The Most Festive Harry Potter Cozy Night : Shepherds Pie + Butter Beer!

Several years ago we claimed Tuesday evenings as our family night and named them, Cozy Night. We needed one sacred night each week together, as a family, zero media, zero distractions, just us having a cozy dinner together with candles and games and time. Tuesday Cozy Nights remain a tradition throughout the fall and winter for us and some weeks we make them extra special. This last week we did a full Harry Potter Cozy Theme with Butter Beers, Sherpherds Pie, Pear Almond Tarts and a new Harry Potter Puzzle.

Family time is so fun on these evenings. Our kids look forward to them as much as we do. They pull out as many candles as they can find, we turn on special play lists filled with theme music and have fun enjoying a simple evening of great food and time together.

Find a night that works for your family and claim it as Cozy Night - we promise it will become a time that you all look forward to. Here’s our favorite Shepherd’s Pie + Butter Beer Recipe to help you create a fun and scrumptious Dinner. We must say if you wear your Harry Potter glasses it makes it all the better ;) The pear almond tart recipe is coming soon!

Want even more help hosting a cozy night? Kelly wrote her Cookbook Dinner Changes Everything, just for you. With tips on how to prep the day before, what parts you can make ahead, full menus and stories to inspire you to fill your table.

Butter Beer :

• 2 liters cream soda, chilled

• 1 teaspoon caramel extract

• 1 teaspoon butter extract

  • Add more extracts to taste in your goblet!

• 1 cup fresh whipping cream

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

• 1/4 cup butterscotch topping, plus more to drizzle

To make:

• Add the caramel and butter extracts to your cream soda.

• Make the whipping cream! In a medium sized bowl combine the fresh whipping cream and powdered sugar. Beat on high until it is firm yet still soft. Fold in the butterscotch topping.

• Now fill your goblet with crushed ice, cream soda and then top with whipping cream with a drizzle of butterscotch topping.

This is definitely a treat! We made them in smaller goblets so they could be refilled for dessert ;)

Shepherd’s Pie :

for the potatoes :

• 8 large yukon gold potatoes

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1/4 cup half and half (plus more if needed)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste!)

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

for the filling :

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 onion finely chopped

• 2 medium carrots finely diced

• 2 sticks celery finely diced

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

• 1 clove garlic, minced

for the gravy:

• 2 tablespoons flour (for thickening)

• 1/2 cup red wine

• 1 cup beef broth

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 cup frozen peas

To Garnish

• fresh chives snipped over the top

To Make:

Start with the Potatoes …

• fill a large stock pot half way with water, salt generously (approximately 1 teaspoon of salt) and bring to a boil

• peel the potoatoes and cut into equal size chunks

• once the pot of water is boiling, add in the potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes, or until you can easily stick a fork thru them. (while your potatoes are cooking get started chopping all of the veg for the filling!)

• once the potoatoes are cooked, drain and return to the pot.

• add in the 1/2 cup of butter and allow to melt, then add in the half and half, salt and garlic salt

• smash the potatoes, mixing all the ingredients together, adding in more half and half if they’re still a bit dry.

• be careful not to over mix the potatoes, yukon gold potatoes have a tendency to turn to glue if they are mixed or whipped too much.

• taste the potatoes and add more salt, pepper and garlic salt as needed. The potoatoes will pick up all sorts of savory flavor from the filling as well!

• Set the potatoes to the side until the filling is complete.

Filling :

• in a large saucepan brown the meat for a few minutes until it crumbled and just slightly pink.

• then add in the rest of the filling ingredients : onions, celery, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic.

• saute for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally to incorporate all of the flavors.

Now let’s start on the gravy!

• push the meat and sauteed veg to the sides of the pan creating a bare spot in the middle, sprinkle the flour into the open space in the middle. Saute the flour for a minute in the juices in the pan.

• then pour in the beef broth and wine, stirring into the sauteed flour. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

• add in the tomato paste and frozen peas. Allow to simmer for a few minutes to combine all of the flavors, then Taste!

  • does it need a bit more salt to bring out the flavors?

  • does it need more savory? add in more thyme and rosemary

  • if their is very little liquid in the pan add in another 1/4 - 1/2 cup red wine or broth to create more sauce

• Once the filling flavor is just to your liking put your pies together:

  • this amount of potatoes and filling will fill a 9x13 pan or 2 deep dish pie pans. Here are our favorite deep dish pie pans! They come in either white or red.

  • start with the meat and veggie mixture, then top with your potatoes. criss cross the potatoes with a knife to give it a nice finish

  • cover with foil and refrigerate till you are ready to bake.

To Bake:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

• Place your pie pans or baking dish on a large baking sheet to catch any drips, then bake for 20 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes to crisp up the potatoes

• Garnish with fresh chives and serve with Butter Beer! It will be just like you’re in the Three Broomsticks.

To Make Ahead!

• This is an amazing make ahead meal to feed a crowd or simply to have a cozy dinner waiting for you when you come home from a long day of work or school or playing in the snow!

• The above recipe fills 2 deep dish pie pans with enough goodness to feed our family of 5 for 2 full meals.

• It will hold nicely in the fridge for at least 5 days, then pull it out, leaving the foil on and bake as directed.

• These Pies freeze well! Cover the baking dish with several layers of plastic wrap and freeze. It will hold nicely in the freezer for a couple months. Pull the pie out, remove the plastic wrap and cover with foil for baking. You could allow it to come to room temperature then bake as directed. Or bake it frozen, covered with foil at 325 until the edges are bubbling (it will take 50+ minutes depending on the size of your baking dish)

Have such fun creating the coziest of meals to fill your table. I think the proof is in the empty pie dish that this recipe is oh so good…we made the second dish for an easy dinner the next night and everyone wanted more! I feel another Harry Potter Cozy Night coming soon….