Food for Comfort

I looove shepherd's pie. I'm not sure what it is about this homely dish, but it always hits the spot. I have made a few different variations and have tried a few different variations, but have to say that this one is my very favorite. Now, this does take some time to prepare; it's not for a quick dinner night. The results are totally worth it though (and the leftovers taste just as good)!

For those not familiar with Food Porn Daily, you should check it out. It's your best bet when you feel like drooling over food. They came out with a cookbook recently, from which this recipe was found. I couldn't find the recipe on their site, so that leaves me to type it up (not looking forward to it). Hopefully one out of the ten of you reading will make it and justify the time it will take to do so.

Shepherd's Pie

From the Food Porn Daily Cookbook

Filling:

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 1/2 lbs. ground lamb, buffalo, or beef (I decided to use buffalo with this. It has a subtler taste than beef - but I feel it would be just as good with beef.)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 yellow onion; peeled and diced

2 large parsnips; peeled and diced (they look like white carrots, but have their own unique taste)

2 large carrots; peeled and diced

4 cloves garlic; peeled and minced

2 tbsp. fresh rosemary;minced (or 2 tsp. dried)

2 tbsp. flat leaf parsley; minced

2 tbsp. flour

1 8 oz. can tomato paste

1/2 bottle dry red wine (didn't have half a bottle so substituted what I lacked with extra beef broth)

2 cups beef broth

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp. paprika

Topping:

1 large turnip; peeled right before use and cut into 1.5" cubes (white roundish bulb with purple near the top)

3 large russet potatoes; peeled right before use and cut into 1.5" cubes

4 tbsp butter; diced

2 oz. cream cheese; diced

1/3 cup milk

salt

pepper

chives; finely chopped, for garnishing (optional)

Preheat a large pot over med-high heat for a few minutes. Add oil to the pot. Once oil ripples from the heat, but before smoking point, add the meat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown, stirring occasionally and break up the meat. Once meat is browned and cooked through, remove from pot and set aside.

Drain off all but 1 tbsp of oil from the pan and return to stove. Reduce heat to med and saute onion, parsnips, and carrots, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add garlic, rosemary, and parsley to the pot and cook for another minute. Sprinkle with flour and stir to combine. Add remaining filling ingredients and browned meat. Stir to combine. Raise heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low or low and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

While the filling simmers, cover cubed potatoes in a pot with 1-inch water liberally salted. Boil over high heat for a few minutes and then add the turnips. Boil for another 6-8 minutes or until the potatoes and turnips are very tender. Drain well. Using a mixer with whisk attachment, beat potatoes, turnips, butter, cream cheese, and milk until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. Adjust seasonings to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat broiler.

Once filling has finished cooking, pour into a large glass or ceramic casserole dish so that the filling only goes halfway up the sides. Spread potato mixture evenly over filling. Using a spatula, swirl potatoes to create peaks.

Broil shepherd's pie until peaks have browned. It only takes a few minutes. Watch carefully as the topping can burn easily.

Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chives to garnish.

And for dessert....

Cranberry-Pear Tart in Walnut Shortbread Crust

Get the Recipe

I made four mini tarts with this recipe and they were delicious! A great Fall dessert. With the streusal topping, they're fairly sweet so if you like the tartness of cranberries, leaving a little of the sugar out of the fruit mixture wouldn't hurt. Also, I didn't have any brandy, so just left that out. These little guys were quite filling and a couple people couldn't finish theirs. That being said, the larger tart might have been a better option for portion control or plan on sharing one of these between two of your guests (recommended only for couples- or, at the very least, you might get some odd looks).