Shepherd's Pie

Nothing tastes better on a fall day than a shepherd's pie. Aside from crockpot cooking, hot dishes are the next best thing. I make this recipe using one skillet and a serving vessel. Virtually no cleanup. Which means an extra serving for this gal. This recipe will serve 6 average people and 4 hungry people. This recipe can be doubled to fill an 11x13 pan. I used an 8x8. It also freezes really well.

Shepherd's pie

1lb ground beef( i prefer 80/20)
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onlion, diced
 1/2t ground mustard
20 shakes of Worcestershire sauce (yes 20 shakes)
1/8 c flour
1.5c water
1 beef bouillon cube or 1 T of beef bouillon
4 russet potatoes
1/2c milk
4 slices of cheddar cheese (optional)
1 green onion


In a large skillet (i like cast iron) over medium heat saute carrots, onion and celery. add salt and pepper to taste. Saute for about 15 minutes until veggies are par cooked.

While vegetables are cooking poke a few holes in the potatoes and cook on the baked potato setting in the microwave. I don't take the skin off, I leave it on but you could also boil the potatoes as if you were making mashed potatoes. Eventually they end up as mashed potatoes. Once the potatoes are slightly cooled, I add them to a gallon size ziplock, along with the milk. Smoosh the potatoes into mashed potatoes. Like I said, feel free to use a different method to make mashed potatoes.

Once the vegetables are cooked, poor them into the cooking vessel and put the pan back on the oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef and brown. Once browned, add dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

After beef is browned, add flour to toast off the raw flour taste and mix well. Add water. Mixture will look like beef and gravy. Add bouillon and mix. Add vegetable back to the pan and mix everything together. Pour mixture into cooking vessel. At this point, I add the potatoes to the top of the meat and veggie mixture. Cut a hole in the corner of the ziplock bag and squeeze potatoes on to the top of the mixture. I find it easier to do it this way versus spreading dollops of potatoes onto the mix.  The potatoes are distributed evenly if you use the ziploc bag. Here comes the good part...Add cheese on top of the potatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes at 375. I usually put a pan or some foil on the rack under the dish in case it bubbles over.
* If you decide NOT to use the cheese, after you add the potatoes run a fork over the potatoes to make ridges. This makes the top of the potatoes crusty when it bakes.

After 20 minutes, turn the oven on broil and bake for an additional 10 minutes to make the cheese or potatoes extra crispy. Add chopped green onion before serving.

Enchilada sauce

As a self diagnosed food hoarder, I never run out of enchilada sauce so you can imagine my disappointment when I reached my hand in to our jammed pantry to grab a can only to find cans of tomato sauce and black beans. What to do now?! Continue making enchiladas sans the sauce or try and make my own. Since most enchilada sauces begin with tomato sauce, I attempted to make our own. It turned out pretty great! AND it was way less salty than the store bought cans. Never again will I spend the $1.79 for a can of enchilada sauce.

Enchilada Sauce:
1/8c of vegetable oil or canola oil
3T flour
2T chili powder
1t cumin
1/2 t cayenne
1t sage
2 c water
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1t of garlic salt (no garlic salt? add 1/2t salt and 1/2 garlic powder)
*Recipe makes enough to coat the bottom of an 11x13 pan as well as drench the top of the enchiladas

In a pot or large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chili powder, cumin and cayenne. Toast in oil for about 30 seconds. Add flour and mix into a paste. Add water and mix. Add tomato sauce, garlic salt and sage. Turn heat to medium low. simmer for 20 minutes.

I used this sauce to make beef and black bean enchiladas. They turned out pretty yummy. I'll post this recipe in a future post.

Mushroom "Risotto"

 

I have always enjoyed mushrooms. However, my sweet husband does not. As of late, we have tried to eat vegetarian at least twice a week. I wanted to try and make Blake a mushroom believer with this recipe. I think I was pretty successful. The balsamic vinegar and toasted rice made this dish earthy and delicious. I call this recipe mushroom "risotto". I would offend generations of Italians saying this was a true risotto. A true risotto can take hours (I'm not even kidding) to make. This recipe takes on average about 40 minutes to make but I think the dish will speak for itself.

 

Balsamic mushroom "risotto" with toasted pine nuts.

serves 4

 

2 c. of risotto rice or short grained white rice (I'm a cheapo. I never buy risotto rice)

1T butter

4T Olive oil

2 c. sliced mushrooms of any variety. We used plain old white mushrooms but I am assuming this recipe would ROCK with portabellos

1/8 c balsamic vinegar

5c chicken or vegetable stock

1/4 pine nuts

 

 

I like to gather all my ingredients before I start. I cannot tell you how many times I have started a recipe and then realized I didn't have a main component.  Preheat oven to 400

Slice mushrooms a quarter inch thick 

Mix mushrooms, 3T of olive oil and balsamic vinegar until all mushrooms are covered. Let sit while the oven preheats and you start the rice. once the oven is preheated, roast mushrooms on a baking sheet for 15 minutes.

The key to risotto is toasting every grain of rice. I don't have time for that. Although, I do like to toast the rice slightly before I begin. It brings a nuttiness to the dish.

Add butter and remaining olive oil to pain on medium heat. Add rice and toast until you begin to smell, well, toasted rice. This will take about 10 minutes. Mix occasionally. Otherwise, rice will burn.

Once the rice is toasted slightly, add 1/2 c of broth to the mixture and reduce heat to medium low. Continue mixing until all the broth is absorbed. Keep adding broth in 1/2c increments until the broth is gone and rice is cooked. Honestly, this dish is very tedious and you really can't leave it alone. You have to constantly baby it and mix it until the rice is cooked. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add more stock or water to cook the rice.

toast pine nuts on low heat 

After the rice is cooked,(DO NOT OVERCOOK!! Nothing is worse than overcooked rice. Cook until it has a slight bite) Add toasted pine nuts and mushrooms. Mixture should be creamy. After I add the last of the stock, I turn the heat to low so the liquid doesn't absorb the whole way.

** after eating this dish, I felt like it was missing something. An herb of sorts. Possibly rosemary? If you are brave, add a few tablespoons of rosemary to the dish and let me know how it tastes. 

**The dish is good leftover but the rice absorbs most of the liquid overnight so it turns in to more of a rice pilaf second day. still delicious

Little piggy

As many of you may know, Blake and I recently had a baby so life around this hollar has been pretty chaotic. As we fall into routine, I am finding myself doing some serious research on new recipes, new dishes and yummy snacks. Expect a post soon. I'm getting an itch to make some delicious meals.