I am well aware that Easter was a few weeks ago. I am also aware that I never posted the pictures of Easter dinner. I meant to – several times – but somehow I never got to posting. So here it is …

A while back I decided I wanted Shepard’s Pie. I’ve never made a real Shepard’s Pie, and this may not count either. I did go with ground beef instead of a vegetarian version or lamb. We were having guests, including Dad, for Easter, so I wanted more traditional. Lamb is hard to find and I do, generally, have a hard time eating lamb since they fall under the cute category of animals. Cows are cute too, but not in the same way as sheep. So it was a compromise, but it worked. 

I started with the basic carrot and onion mix. To that I added the ground beef and let it all cook. Once the meat and onions were cooked through, I added peas, tomato paste, beef broth, soy sauce (as a substitute for Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies, which I can’t have) and spices. I let this cook for a while and made the mashed potatoes to go on top. I did use really good English Cheddar for the top.   

It looked great. It tasted fine. Everyone else thought it was really good, but I wanted more tomato taste. I wanted more depth to the dish and this just wasn’t what I was looking for. It was fine, but that really is all I can say about it.

Now dessert on the other hand …. Dessert. 

 I went with cheesecake for dessert because it had been a long time since I made one and I really wanted cheesecake. I went with Dulche de leche cheesecake because it gave me an excuse to try and make my own Dulche de leche sauce. Did you know it is terribally easy to make? I didn’t. Can of condensed milk, salt and an oven. That really is it. The cheesecake was a combination of several recipes, but I thought it came out really well. 

 But crust, caramel cheesecake with Dulche de leche glaze on top. 

Hopefully I won’t get so far behind on the updates. Happy Spring!