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Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie

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Yield: 4 to 6 Servings
Food Wishes

24-Oct-16 – You can substitute beef for lamb, if you must, but then it’s Cottage Pie.

For lamb/beef mixture:

  • 1TBS butter
  • 1TBS olive oil
  • 1diced onion
  • 2lb lean ground lamb/lamb
  • ⅓cup flour
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1tsp paprika
  • 1/8tsp cinnamon
  • 2tsp minced fresh rosemary
  • 3cloves minced garlic
  • 1TBS ketchup
  • 2½cups water or broth (use more or less to adjust thickness as needed)
  • 12oz bag frozen peas and carrots, thawed, drained well

For the potato topping:

  • 2½lb Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1TBS butter
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pinch of cayenne
  • ¼cup cream cheese
  • ¼lb Irish cheddar like Dubliner.
  • 1egg yolk beaten with 2 TBS milk


Preheat oven to 375°F.

Add olive oil and onion to Dutch oven over medium heat. Add meat, break up with wooden spoon while it cooks. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes to develop fond on bottom of pan.

Sprinkle on flour. Mix and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. While it’s cooking add salt and pepper, paprika, cinnamon, rosemary, garlic and ketchup. Stir in.

Add water, stir until quite thick. Cook for about 5-6 minutes.

Add the frozen peas and carrots, stir, cook. Add to baking dish, tap down and spread smooth.

Boil potatoes and cook until tender. Drain, add butter, salt and pepper, cayenne, cream cheese, cheddar. Mash until thoroughly incorporated.

Beat egg yolk with milk and stir into mashed potatoes.

Top meat in big spoonful’s of mashed potato. If you use fork to smooth, it will help crisp the surface.

Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes.

Rice Pilaf with Peas

Rice Pilaf with Peas

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Stove-top or Oven-baked

Yield: 6 Servings
Hannah Jack Tavern, Merrimack, NH (closed)

Circa 1988. This recipe comes from the then chef at Hannah Jack Tavern in NH. This is a nice simple rice dish with peas added. Cooking the rice in stock gives you a nicely flavored rice. Feel free to experiment with a little fennel, minced carrot or other aromatics.

  • 3TBS butter
  • ½medium onion or 1-2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1-2garlic cloves, minced (Optional)
  • 2TBS pine nuts, toasted (Optional)
  • 1½cups raw long grain rice
  • 3cups stock or water
  • 8oz frozen baby peas

Heat the butter in a saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the rice (and optional garlic or pine nuts) and sauté, stirring, until the rice is hot to the back of your hand. Then pour in the liquid, bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a piece of parchment or paper towel and the lid.

Stove-top:

Turn down the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Add the peas and stir to distribute, using a fork. Return to the heat, covered as before, for another 5 minutes. After that time, behold the perfectly cooked rice – all the liquid absorbed, and steam holes evenly distributed about the surface.

Baby peas really do not need to be cooked, only heated. Don’t follow the cooking directions on the box; they’ll be overdone.

Oven Baked:

Preheat oven to 350 to 400°F. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove lid. Add peas. Replace lid and bake for 5 more minutes.

Serving:
If desired, scoop the rice into custard cups or ring molds and un-mold on the plate for a little more elegance than just spooning it on!

Israeli Couscous x2

Israeli Couscous x2

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Toasted Israeli Couscous w- Pine Nuts And Parsley

Yield: 2-3 Servings
Adapted from Epicurious

August 2016: Great side dish. Two warnings: Don’t burn the pine nuts (been there, done that) and don’t burn the couscous. If you don’t know, couscous is pasta. Israeli or Pearl couscous is the size of BB’s.

  • 2TBS butter, divided
  • ⅓cup pine nuts (pignoli nuts), toasted
  • ⅓cup finely chopped shallots
  • 1½cups Israeli couscous, toasted
  • ½large cinnamon stick
  • 1fresh or dried bay leaf
  • 14oz canned low-salt chicken broth
  • ½tsp salt
  • ¼cup minced fresh Italian parsley
  • black pepper

Toast the pine nuts. You can do this on a small tray in a toaster oven, or in a small saute pan. In either method, shake them a couple of times during cooking so they brown evenly. Watch them carefully and don’t burn them. They go from a nice brown to burnt in an instant. If you burn them, discard and start over.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 2 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes.

Add couscous, cinnamon stick, the bay leaf and stir until couscous browns slightly, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Pay careful attention as both the couscour and shallots will burn if you give them a chance.

Add the broth and salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until couscous is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.

Stir in parsley and pine nuts. Season with black pepper. Transfer to serving dish.

Israeli Couscous

with Asparagus, Peas, And Sugar Snaps

Yield: 6 Servings
Jeanne Thiel Kelley / Bon Appetit

August 2016: Another variation with vegetables added.

  • 4TBS extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2TBS fresh lemon juice
  • 2large garlic cloves, minced, divided
  • ½tsp finely grated lemon peel
  • 1⅓cups Israeli couscous (6 to 7 oz)
  • 1¾cups (or more) vegetable broth
  • 14oz slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut diagonally into ¾-inch pieces (about 2 ½ cups)
  • 8oz sugar snap peas, trimmed, cut diagonally into ½-inch pieces (about 2 ½ cups)
  • 1cup shelled fresh green peas or frozen, thawed
  • ⅓cup chopped fresh chives
  • ½cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Whisk 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, 1 garlic clove, and lemon peel in small bowl; set dressing aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add couscous, sprinkle with salt, and sauté until most of couscous is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups broth, increase heat, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender, about 10 minutes, adding more broth by tablespoonfuls if too dry.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add asparagus, sugar snap peas, green peas, and remaining garlic clove. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer vegetables to large bowl.

Add couscous to bowl with vegetables. Drizzle dressing over. Add chives and cheese; toss. Season with salt and pepper.