Shepherd's Pie

 

sHEPHERD’S PIE

yield: 8 SERVINGS

 

prep time: 20 MINS

cook time: 1 HR 10 MINS

total time: 1 HR 30 MINS

INGREDIENTS

Potato Layer:

• 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 4-5 cups)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 - 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 egg yolk

Meat Filling:

• 2 - 2 1/2 pounds ground beef, turkey, lamb, or sausage (or a combination of any)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 large carrots chopped small, about 1 cup
• 2 cloves garlic, finely pressed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 1/4 cups low-sodium beef or chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, or 1 teaspoon fresh
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray (I've also used a slightly smaller ceramic casserole dish with good results, too, just makes the layers slightly thicker).
• Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Add a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or so (it will depend on how large or small the potatoes are cut) until the potatoes are tender.
• Drain the potatoes and return to the pot. Mash the potatoes lightly. Add the butter, milk (start with 1/2 cup and add more if needed), Parmesan and cheddar cheeses, salt and pepper to taste, and garlic powder. Mash together until smooth and creamy. Stir in the egg yolk until combined.
• For the meat and vegetable mixture, in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, add the ground meat, onion, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are starting to soften, 5-7 minutes or so. Drain any excess grease from the mixture.
• Sprinkle the flour over the meat and cook over medium to medium-high heat for a minute or so, stirring constantly. Stir in the tomato paste, broth, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• Stir in the corn and peas.
• Pour the meat mixture into the prepared pan. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top all the way to the edges of the pan creating a seal over the meat mixture. Sprinkle the 1 cup cheddar over the top of the potatoes.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes until the edges are golden and the casserole is bubbling. Let it rest out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTES

Multi-Tasking: the ingredient list looks daunting but I promise this all comes together quickly. While the potatoes are boiling, I start the meat and vegetable mixture - multi-tasking is your friend.

Meat: you can use a variety of different ground meats here. I've made this once with just ground turkey and another time with a combination of ground beef and sausage. Yum! Danielle, who sent me the recipe, uses ground lamb and sausage which would also be delicious (ground lamb is a bit hard to find where I live).

Cranberry Apple Pie

 INGREDIENTS

Pie:

• 9- inch double crust pie dough
• 4-5 medium apples, about 1.75 pounds; I use Honeycrisp, peeled, cored and sliced 1/8-inch thick (about 5-6 cups total)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch salt
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups (170 to 227 g) fresh cranberries

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup (113 g) salted butter
• 1/2 cup (71 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup (159 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (106 g) light brown sugar

Egg wash:

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place an oven rack in the middle or lower middle position of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with foil and set aside.
• In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, almond extract and salt. Add the cranberries and toss to combine.
• In a 10- or 12-inch skillet or small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and whisk constantly until smooth and well-combined. Add the water, granulated sugar and brown sugar and cook at a simmer, whisking or stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
• Immediately pour the mixture over the apples and cranberries. Toss to combine. The sauce mixture may clump up a bit but it will thin out the more it is stirred together (or the longer it sits). It doesn't have to be perfect.
• Roll out bottom crust and place evenly in pie plate (don't stretch or pull it, just lift and tuck into the pie plate). Leave a 1- to 2-inch border all the way around.
• Scrape the apple/cranberry filling evenly into the pie plate (get all of the caramel mixture!) - try to get the apples in even layers instead of piled in at wonky angles. It will be piled pretty high; that's ok as it will cook down in the oven.
• Roll out the top crust and place it over the filling. Trim the top crust evenly with the bottom crust (leaving about 1/2-inch overhang all the way around). Fold the bottom crust up and over evenly with edge of pie plate and press/pinch to seal. Flute the edges of the pie crust.
• Cut four slits with a sharp paring knife in the top crust.
• For the egg wash, whisk together the egg and water and brush a thin layer over the top and edges of the crust.
• Place the pie on the foil-lined baking sheet (important! the filling may bubble over a bit) and bake for 65-75 minutes until the crust is golden and filling is bubbling (tent the top of the pie with foil if it is browning too much partway through baking). If you are using a glass pie plate, the bottom crust should be lightly browned.
• Remove the pie from the oven and let cool completely, 4-5 hours (even longer is better). This is important so the pie isn't soupy. If you like warm pie, individual pieces can be warmed in the microwave or the pie can be served warm, the filling just might be a little less set.

NOTES

Pie Crust: this is my favorite pie crust recipe. 

Apples: I almost always Honeycrisp apples in this pie, but you could use a different variety or a combination. Make sure to choose crisp apples that don't turn to mush when baking.

Cranberries: if you want more cranberry in every bite, you could pulse the cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

Perfect Pie Crust [barefoot contessa]

 12 TBS very cold, unsalted butter
3 C all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS sugar
1/3 C very cold vegetable shortening
6-8 TBS very cold water

Dice the butter and return to the fridge while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, sand sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8-12 times, until butter is the size of peas. With machine running, pour ice down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with top crust. 

Butterscotch Cream Pie

1 1/3 C sugar
2 1/2 C milk
3/4 C Cream
5 TBS cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS butter
1 C cream
Baked 9 inch crust

Measure sugar into a heavy saucepan or skillet. Stir constantly over high heat until sugar is nearly melted. Reduce heat to medium and continue stirring until all sugar is melted and a light amber color. In the meantime, heat milk; stir hot milk into melted sugar cautiously. Sugar will bubble and steam, then harden. Keep heat on low and stir occasionally until the hard sugar completely dissolves in the milk.

Add the table cream to the cornstarch gradually to make a smooth paste, then stir into hot milk mixture; cook and stir until a smooth, thick pudding is formed, Let it boil a minute or two, stirring vigorously, then remove from heat. Add salt to egg yolks, then stir in some of the hot pudding. Stir the egg mixture back into the pudding and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add vanilla and butter. Cool 5 minutes, then pour into baked pie shell. Chill 3 to 4 hours.

When ready to serve, whip the cream and spread over pie.