Kentang Kotak [ Mashed Potato Casserole or Shepherds Pie ]

I love love love cooking casseroles. I have tons of reason why I love it, some of them are: its easy to store if you have left over, its a good idea to bring for a potluck, and the fact that I can put my carbohydrate staple (such as pasta, rice, mashed potato) directly on top of the meat and let it slowly cooked together is pretty cool, I love how all the flavor mix together on every bite.

There are 2 things we have to cook in advance; mashed potato and the meat sauce.

Ingredients for mashed potato:
5 potato, peeled and diced
water
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp butter Tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)
2 Tbsp milk or cooking cream
Salt and pepper

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan, add water and cook until it boils, reduce the heat and cook for another 10 minutes  until it become fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and put it back on the stove, low heat for 1 minute, shaking the pan until the potatoes are dry.
2. On a skillet, saute butter and onion on low heat until the onion become caramelized, tender and translucent.
3. On the potato saucepan, mash the potatoes with potato masher or mixer, add caramelized onion and butter, Dijon mustard, milk or cooking cream, salt and pepper. Mash or stir until mixed well. We are looking for a rather dry and thick consistency so it will stay firm for topping the casserole.
4. Set aside and let it cool.


Ingredients for the meat sauce:
500 gr Ground meat
250 gr Button mushroom, cut in 6 or 8
1 Bell pepper, diced
½ can of corn kernel, drained
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic, finely chopped
a handful of fresh celery, chopped
1 Tsp dried Rosemary
1 Tsp dried Thyme
1 Tbsp beef broth powder
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp red wine (optional)
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1½ Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp water
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic on medium heat until it fragrant, add the meat in. Stir carefully and cover the skillet for around 5 minutes. Open the cover carefully and let it cook for another 10 minutes until the meat changes color, stir frequently.
2. Toss mushroom, bell pepper, corn, celery, Rosemary, Thyme, broth powder, Worcestershire, red wine, and black pepper. Stir until everything is well blended. Cover the skillet for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. At this point your sauce will have a lot of liquid from the vegetables and meat. Do not open the lid to often to reduce evaporation process
3. To thicken the sauce, mix the flour and water in small bowl then pour it into the sauce and bring to boil and stir thoroughly. The sauce will thicken fast enough so you have to watch out. Turn off the stove and put the skillet aside once you get the sauce thickness you desired (I like it not too drippy).
4. Get your oven ready on 375 F.
5. Prepare your casserole, put the meat sauce on the bottom of the casserole, try to spread it evenly then cover it with mashed potato topping. Altho we try to spread the mashed potato evenly, try not to make too flat surface, make ripples by running a spatula over on zigzag, diagonally. The edges it makes will give a crunchy bits and part on your mashed potato topping. (Or you can scoop the mashed potato with ice cream scooper).
6. Sprinkle the cheese evenly.
7. Bake on 375 F for 15 minutes and turn onto convection mode on 375 F for around 15 minutes or until the mashed potato gets a nice golden brown color.
8. Serve with any condiments you like, mine was Banana pepper pickles.

It might take around 1 to 2 hours to get everything done, but its all worth it!!
Happy cooking!