Royal Shepherd’s Pie

 

Photo from Rachael Ray Magazine

It’s a burger AND it’s mashed potatoes all in the same dinner! So sayeth Peter. He’s not wrong. This dinner is made in ONE skillet and it’s DELICIOUS. I cut down on the meat & potatoes and increased the vegetables from the original recipe. It was still quite filling.. With some planning, this is absolutely a weeknight dinner.

TIPS:

•  Prep your ingredients before you start. You’ll be less stressed and it will go faster.
• Substitutions are key
• No white wine/sherry? Use chicken stock
• Don’t have the right assortment of herbs? Throw in what you have or another spice you like
• No Gruyere? Use cheddar
• No sour cream? Use Greek yogurt

Royal Shepherd’s Pie
from Rachael Ray

3 large Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. butter
1 lb. ground sirloin
Pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. ground caraway or whole caraway seeds
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry
1 can (10.5oz) beef stock or chicken stock
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
1 large egg yolk
About 8 oz. shredded Gruyère or white cheddar
1/3 cup (a handful) fresh flatleaf parsley, finely chopped

1. In a medium pot, cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Salt the water and reduce heat a bit to keep the water at a gentle boil. Cook the potatoes until tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large castiron skillet over medium-high. Add the oil, one turn of the pan, then add 1 tbsp. butter. When the butter melts, add the ground meat; cook, stirring often and breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned, about 8 minutes. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Add the onion, carrot, celery, Worcestershire, thyme, garlic, caraway, and cumin. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the wine and consommé and stir until thickened, about a minute. Reduce heat enough to maintain a simmer.

3. Turn on the broiler.

4. Drain the potatoes. Using a potato ricer or food mill, puree the potatoes back into the hot pot. Mix in the remaining 2 tbsp. butter, the sour cream, chives, and egg yolk; season.

5. Spread the potatoes over the meat and veggies in the skillet. Top with the cheese. Broil until the top is browned and the edges bubble, about 4 minutes. Top with the parsley. Serve the pie directly from the

Orange Beef

Back in the day before kids and before I started cooking a lot, we liked to go to PF Chang's. The food was pretty yummy and we just loved the crispy, honey shrimp and the orange beef! After we got married, I started to cook a lot more. One of the first dishes I made was an orange beef. I think the recipe might have been in a Rachael Ray magazine.

I made it a few times and we fell in love with the home version of this dish! It amazing how the zest and juice of just one orange can permeate the whole dish so well. Half the price and a quarter of the fat and calories of the restaurant version.  I don't think we've been back to PF Chang's since!

Photo courtesy of Scott

Orange Beef

adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe

- Batch of Ginger Fried Rice

- Zest of one orange

- 2.5 T olive oil

- 1 T soy sauce

- 1 T vinegar

- 1 lb. skirt steak, thinly sliced

- Peanuts, scallions (optional garnish)
- Assorted stir fry veggies (optional)

1. Place zest, juice, soy sauce olive oil and vinegar in bowl. Stir in beef.

2. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min.

3. Over high heat, cook meat (~2.5 min per side). Set aside meat and reserve any cooking liquid in a small bowl.

4. Wipe skillet clean and prepare ginger fried rice. Use reserved cooking liquid for rice flavoring.
5. Add in your favorite stir fry veggies: mushrooms, onions, peas, red peppers

6. Serve the beef over the rice. Garnish with peanuts and scallions.

Italian Beef

Italian Beef. French Dip. I don't care which country it came from - shreds of beef, crusty bread, and a dipping sauce? I'm a fan. For goodness sake, it was the first meal I ate after I gave birth to my daughter Shelby! A sandwich never tasted so good!!!

No, I am not a proud person. Note the IVs are still hooked up.
Yes, I am a pretty secure person to share this photo with the InterWeb.

It never really occurred to me that I could make this treasure in my own kitchen. This year I've really tried to use our slow cooker. So, I've been on the lookout for different meals to make in it. I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's food blog. She simmers her chuck roast on the stove. No offense Ree, but I don't have that kind of time! So, I adapted it for the slow cooker.

When you have Italian Beef, it's a special occasion and it calls for special bread. You need a good, hearty sub/hoagie/hero/grinder (depending on where you live in the country) roll. This week I took it a step further and put mozzarella on top and finished the sandwiches in the broiler. It was fantastic!! It tasted just like an sandwich from a restaurant. After we finished dinner, I forgot that we had some roasted red peppers in the fridge! They will be incorporated next time. Italian Beef is one our favorite comfort foods now!


