Healthier Shephard's Pie

I’ve been lucky enough to have many amazing people in my life. One of those people was my Aunty Pat. My brother and I grew up with her and my Uncle Kenny only a short fence-hop away from our yard. They entered our lives somewhat by chance, as my parents needed someone to babysit their kids and they were nearby and available. Over the years, we grew closer and closer to them, with them coming to family functions, holiday parties and visiting them on a near daily basis.

My Aunty Pat and Uncle Kenny would always let my brother and I have a sip of their coffee, which we loved probably because it looked more like chocolate milk than coffee. At our house, my Aunty Pat would always laugh at my mom’s tiny little sugar spoon, put the spoon aside, and simply grab the sugar bowl to pour the sugar into her mug, because it would have taken her three weeks otherwise.

I remember fondly feeding Charles the Squirrel outside their screened porch door, my first experiences fishing off of a small boat in the local reservoir, painting ceramics she had fired in the kiln in her basement, and having sleepovers a little before Christmas to ‘help’ them set up and decorate their Christmas tree.

One of my more vivid food memories when I was younger involves my Aunty Pat telling me to grab a stick of butter, reach deep into the turkey sitting on the counter, and rub ever last surface with my hands. (And for the record, butter does make everything taste better, as much as I hate to admit it!)

She was always the person that brought some sort of decadent dessert when invited for dinner (something along the lines of a chocolate and peanut butter Reese Cup cheesecake). She was also the first one over with comfort food when our family suffered a loss. You could always count on her food to be three things: rich, delicious, and comforting.

Sadly, our family lost Uncle Kenny in October of 2001 and Aunty Pat in February of 2009. While I miss both of them every single day, cooking certain foods helps me remember some of my favorite moments with them. My Auntie Pat had made us Shepherd’s Pie in the past to help us cope with a recent family loss, and it was comfort food at its best. You could really taste the love that went into making that meal.

Though this recipe is not quite as heavy and stick-to-your-ribs as I know my Aunty Pat’s original version was, I always feel like they’re both a little bit closer to me when the smell of the Shepherd’s Pie starts wafting through the kitchen. I’m taken back to their front porch, the sweeter-than-sin coffee, and being elbow deep in the southern end of a northbound turkey.

This is one of those occasions where instead of halving the recipe for the two of us, I make this full-sized recipe for the filling, and halve the amount of mashed potatoes. The filling freezes well, so for the effort of one meal, we get instant gratification of dinner that night, and then in the future, when we’re feeling especially lazy, we’ll pull the other half of the filling out of the freezer for an encore of this delicious meal.



Cheddar Topped Shepherd’s Pie
Adapted from Everyday Food's October 2008 Issue.
Yield: 4 Servings.

Ingredients:
1 lb Baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp Canola Oil
5 Medium Carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
4 Celery stalks, thinly sliced
1/2 c Chopped Onion
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
4 oz button mushrooms
3/4 c frozen Corn
2 Tbsp AP Flour
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 lb Ground Turkey
1/2 c Beef Broth or water
1/2 c Milk
3 oz Shredded sharp or white cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large saucepan, add potatoes and enough water to cover - season generously with salt. Bring to a boil - reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 12 to 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-low heat. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly until soft and translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Increase heat to medium/medium-high. Stir in carrots, celery, corn and thyme - cook until the vegetables are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in flour, Worcestershire and tomato paste - cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add turkey - cook, stirring to crumble, until the beef has cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add broth (or water) - bring mixture to a boil and let simmer for 1 minute. Remove pot from the heat and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, drain well and place back into the hot pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until any excess liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add milk and 2 ounces (1/2 cup) cheese. Mash to desired consistency - season with salt and fresh ground black pepper

Scoop the beef mixture into a 8" by 8" baking dish coated with cooking spray (or into individual ramekins) - spread to an even layer. Drop dollops of the mashed potatoes all over the top and spread smooth with an off-set spatula. Scatter the top with the remaining cheese (~1/4 c) - place into the oven and bake until the potatoes have browned and the filling is hot, about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.

