Shepherd's Pie

So tonight I made Shepherd's pie for dinner. Although I'm not an ounce of Irish I do enjoy Irish food, and I feel I know a pretty decent amount about it. I especially love my dad's corned beef and cabbage, it's even better than my boyfriend's Irish grandma's, and he's all Italian, go figure! If you haven't tried Shepherd's pie I suggest you take care of that asap. It had something for everyone, beef, herbs, veg, a little cheddar cheese if you feel so compelled, and to top it all off, a mashed potato top broiled until golden. And it's easy as pie to make (bad joke I know, but I couldn't resist). What really made this recipe taste completely authentic was the tomato paste. I know it may seem a little unimportant because there's only two tablespoons but trust me, it's what takes it from something that would be served as a frozen dinner and homemade goodness. It is also very important to put butter in the mashed potatoes to help in the browning when it's broiled. I had an issue with the broiler though, I set it on high and put it under there for 4 minutes like the recipe said but I couldn't see it was a tad bit dark, okay really dark, until I pulled it out, oops. But this is Foodie's First Encounters, and this was my first encounter with the broiler. So lesson learned, I would not put the broiler on high when doing this recipe.

(Note the ooey gooey stew like, slow-cooked goodness inside)

Shepherds’ Pie
2 T butter, divided
1/2 c diced onion
1 cup quartered mushrooms
1/2 c diced carrots
1/2 c flour
1/2 ts salt
1/4 ts pepper
1 t garlic
1 lb beef cubes
1 3/4 c beef broth
1 ts tomato paste
4 c HOT mashed potatoes
melt butter, saute onion, mushrooms, and carrots. remove and set aside. combine flour, salt , and pepper in a shallow bowl coat the beef in mixture. Heat 1 T butter, saute garlic, add beef in batches and brown. Add broth to hot skillet and deglaze. Bring to a boil and reduce liquid by half. Stir in tomato paste. Return veg to pan, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Uncover and cook for 15 minutes longer. Place hot meat mixture in deep dish pie pan, top with hot mashed potatoes. Broil about 4 minutes until top is golden.



I used ground beef because that's what I had on hand and spruced it up with sage, nutmeg, and fresh thyme, because let's face it, this recipe is a little on the simple side. I also threw in about half a cup of cheddar cheese which made it really fun when everyone was scooping it out because you could see all the cheesy stringy goodness :)

Firsties!

This is my first blog post ever, how exciting! I planned on starting this off by making a very impressive dinner and taking equally impressive pictures to share with everyone on her. I did the first part, but completely forgot to take the pictures, oops. Hopefully my description enough will be inspiring enough to get everyone to make this, because you really should. I made Giada De Laurentis' Pot Roast with Porcini Mushrooms from her book, Giada's Family Dinners with mozzarella mashed potatoes and roasted cauliflower on the side. This is most definitely one of my favorite cookbooks ever and I highly suggest it for anyone. I liked the recipe as it was but, as you will soon found out, i can never follow a recipe exactly as it's written. My first adjustment was with the mushrooms, I used portabellos instead of porcinis because my supermarket did not have any that day. I also used a 3 pound chuck roast and added tomatoes to the vegetable mixture. In my opinion, the tomatoes made the dish. It added a slightly sweet, acidic quality to dish that really livened up the earthy flavors of the beef and mushrooms. The beef has such good flavor from the braising (do not skip this!! it's VITAL!). It adds a depth of flavor that you really won't get from just roasting, you might as well not make it. And don't be alarmed by the 3 hour cook time, your patience will be rewarded. The roast is so tender you won't need a knife. It will also give you enough time to prepare the sides. I took a cue from sidewalk shoes, my all time favorite foodie blog :), and roasted my cauliflower. And boy was she right! The nuttiness and addictiveness is totally surprising. My family was totally impressed! The stewed vegetable gravy is most definitely my favorite part of the dish, and it couldn't have been any easier. All I did was scoop them out of pot, throw them in the food processor, and voila! The most delicious simple gravy you will ever make, scouts honor. Whenever i make a big dinner like this I always make sure I will be able to do something with the leftovers the next day, and boy does this dish go far! I had a lot of liquid left over from the beef broth, pan juices, and the canned tomato juice. So once it cooled I ran it through a cheesecloth and froze it to use as a flavored broth for the week. The next day at school I was trying to come up with ways I could use the left overs and I remembered I bought some arborio last week. By the time I got home I was craving risotto so badly I just grabbed all the ingredients I could see I needed and got to work. I was more than halfway through cooking and it was Parmesan time, so I looked towards my mise en place station and panicked, there was no Parmesan! So I tore through my fridge and there was no cheese in sight, they were all in my mashed potatoes from the night before. So I took out the potatoes, added a spoonful to my beautifully flavored risotto, and hoped for the best. I could not believe my eyes. The more I stirred, the more and more beautiful it became. So I took a bite, and sure enough it tasted as magnificent as it looked. It was rich, it was creamy, and had the strings of cheese essential to the perfect risotto. I'm not saying I'll use mashed potatoes as a replacement for cheese now, but the next time I have it I will definitely add a spoonful! Another equally fabulous use of the leftovers is to thin out the gravy with olive oil or beef stock and use it as an elegant and flavorful pasta sauce. Or use as is a pesto alternative for sandwiches which I did the next day for my lunch. If this description doesn't make you want to make this, I really don't know what will! Everyone will love it, I promise :)

Pot Roast with Porcini Mushrooms
1 (5-pound) boneless beef chuck roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1 3/4 cups canned beef broth
1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 large sprig fresh rosemary, plus extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy 6-quart roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total cooking time. Transfer the beef to a bowl. Add remaining tablespoon oil to the pan, add the onions and saute until tender, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute. Add the wine and boil 1 minute. Stir in the broth and mushrooms. Return the beef to the pan. Bring the liquids to a boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Braise until the beef is fork-tender, turning the beef over halfway through cooking, about 3 hours.
Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Tent the beef with foil and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, spoon any excess fat off the top of the pan juices. Transfer the pan juices and vegetables to a blender and puree until smooth. Combine the sauce and rosemary sprig in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Cut the beef across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange the sliced beef on a platter and garnish with rosemary. Spoon the sauce over and serve, passing the remaining sauce in a sauce boat.