Shepherd’s Pie

By Alton Brown

Awesome for winter/fall. Use any ground meat you have: beef or pork. Tried to actually get ground lamb but it’s expensive af for a ground meat product. It was $8/lb at Aldi’s and $17/lb at Mariano’s. This is great for using any leftover veggies in the fridge instead of using frozen stuff.

Ingredients:

For Potatoes

• 1 1/2 lbs potato
• 1/4 cup of half and half
• 2 oz of butter
• 3/4 TSP salt
• 1/4 TSP pepper
• 1 egg yolk

For Filling

• 2 TB canola oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 lbs of ground lamb/pork/veal/beef
• 1 TSP salt
• 1/2 TSP pepper
• 2 TB flour
• 2 TSP tomato paste
• 1 cup of chicken broth, gonna use knorr cause I don’t have any freshie stuff
• 1 TSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TSP of fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1/2 cup peas
• use whatever veggies you have in the fridge

Directions:

• Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan or mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
• Add the corn and peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish (He uses a cast iron pan which I’m gonna use next time to save a dish.) Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of split peas
• 2 quarts (8cup) water
• 1 1/2 lb ham bone (or smoked ham)
• 2 onions thinly sliced
• 1 potato
• 3 carrots chopped
• 3 celery chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt (added Knorr chx broth mix)
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• In a large stock pot, cover peas with 2 quarts cold water and soak overnight. If you need a faster method, simmer the peas gently for 2 minutes, and cover. Soak for l hour in the warm water. (tried this worked great)
• Once peas are soaked, add ham bone, onion, salt, pepper and marjoram. Cover, bring to boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Remove bone; cut off meat, dice and return meat to soup. Add celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook slowly, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.