Potato Gnocchi

What do you consider the perfect gnocchi? I’ve been to Little Italy in both Baltimore and NYC, and I’ve ordered gnocchi in both places. In Baltimore, the gnocchi was somewhat dense, doughy and sturdy – but in a good way. It also had the what I consider the classic gnocchi ridges. In NYC, they were light as air, pillowy and delicate. They actually looked like little pillows, so I’m guessing they were just cut from a long roll of dough and thrown right into the water to cook.
I obviously don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like or what texture it should have, because I loved both of those plates of gnocchi. I have heard that ‘good’ gnocchi is very difficult to make, and that there is definitely a specific technique needed. I’ve also seen recipes saying things like ‘I don’t know why I never tried to make it before, it’s so easy! It just seems difficult!’
Now I’m confused.
Because I apparently am not very picky when it comes to carbs and I’ve yet to meet a gnocchi I didn’t like, I figured I’d give this potato pasta dish a try.
The process itself doesn’t seem to difficult.
Step 1: Cook potato.
Mash potato.
Add egg and flour to potato and mix.
Shape, cut and plop dough into boiling water until they float.

Easy, right?

Apparently, the devil is in the details. I’ve read so many things about gnocchi before even trying it, my head started spinning. I’ll give you a *short* recap of my inner monologue as I began to break down these four ‘simple’ steps. (PS - If this is too much writing for your eyes to take, you can always just skip to the end to hear about the result.)
Step 1: Cook potato. Boil or bake? Some sites say boiling puts too much water into the potato, yielding a much denser gnocchi. So maybe I’ll bake it to prevent excess water from entering the recipe equation. Other sites say it’s the classic way to cook the potato. So I should boil it like apparently all the Italian grandmothers do. If it works for them, it should work for me. Ok, step 1 = confusion. I ended up boiling my potatoes because it was easier for me than baking them (I had other stuff camping out in the oven)
Step 2: Mash potato. Pretty much everything I have read proclaims the potato ricer is the perfect tool for the job, and is a kitchen necessity if you want perfect gnocchi. Ok, so checking out some places to buy a ricer... Sur La Table (http://www.surlatable.com/p2p/endecaSearch.do?keyword=ricer) has three, the least expensive being 24 dollars. BBB (http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/search/search.aspx/ricer/?sstr=ricer&dim=1&nty=1&) has one for 19.99, which I guess isn’t terrible, but I am in the same camp as Alton Brown with the concept of ‘Kitchen Unitaskers” – you know, the things in your kitchen that only serve one purpose? He believes the only unitasker in your kitchen should be a fire extinguisher. While I do have a few miscellaneous uni-taskers in the kitchen (love my pizza wheel!), I don’t have a lot of surplus drawer space for a ricer. I figure I’ll make do with a fork and my potato masher. Great. At least until I got to Step 3.
Step 3: Add egg and flour to potato and mix. Whole eggs or just the yolks? Not enough flour and the dough won’t hold together, too much flour and you’ll get a dense gnocchi. Apparently I’m supposed to know by the ‘feel’ of the dough when it’s ready. How do I know what it feels like if I’ve never made it before? Ok, so I’m going to have to go with my gut. Fine. I mixed everything together and started using my hands to mix the dough. That’s when I discovered little pea-sized pieces of unmashed potato in the bowl. While I don’t know what the dough should really feel like, I did know that chunks of potato would make a strange texture in the finished gnocchi. My solution? I found the next best thing to a ricer in my kitchen – my garlic press. Yes. You heard me. I put the entire mixture, essentially two tablespoons at a time, through my garlic press until all the lumps were gone. Italian grandmothers everywhere must be cringing by now.
Step 4: Shape, cut and plop dough into boiling water until they float. Finally! A step I understand! I was able to make little logs with the dough, and then I used my bench scraper to slice off my gnocchi. I decided to just keep them ‘pillow shaped’ because this process has been taking me long enough already – running each of those over the tines of a fork (or better yet, a gnocchi board) would take me until next week.
I also didn’t realize how many gnocchi this recipe would make. I filled 2 1/2 baking sheets with them. I froze some of them to use later, and the others I dumped into boiling water. Once they began to float, I took them out of the pot and dumped them into a bowl lined with sauce. Then just stir to coat the noodles, and serve!

