Fantastic Shepherd's Pie!

This recipe is a mishmash of different Sheppard's pie recipes I've followed. I think it combines simplicity with flavour, to give you the best trade off between cooking/prep time versus how good it tastes.

Ingredients

• Ground beef (one package, extra lean)
• Onion (1/4 cup)
• Ketchup (1/4 cup - 1/2 cup, use your judgment)
• Montreal steak spice (2 tsp.)
• Garlic powder (1 tsp.)
• Water (1/4 cup)
  
• Salt
• Pepper
• Basil (1 tsp)
• Chili Powder (optional - for bite, a "light dusting")
• Baking potatos (5-6)
• Sour cream (1/4 cup)
• Milk (1/2 cup)
• Butter (2 tbsp.)
• "Niblet" Kernel corn (small can)
• Cream corn (small can)

Instructions

We will be preparing 3 different dishes; the meat, the potatos and the vegetables. The order you do them in doesn't matter because they will all be combined in the end. I think I've layed them out in a pretty effecient manner, but feel free to break the mold.

The Potatos

1. Peel and cook the potatos until they're ready to mash.
2. Add butter, milk.
3. Mash potatos well.
4. Add sour cream.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Add pepper to taste.
7. Mash potatos well, again. No lumps or your fired.

The Corn

1. Open both cans of corn
2. drain as much water from the niblets as you can.
3. Drain a slight amount of the watery juice from the cream corn.
4. Combine in a small pot and cook at very low heat until simmering.

The Meat

1. In a large saucepan, brown the ground beef with the onion, basil, and the steak spice.
2. Once brown, add the garlic powder and mix well.
3. Add the ketchup along with 1/4 cup of water.
4. Cover and keep on low heat. The meat should have a small amount of "sauce" coating it.

The Dish

1. Layer the meat in the bottom of a glass oven-dish.
2. Layer the corn mixture on top of the meat.
3. Layer the mashed potatos on top. Use a fork to make those fancy decorative lines on the top of the mash potatos, and garnish with basil.
4. Bake covered at 400F for 45 minutes.
5. Broil for 5-7 minutes, or until light golden brown on top.