Shepheard’s Pie, a Free Dinner — Sort of.
I’m reading a book right now (well actually I liked it so much I’m immediately reading it for the second time) “The Making of a Chef” by Michael Ruhlman. It’s about going to the Culinary Institute of America and how his thoughts on food progress. I also learned about a new position in the kitchen, the Garde Manager. Well, it’s not a new positon, it’s just new to me.
The Garde Manager is the person who can make or break a restaurant based on food cost. They are given what I conisider to be an especially tough challenge; to take what essentially amounts to leftovers and develop something creative from it. Nobody walks into a 4 star restaurant and wants to order the dish called “last night’s special that didn’t sell out.” And I’m betting a plate of “forcemeats” may be a hard sell too. And I bet you’ve ordered both, because of the creativity of the chef in the Garde Manager role.
Forcemeat is cooked or raw meat ground or minced — so sausage, charcuterie, terrines etc. And while the word forcemeat sends a shiver down my spine, they are delicious. Two leftover servings of protine such as duck can be turned into almost 20 appetizer servings that are wonderful and the food doesn’t go to waste. If only our moms had known how to clevery hide leftovers in this manner there would have been a lot less whiny nights at the dinner table. Unless of course she called her creation “Forcemeat Night” LOL. It’s all in the marketing.
I have to confess, I have a problem. I have a strange anxiety about not makeing enough food. I’d be a terrible portion control and food cost manager based on first dishes. It’s only Bill and I at home yet when I make pasta sauce or soup or stew I do so in a 13qt dutch oven with enough yield to feed everyone on the floor of my building. (yes, I tried starting with a smaller pot, didn’t work, just had to wash two pots) If I make cassarole — I fill a 9 x 13 pan. I don’t mean to, I start every meal with the best intentions but somehow end up cooking as if an entire infantry division is likely to just pop by. Obvioulsy this means we have a lot of leftovers. Some are easy sell for lunch the next day and maybe even a second dinner — like spaghetti. You’d think I never make it because cold spaghetti with meat sauce is like gold currency around here. Other things are not so easy — like half a steak. sure you can make steak and eggs or you can have a sandwhich, but more often than not it just sits in the back of the refrigerator staring at me, judging me for wasting the meat.
Pretty much every time we go out for steak They insist on serving a 12 oz portion as the smallest piece. Since I am not now, nor have I ever been a linebacker, I cannot now nor could I ever (even when I was at my heaviest) eat an entire 12 oz steak. Therefore, I dutifully take it home and in the past guiltily threw it away in a few days time.
To end the guilt, I decided to turn leftover steak into a new meal. I started wrapping it up and popping it in the freezer when I got home. I eventually decided that I could not wait to make that British Classic Shepherd’s Pie. You can make Shepherd’s pie with ground meat — lamb is traditional, ground beef works well too if you don’t care for lamb just start this recipe by browing the meat if you are going to use fresh meat. This isn’s a recipe, it’s a method. You could easily use cooked chicken and make a white sauce with white wine, chicken broth and cream and have a great meal.
The Recipe:
1 1/2 pounds left over beef sliced evenly
1 onion diced (roughly 1 cup)
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
1 Clove Garlic
1 8ox package sliced cremini mushrooms (sometimes referred to as baby bella)
1 T butter
1T Olive Oil
4 T tomato paste
3 T flour
1 cup red wine
! Cup Beef Broth
1 Cup frozen peas
2 – 3 cups mashed potatos (take these out of the refirgerator right away, if they warm up a little they’ll be easier to spread)
sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese (or whatever you like, bleu cheese would be YUMMY here)
1/4 cup sliced green onion
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Start by sauteing the onion in the butter and olive oil over medium high heat (about 7 1/2 on an electric stove) about 4 minutes. Next add the carrots and celery and cook until they carmelize. Next add tomato paste cook while stirring until fragerent and you see the tomato paste go from red to rust and it will bind or “pinch” with the rest of the ingredients. Now, add the flour and cook 2 – 3 minutes longer to get the flour taste out. Add the garlic and stir for 1 – 2 minutes, Then deglaze the pan with the red wine by adding the wine and scraping up any bits that may have clung to the bottom, add the beef broth and stir until it boils. Add the meat to the pan. Check the thickness of the sauce. You want it to be saucy and thick but not like a paste if you need to add some water or beef broth to get it where you want it, now’s the time. Add the peas.
You can either make one family size “pie” or individuals, if you make a family size it may take a little longer to bake — you’ll need an 8×8 pan for a family size. Put the meat base in the bottom of the dish, spread with a layer of mashed potatoes, about 2 inches worth is ideal but if you don’t have that much potato you’ll be fine. Top with shredded cheese and pop into the oven. A word of caution, there’s a good chance that this will bubble over so put it on a sheet pan with a foil or parchment liner unless you just like to clean your oven. And if you enjoy cleaning ovens, please contact me so we can arrange some thing! About 15 – 20 minutes for individual servings and maybe 35 minutes for a family size portion. I ended up turning on the broiler for the last couple of minutes to brown the top. Sprinkle with green onions and serve
If you prefer to see this done on video — We recorded another one. BOY do I feel like a dork. I’ll get better at this and they’ll become more fun to watch I promise!
Shepherd’s Pie – Free Dinner Using Leftovers from Dawn Brister on Vimeo.
If you have a leftover that you want my ideas on, or want to share what you do with lefovers, please leave a comment!
Until next time, don’t whine, wine!
Shepherd’s Pie is one of my favorite dishes, and my wife Odette is an awesome cook as well. With us trying to save money and do family dinner’s on the cheap, we end up alternating ground beef and chicken every other night. Multiple recipes is a must, and I’m constantly amazed at how Odette can take ground beef and make an endless supply of tasty dishes, then do the same the next night with chicken. I’m sure she’ll be reading your blog for more recipes in the future
The article is usefull for me. I’ll be coming back to your blog.
Jane that’s great! I hope I give you ideas and make you laugh!
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