Hachis Parmentier - AMFT

True confessions: I grew up on "Shepherd's pie" made with browned hamburger, a package of frozen green beans, and a can of tomato soup thinned with some water, dumped into a casserole dish and topped with mashed potatoes sprinkled with paprika. In true family tradition, I've probably made it 100 times for my children as they grew up. So as I read Dorie's recipe for this version of "Shepherd's pie", I was intrigued... homemade beef bouillon... *sausage*?!... and *CHEESE*?! And then, bake until "... the potatoes have developed a golden brown crust (the best part)." GET ME TO THE STORE!

And off I went...

One of the things I adore about Dorie's recipes is that, so far, there isn't a thing I've tried that doesn't infuse the whole house with aroma. Sometimes it's sweet, sometimes savory, sometimes sexy, and sometimes it's all about the perfume of butter... but this was all about comfort. Soft, beefy, cheesy comfort.

I loved this. It was nothing like Grandmom's/Mom's shepherd's pie - there's a refined complexity to this dish that my shepherd's-pie-sheltered palate never thought was possible to associate with "shepherd's pie". And Dorie is absolutely right about "the best part". Delicious.

For next time, I won't use the casserole dish pictured... it was just a touch too shallow and big, which I think spread the meat filling a shade too thin, and allowed the potatoes to absorb too much of that brothy goodness below.

I need to get my kids to come home so I can make this for them and fix their shepherd's-pie-sheltered palates!!! Ali? Sarah? :)