Wheat, Soy and Milk-Free Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is a great, hearty fall and winter meal that I used to make frequently. Unfortunately, it usually calls for butter, cream and milk along with regular flour.  Since I am trying to spare myself from making 2 dinners, I have finally made a good milk-soy-wheat free version that the 2 youngest kids can eat. If you like a bit more kick, be a little more free with the seasonings, particularly with the garlic salt and pepper, or add some mustard later.  This version was meant to be easily prepared... so you could spend more time and add real garlic and bacon if you wanted to. I wanted it prepared in under 20 minutes and something I could also prepare during nap time and pop in the oven at 5 pm.

5 small (or 3 large) potatoes, peeled. Halve the large potatoes, but you can leave the small potatoes whole.

3 large carrots (peeled and cut into smaller sections)*

*(2 cups of baby carrots that are already peeled work as well).

1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, chopped.

1 pound ground meat (turkey, beef, lamb, pork, etc)

1 cup sweet rice flour

2/3 cup of rice milk

2 tbsp of lard (or oil)

salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic salt and nutmeg

1. Peel and boil potatoes and carrots together.

2. In a large skillet, soften the onions.

3. Once the onions are soft, add the meat. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Let the meat brown on medium-lower heat. Stir it around so it crumbles nicely.

4. In a small sauce pan, make the white sauce.  This is a quick and focused sauce. It can easily burn, so have your whisk handy and don't answer the phone!  First, melt the 2 tbsp of lard in the saucepan over medium heat.  Add the rice flour and whisk it all together. It gets very clumpy and sticky. Slowly add the rice milk as you whisk.  Soon you should have a smooth white sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Place the browned meat in a casserole dish (either a round or square one, the rectangular ones are too big) and pour the white sauce on top and add a dash of garlic salt. Mix it together a bit to have the sauce really cover the meat.

6. Remove the potatoes and carrots from the stove. Drain the water, keeping about a tablespoon of the liquid with the vegetables.  Mash them together using a potato masher.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash each of nutmeg and garlic salt.  

7.  Spoon the mashed carrots and potatoes on top of the browned meat/ white sauce mixture.

8.  Bake in an oven for 25 minutes at 325, or until the mashed vegetables are browned a bit.

The kids like to eat it with Ketchup, while we like it with some Dijon mustard.  You could also vary it by adding different vegetables to the potatoes.  Spinach is nice, particularly with pork or lamb and would make a great green St.Patrick's Day meal (or some other green-themed day).