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Tag Archives: mash

Shepherd’s Pie

22 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by denisegan in Breakfast and Brunch, Dinner, Home Cooking, Lamb, Lunch, Mains, One bowl meal, Sauces

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Tags

autumn recipes, brunch, chives, comfort food, easy recipe, lamb mince, lamb sauce, lunch, mash, mashed potatoes, One bowl meal, pie, rosemary, sheperds pie, thyme, winter recipes, worcestershire sauce

I’ve been itching to have a go at making this pie for a while now! What’s not to love about creamy mashed potatoes and a hearty thick lamb mince ragu all in a single bowl? It’s a pretty balanced meal is it not? Carbs, protein and vegetables? Let’s forget for a moment about the amount of cream and cheese that went into it and label it as the ultimate balanced meal.

Comfort food. Easy to put together. I will definitely make this again! The recipe calls for peas and corn as well but I made do without them since I’ve got a picky eater on my hands today!

Ingredients 

Meat Layer

  • Minced lamb – around 700 grams
  • 2 carrots, diced into smallish cubes
  • 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
  • 1/2 cup fresh English peas (if you’re feeling lazy there’s always the frozen mixed vegetables option which has carrots, corn and peas all in one convenient bag. Use 1.5 cups of the mix then)
  • 4 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 1 cup minced onion
  • 3 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
  • 3 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 3 tbsps Tomato puree, have an additional 3 tbsps on hand if you prefer more of it in the ragu
  • 2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce – other recipes call for 1 tsp, I found it insufficient and ended to my taste, so add to your taste
  • 2 tbsps all purpose flour
  • pepper to taste

Potato Layer

  • 700 grams peeled russet potatoes approx.
  • 200 ml cream
  • 30g salted butter
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • fresh thyme leaves

Cooking Instructions  

  • Heat up butter in a large deep skillet on medium high heat
  • Add the chopped onions first, and cook until translucent and starting to caramelise.
  • Add the garlic and fry for about half a minute or so until that’s soft
  • At this point if the mixture is getting a tad too dry, add a little more butter. After which we can now put the lamb mince into the pan to brown. Break up the meat into small pieces (the smaller, the smoother the ragu will be, but that’s only if you like it that way)
  •  Mix in the vegetables, we’re only adding them now as we don’t want to overcook them
  • Sprinkle the thyme and rosemary over the mixture and give it a good stir.
  • Pour in the red wine, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce and tomato puree and flour.
  • Bring the sauce to a boil and lower the heat to simmer for a couple of minutes. The flour should thicken the sauce in the process.
  • Turn the heat off and cover with a lid.

  • As for the potatoes, place them in a large pot and cover with cold water
  • Add salt to the water
  • Bring to a boil. Once they are pierced easily with a fork, drain them. Check in about 10 minutes, if the potatoes are still resistant to the fork the leave for a bit longer. However, take care that you don’t overcook them. Don’t want mushy potatoes!
  • Press the potatoes through a ricer (or mash them by hand) and put aside.
  • Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cream. Bring this to a gentle simmer before adding the potatoes to the cream and mixing it all up. Season with salt and pepper.
  • (Additional step:- you can put the mashed potatoes through a sieve to get rid of all the lumps for that smooth mash)

Ladle the ragu into your prettiest deep dish (one that is oven-compatible). Sprinkle a layer of cheese over the ragu.   Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the ragu like so.
After which you’re done. You can use a fork to create patterns on the mash which will turn out a little crispy after some time in the oven. My ideal meat ragu to potato ratio  is 3:1.

However, you can add more if you like your mash. Here, I decorated the top by squeezing the potatoes through a decorative nozzle.

Sprinkle some cheese over the top of the mash layer, and arrange some thyme leaves strategically into the top layer as a sort of garnish and for the fragrance.

Bake at 205 Celsius for around 20-30 minutes
Added some chopped chives before serving, just because I like chives.
  

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Creamy mashed potatoes (pomme purée)

08 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by denisegan in Dinner, Home Cooking, sides, Western

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Tags

butter, cream, french style mash, mash, mashed potatoes, pomme puree, potato ricer, ricer, roast, sides, sieve

Yes I know, there could’ve been a better picture of it. I should have done it justice and posted something that represents the texture and creaminess of it all.

As it stands, I’ll just post the recipe for it so someone else can have a go and take food magazine worthy photos of this decadent side dish.

So here goes:-

Ingredients (Serves 6-8)

  • 2kg Yukon Gold potatoes (washed and scrubbed)
  • 2 cups heavy cream or more just in case you like it creamier
  • 450g salted butter
  • salt and white pepper to taste
  • You will also need a ricer for this recipe

Place the potatoes in boiling water and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook until tender (1/2 to 1 hour).

Drain and cool the potatoes.  Peel the skin off.  Pass the potatoes through a ricer.
This is a new toy of mine. It ensures that the mashed potatoes stay fluffy and airy since you don’t have to mash it do death by hand, and therefore it also keeps the potatoes from getting gummy.
Potatoes all pressed through the ricer!  Pour the cream into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Slowly mix/whisk in the butter until sauce is emulsified. I actually used more cream than what is stated in this recipe.
Then stir in the potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Eyeball the creaminess and add more cream if you wish.

After which, I sieved the entire pot of mashed potatoes. And the result? The fluffiest, creamiest mash ever!
  

❤

Quick post: Roasted chicken thighs! 

27 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by denisegan in Chicken, Dinner, Home Cooking, Mains, Sauces, Uncategorized, Western

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Tags

butter, carrots, cast iron pan, chicken gravy, compound butter, cream, gravy, gravy from scratch, mased potatoes, mash, pomme puree, potato rinser, roast, roast chicken, sieve, thyme, young carrots

Been a while since my last post! Coming up: myhumblefood recipes for pomme purée (basically an incredibly light and creamy French version of mashed potatoes), chicken gravy from scratch and the roast chicken. 

 

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