy tells me he does: He peels and chops up some spuds, then boils them to make mashed potatoes. While they're cooking, he browns (or whatever color ground turkey turns when it cooks) the ground meat with the soup mix in a large skillet on the stovetop. If using beef, he then drains off the fat; this step is not necessary if using ground turkey as there is nothing to drain off. From here he mixes in the gravy. He pours the meat/soup/gravy into a large casserole dish, then layers on the corn (as well as any other veggies I might let him add.) I think it'd be swell with some sauteed mushrooms and onions, but that's not how Buppy does it. I think he'd put green beans in, but I vetoed them on Thursday. I wasn't feeling bean-y enough that day. Anyway, at this point the potatoes should be tender, so he drains them and mashes 'em up with some butter (margarine, actually) and whatever other stuff he wants to add. This week he made them garlic mashers; yum! He heaps the potatoes on top of the corn layer in the casserole dish, then throws on some shredded cheese and pops it into the oven. I'm guessing he bakes it at about 350F for half an hour. After all, he's really just making sure everything is nice and hot and the cheese melts. We like to broil it for a few minutes after the half hour is up to get the cheese a nice golden color. I'm so glad he can (and likes to) cook!

I was too busy eating to remember to take a picture. I'm such a bad dog.

I got the idea to try and make this as a vegetarian dish too, using a variety of mushrooms instead of meat and adding in some chopped onion (I love onion!) too. When I make it happen, I'll post how it goes. Doesn't that sounds like a delish vegetarian dish!?!

Note: I'm linking this up to Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap for January 13th, 2011; it's about how we make it easier for our families to swallow veggies. Not hard, 'cause I love veggies, but check out her website for more great ideas.