Guinness Sheperd's Pie

This year was my 10 year reunion from college.  I don't even want to get into the "what the hell happeneds", instead I'm going to remember what once was.  And the best part, always times with friends.  When we were too young for bars, we'd drive out to orange groves and have a plastic cuppa beer.  Yeah. Right?  Good times good times.  Or we'd head out to Ybor city (College was in Tampa) and go to an 18 and over club.  Or of course just hang out on campus in someone's dorm room.  Then towards the end of college, someone discovered this little gem:

Four Green Fields!  See how tiny it is?  See the thatched roof?  That is the only authentic thatched roof Irish pub in America!  So charming, and they had live Irish music and sing-a-longs.. Like Alice!  I've never heard the song outside this place.  Seriously, favorite drinking song ever!  I don't remember the words, but the singer will sing a verse which ends with "...Living next door..to Alice!"  And then the bar yells out -- Alice!?  Who the f- is Alice?

And then he'd sing the next verse.  Haahaaaaaaa.  I mean really.  These are the memories.

So that place - Four Green Fields.. Apart from having fun drinking music, they had the best durn Guinness Sheperd's Pie ever.  I've tried and I've tried to find it at other Irish Pubs around the country, I've tried to come up with a recipe myself, Fail, Fail, Fail, Fail!!

Until....!

I discovered this wonderful world of blogging!  And then I discovered The Hungry Housewife!  She's from Tampa, and, and! had a recipe for Guinness Shepard's Pie.  What whaaaaaaaat!  Holla!

Finally I got around to making it and let me just holla! again because this is as close as I've come to the real thing.  And honestly, I think the only reason it didn't taste exactly the same, I used ground chicken to lighten it up a little.  The Guinness gravy was to die for, I'll be making this dish again and again and again!

Some pictures:

First, make you some mashed potatoes.  I used casual and light mixed vegetables..don't even get me started on those formal vegetables people use these days! 

Brown some meat and add your Guinness..yummmm!  The meat will cook in the Guinness, but the beautimous part is, you are also making a second separate Guinness gravy!  Can I get a hell yeah?

Then you add the gravy to the meat, cook it up, and layer it in a pan.  Meat, then casual veggies...

And the final touch, which I would apply with more gusto on another day but not when I'm trying to keep it light, give her some cheese on top of the potatoes!

Bake it.  And then....open up your mouth and feed it.  Eat it, eat it! 

You can find the full recipe HERE.