SHEPHERD'S PIE CHOWDAH

What do you do when it's cold outside and
you are not feeling so well? 

You know those times when you just need some comfort food.  Food that is hot and tasty. 

When times like these roll around, I grab a big glass of this....

And start cooking!

When I think of comfort food and living in New England, I think of Shepherd's Pie.  I never had Shepherd's Pie growing up but since my husband and I have been together, it has become one of my favorite simple, hearty meals to prepare. 

To me, it is the ultimate comfort food.  We traditionally make it with a layer of seasoned browned hamburger, a layer of creamed and whole kernel corn mixed together and spread on top of the beef and then top all of that off with mashed potatoes.  This is placed in the oven and baked until bubbly and nicely browned on top. 

Today, I decided to mix it up a bit and combine the comfort of the Shepherd's Pie with the comfort of a nice hot soup full of vegetables and healthier ingredients than we normally use.  If this sounds like something you and your family would enjoy, come along with me!


I started out with 93/7 Lean White Ground Turkey...vegetarian fed....humanely raised...without antibiotics and growth hormones....

To that, I added chopped carrots, celery, garlic, onion, red bell pepper and jalapeno along with a whole bunch of spices that included turmeric, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder and Weber's Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning and sautéed it all together with olive oil.

I added some chopped potatoes....

And sautéed them with the meat and veggies....

Normally, I would add chicken broth but I didn't have any so I added this instead...

I de-glazed the pan, stirred it all together and brought it up to temp...

While I was cooking, I got a wonderful surprise when the grandgirl and her Mom stopped by for a visit.  She is feeling much better today and was ready to help her Granna cook....

I mashed some of the potatoes in the soup to thicken it up and then added some water and a little half and half.  I added some frozen corn, a couple of bay leaves and a couple of more sliced potatoes. 

It just needed a little something more so I took out a couple of slices of bacon from the freezer and trimmed it down so that it didn't have very much fat on it.  I sautéed it in a skillet a little bit before adding it to the soup.

I let the soup simmer for a little while and when we couldn't stand it any longer, it was time to eat.

Sometimes you just need to add a little something to clear the sinuses so my bowl got a couple of shakes of this....

You can take the girl out of Louisiana but you can't take the Louisiana out of the girl!

All of the comfort of Shepherd's Pie and all of the comfort of Potato Corn Chowder. I will be making this again, I'm sure.


I hope you are having a good week!  Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today.

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