Italian Beef
from Pioneer Woman

■1 whole 2.5 To 4 Pound Chuck Roast
■¼ cups Butter
■1 whole Large Onion, Sliced Thick
■3 cloves Garlic, Peeled
■½ cups Soy Sauce
■1 cup Sherry (cooking Sherry Is Fine)
■½ teaspoons Salt
■4 cups Water
■Toasted, Buttered Deli Rolls
■OPTIONAL: Rosemary, Thyme, Other Spices

Preparation Instructions
Heat butter in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for a couple of minutes, or until starting to get brown.

In slow cooker, set chuck roast on top of the onions. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours, or until beef is fork-tender and falling apart. **If meat is not yet tender, return to oven for 30 minute intervals till it’s tender!** Shred meat with two forks until all large chunks are gone. Serve immediately or continue to simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

*Mixture can be refrigerated overnight. Remove hardened fat from top of pan before reheating.

Serve on top of toasted, buttered deli rolls. Top with cheese and place under the broiler if desired.

Meatballs...even a toddler could love

Shelby is on a "vegetables at home" strike*. She only wants o-mo (oatmeal) and fish (for which she makes a fish face to indicate her want). But, this girl loves her some red meat!! I have the week off of work, a 5-lb tray of ground meat from Costco**, and a new kitchen that's begging to be my laboratory.


Since I know she'll eat meatballs everyday, I decided it's time to play the hide-the-veggies-in-foods-I-like game. There is a sacred Benjamin/Caruana meatball recipe that I hold dear to my heart. My Grandma made these meatballs and they are to die for. I added 2 cups of pureed peas (and a bit more bread crumb) to the original recipe, and they were GREAT!!!!! Shelby certainly didn't know the difference (even though they are pretty green on the inside). I think this change may be permanent. Hey! Who couldn't use another serving of vegetables in their day?!
















Green Meatballs***

1 lb ground chuck or turkey
1 1/4 c bread crumbs
1t salt & pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 eggs, beaten
2 c green peas, cooked and pureed



Directions

1. Boil peas for 6 minutes. The softer the better.
2. Puree peas until smooth. Some lumps are okay, but try to get most of the big ones out.
3. Mix all ingredients together.
4. Form balls. I get about 30 balls (slightly smaller than golf balls). I find the smaller the ball, the quicker they cook up in your pan.
5. Brown in skillet of 1/4" hot oil until cooked through rolling every couple minutes to make sure cooked evenly.




* According to her teacher, she eats her veggies at lunch. She must know Mama & Dad are pushovers....

** Other dishes I made: Stuffed Peppers for the freezer, Meatloaf (x2), & lasagna.

***I can't decide whether it should be "Green Meatballs" or "Goose Surprise Meatballs." Just look at the picture....you'll understand.

Chili Surprise

I had wanted to make chili in the slow cooker for tonight. But, I had to be at work at 4am that day, so I didn't get all the ingredients together. Oops. When I got home from work, I was still determined to have the chili. So, we had some great stove-top chili!

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 packet McCormick chili seasoning (cheater, cheater pumpkin eater!)
2 T. tomato paste
2 c marinara sauce

Saute the onion and pepper in large skillet. Cook until translucent and tender. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Stir in all other ingredients. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

And, then there was the surprise....

Pot Roast

When Scott and I were at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, I found some slow cooker books. I was inspired! I went to FoodNetwork.com, and found a pot roast recipe from trusty ol' Paula Deen! **

Since I leave before the crack of dawn, assembling the pot roast fell on Scott's (nervous) shoulders! I set him up for success. So easy, even a husband can make it! :)

I so kindly labeled each of the steps to ensure a successful assembly.

When we got home, I was so excited....and I hadn't even tasted our creation yet!

1. The house hadn't burned down.
2. The meat wasn't raw!

Instead, the house smelled wonderful! Let's see how the family liked it....

I think it was a successful project! Scott liked it so much he asked, "What else can we make in there?"

**Cook's note (don't get me wrong, we loved it; but, always looking to improve on a good thing!):

1. No searing of the meat as in the recipe (5am is way too early to sear a 3-lb piece of meat!)
2. Used 8oz of mushrooms and 1cup of heavy cream instead of cream of mushroom soup.
3. We used 12oz of chicken stock and 12oz of water. WAY too much liquid! Next time we will cut down by 1/3 to 1/2.
4. More garlic and pepper is always a good thing!