2 or 3 Days of Rachael Ray;Day 1:Steakhouse Shepherd's Pie

I have always been on the fence as to whether or not I was a Rachael Ray fan. On a whim, I bought her Big Orange Book, which is a bible of 30 minute meals and then some. She is now one of my heroes. If you don't own a copy of this book, I highly recommend you drag your self to the bookstore or get online and order it. Pronto. There are so many meal ideas in this book, it's crazy! So I have chosen to do two, possible three dinners, from her book. Rachael and I share a passion: steakhouses. So when I came across a recipe that combined all of her favorite elements from a steakhouse meal, I needed to get to work. Her Steakhouse Shepherd's Pie did not disappoint. It was, in my humble opinion, labor intensive. Then again, I can't chop onions and chives as fast as Rach. My best novice advice concerning this recipe is to read it over and set up all you pots and ingredients before you start. I also did not have an oven safe skillet, so I had to transfer my meat to a Corningware, but I can assure you the pie turned out fine. The only other let down was that I had to omit the mushrooms(my favorite) since my husband turns green at the mention of them.

Rachael Ray's Steakhouse Pot Pie   
(From foodnetwork.com)
Ingredients

2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Salt

1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 slices good quality bacon or peppered bacon, chopped

2 pounds ground sirloin

1 onion, chopped

1/2 pound button mushrooms, quartered

Black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 egg yolk

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled

3 to 4 tablespoons chives

1 teaspoon paprika 

Instructions 

Place potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water and bring up to a boil. Season water with salt and boil potatoes until tender, 12 to15 minutes. Heads up: save a ladle of starchy cooking water just before draining. Heat a skillet with high sides over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, half a turn of the pan and the bacon. Crisp bacon and remove to paper towel lined plate. Add sirloin to the pan and caramelize the meat, 4 to 5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and onions and cook until tender, 6 to 7 minutes more then season with salt and pepper.While meat cooks heat a small sauce pot over medium heat and melt butter, whisk the flour into butter, cook 2 minutes then whisk beef stock into flour, add Worcestershire and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Thicken 6 to 7 minutes. Pour gravy over meat and turn on broiler. Temper egg yolk by beating it with the starchy potato cooking water. Place drained potatoes back into the pot you cooked them in to dry them out a little. Mash potatoes with egg yolk and sour cream then fold in crumbled blue cheese and chives. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and spread across the top of the meat in an even layer. Garnish the potatoes with paprika and place under broiler to crisp and brown the potatoes, 2 to 3 minutes. Crumble reserved bacon over top. Serve immediately right from the hot skillet.