Mmmm, pah.

[bzarcher]

I've got a Shepherd's pie in the oven. This isn't entirely unusual, but I decided to be a little picky and strange.

I found 5 recipes that looked good and doable without a run to the store for more ingredients, but I didn't like pieces of each. So, instead, I decided to chop the various bits until they came out looking like a decent attempt at a recipe, which is currently baking up.

With luck, we ought to see a decently tasty dinner here in about 15 minutes.

Without luck, we'll all be dead in hours.

In other news, I keep forgetting to tell friends currently in the Wooster area to go frequent Tulipan, downtown. It's a Hungarian cafe and bakery, and the desserts there will blow your mind.

Lisa was absolutely enchanted with it - she said the smell and the food made her feel like she was in her Grandmother's kitchen.

Plus, they serve an absolutely incredible coffee, black as my heart, that offsets the creamy tortes or rolls beautifully, and do a nice side of lunch if you're of a mind.

Me, I reccomend going in with a book or a newspaper, getting coffee and a Napoleon, and just seeing what happens from there.

Comments

[mg4h.livejournal.com]

Welcome to How I Cook (tm)

It works, so long as you cook the things that have to be cooked, and take notes so you can change things later if you goof up.

:)

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

So far, I haven't killed anyone with this one. :D I think I basically remember everything I did, so it'll probably come back for a return engagement later.

[narel.livejournal.com]

I've only been there once, not too long after it opened, with Meg and Jess, and omg I can't believe I keep forgetting about. If for anything, I MUST HAVE NAPOLEONS. *dies*

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm here - to provide helpful reminders.

[legwork.livejournal.com]

you're doomed. Who do you think you are? Snowspinner? been nice knowing you.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

No, no. I just do a nice line in casseroles and temporal stasis.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

You seem to have survived.

Well done.

[flying-landon.livejournal.com]

Shepard's Pie = Win

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

It's nice when things come together.

I'm usually not too nervous if I use ONE recipie, or if I'm just working off my head, but when I mix and match from existing sources, you never know if it's going to blend just right.

Usually, sure, but not always...heh.

Like the day I accidentally made cornbread that could have passed as a pool cleaner...

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Dear lord, yes, though it's also an obscene amount of work. Nice relief once it's in the oven, though.

[duskpaw.livejournal.com]

Post recipie!

Seriously, I'm a sucker for recipies with anecdotal comments attached.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Well...Ok!

Ingredients

Topping:

6 medium sized potatoes, or 4 big ones (we have some huge ones from a shopping trip recently), peeled and cubed.
3 eggs
1/2 cup Sour Cream.
Shredded cheese

Filling:

1 lb. or so of ground beef
1-2 tbsp. butter (to taste)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 cup water
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups of carrot, chopped
1/2 bag of frozen peas, broccoli, or whatever is in the freezer.
1 tsp of steak seasoning (or in my case, city BBQ rub, but whatever)

Start by getting a pot of lightly salted water going. Once it hits a boil, drop in your potato cubes and let them go to town for 15 minutes or so, turning the heat down if needed to prevent the pot from boiling over.

Once the potatoes have cooked (and you can work on the filling in the meantime, sure), drain, cool, mash, and incorporate the sour cream.

Then separate the eggs into yolks and whites. Incorporate the yolks into the potatoes, then put everything aside until the filling is ready, and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease up a 2qt dish or pie plate for the finished product, then brown the meat and onions in a large skillet with a bit of butter. I used about 1 and 1/2 tbsp.

Once the meat is browned and the onions tender, drain, then place back into to the pan. Add carrots and the frozen vegetables and cook them until the carrots have become slightly tender, then add the cream of mushroom, spices, water, bouillion cubes, and any remaining butter and cook at medium heat until the water has reduced out and the filling has begun to thicken up.

Once this is done, transfer the filling to the pan, and get the potatoes and egg whites.

Whip the egg whites up until peaks begin to form, then fold them into the potatoes and combine until the potatoes begin to peak. Then layer the potatoes over the top of the filling, score the potatoes with a fork, and cover with the shredded cheese.

Bake on the middle rack at 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until the topping has begun to turn a nice golden brown. In our oven, this took about 30 minutes.

Serves 4-6.