Simple!

End Result
While the process did have my head spinning with all the variations I had read about, my gnocchi somehow managed to come out slightly pillowy, with just a minimal doughy chew. The best part? It was absolutely delicious. I actually really enjoyed making them, and look forward to trying it again, now having my inaugural attempt under my belt. It’s actually a relaxing process for me, even though it takes a while. It also makes a lot. But freezing the raw gnocchi works wonderfully, and you drop the frozen gnocchi into boiling water as your would fresh ones and you have a delicious, easy, homemade dinner.

Though, I may be adding a potato ricer to my list of unitaskers if I decide to try it again...
My husband likes his with your basic tomato sauce.
I like mine with parsley and fresh tomato.

Potato Gnocchi
Paraphrased From ZoomYummy
4 larger (1 kg) Baking Potatoes
1 egg
2 c AP Flour
1 tsp Salt

Place potatoes in a pot filled with water, bring to boil and let cook until the potatoes soften. You can check whether they are cooked by sticking a knife in their centers – if it runs smoothly and there’s no resistance, then it’s done. This process should take about 25-30 minutes.

Strain the potatoes and let them cool – just until they are cool enough to be handled with your hands.(You can speed up this process by placing the cooked potatoes into a pot of cold water for a couple of minutes.)

Peel the potatoes

Using a potato masher/ricer/fork (or in my case, garlic press) mash the potatoes.
Add the flour, egg and salt and combine with a rubber spatula.

Mix by hand until combined. Turn out onto a cutting board or counter top and knead the mixture by hand a couple of times until a compact ball forms. The dough is not going to be extra smooth so don’t worry about that.

Place the dough onto a well floured surface.

Then using a sharp knife, cut the dough into eight even pieces.

Form a ball from each piece and then roll each ball into this long skinny cigar-shaped log.

Cut the log into 3/4"-1? segments - however big you want your gnocchi to be.

Continue, until all of your dough is cut

Pour water into a large pot and bring to boil

Drop about 20 pieces of gnocchi into the boiling water, let cook and stir them gently once (so that they don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pot).

When the gnocchi float to the top, let them cook for additional 20 seconds

Remove them from the water and put into your favorite sauce.

Hasselback Potatoes

I’m a potato lover. Fried, baked, stuffed, scalloped, mashed, tater tot-ed..?... you name it, I love it.

The humble potato is a master of disguise, transforming from a lowly tuber into a variety of dishes, suitable for any time of the day. I love all types of potato, but the most common type on my table is either baked or mashed. The preparation is easy, and it takes little time to prepare. Not to mention I always seem to have a potato or two in my pantry threatening to sprout if I don’t use them soon.

If your basic baked potato is an ugly duckling on your plate, the Hasselback Potato is your swan. A few slices of a knife, lots of garlic, some olive oil and seasoning, and you have a potato diva that refuses to take a back seat to your main course.

The easiest way to actually slice the potato without going through it is to either put chopsticks down on either side of the potato as ‘stoppers’ or to put the potato in a wooden spoon and use the edge of the spoon to stop your knife. It’s a little strange and takes some getting used to, but it does work. And I inevitably slice one or two slices a little too close, and I end up cutting out a small wedge or two of potato. I usually just look around to make sure no one saw me, stick it right back in, and just don’t tell anyone (except you, of course).As another tip, my hubby and I love garlic. So much so that every crevice in the potato has garlic in it. If you don’t like a lot of garlic, or have any desire to be in public within the next few hours, you can dial it back. I do think it’s pretty how the garlic holds the slices of the potato open, though.
Here you can see the potatoes just before sticking them into the oven. Some olive oil, salt, pepper and of course, my version of these potatoes wouldn’t be complete without a sprinkling of the magical fairy dust of the east. The east coast that is - Old Bay. That’s another love story, for another day.
Hasselback Potatoes
2 Medium Russet Potatoes
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay
Parmesan (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees.

Put the potato on a cutting board (or wooden spoon) and cut nearly all the way through the potato, at about 3-4 mm intervals.

Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and insert garlic between the slits. I used Pam Olive Oil spray to lightly coat the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and old bay.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.