Shepherd's pie

I gave up halfway through.

It actually doesn't look that bad. I'd eat it if the guy invited me over. But I wouldn't make it this way.

Shepherd = sheep

Shepherd's pie = lamb

When you substitute beef then you've made rancher's pie.

If you like ground beef and gravy made from flour/water slurry flavored with a beef bullion cube, Worcestershire sauce and catsup then you'll really like boeuf bourguignon, the exact same thing except totally different; beef chunks, mushrooms, onions, and gravy of beef broth, butter and red wine. 

His ground beef doesn't actually fry. His pan was filled with meat that released moisture so his meat boiled. There is no Maillard reaction, no browning, no layers of complexity added, no fond to lift off and into the gravy. 

Crushed garlic in a jar is for people who don't like dealing with garlic cloves. It is convenient but a good deal of garlic intensity is lost to processing. It's one step above powder garlic and a few steps below fresh garlic smashed on your board. 

The trick for excellence is no trick at all, it's attention given to each ingredient to make sure every element is the best possible. So then beef chunks from a roast (actually lamb) would be the best choice, spice and herbs fried in oil in the pan first then the meat seared in stages so that each piece browns, then the best vegetables possible. Real beef bullion, not cubes. Then, in the case of approximate bourguignon, butter and wine. 

For this cook it must be said, real butter not margarine, and a type red wine that you drink, not cooking wine.  

"Catsup to round off the flavor." It will. Any sweet and sour combination will round out flavor, or more precisely, fill out flavor, expand the flavor profile. Catsup is tomato-base sweet/sour sauce. The ingredients are vinegar and sugar and tomato paste and water. You can make your own catsup easily with those ingredients and I swear to the flying spaghetti monster your catsup will be better than the catsup you buy. Especially if you enhance it with anything like garlic and onion or ginger or any specific chile powder or any curry paste or powder, even tamarind paste. Brown sugar with something like Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce will give you something like bbq sauce. 

A ricer kitchen tool makes creamy mashed potato in seconds. Best if the milk and butter is heated and that's a bit tricky to judge in advance. Mashed potato is improved with a layer combined with things like garlic or horseradish or cheese.

Let's watch someone who knows what shepherd's pie is supposed to be. This will take just a few minutes.