January 6th - Cottage Pie

Cottage Pie

Ingredients:

Onion, diced

Garlic, minced

Ground beef

Frozen mixed vegetables

Flour

Beef Stock

Potatoes

Butter

Heavy Whipping Cream

Spices

Directions:

Potatoes are boiled to mash with butter and heavy whipping cream. Ground beef is browned with onions and garlic and spices. Sprinkle with flour, allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, add beef stock and mixed veggies. Pour into a baking pan; top with mashed potatoes; bake at 350F for about 20m, then broil for potato color. Top with shredded cheese and rebroil for 1-2 minutes.

Chef's Notes

Right. So you're thinking that recipe looks an awful lot like it's for shepherd's pie, so why am I calling it cottage pie? Well, first off, shepherd's pie is made with lamb mince. Get it? Shepherd. Secondly, a true pie calls for green peas and carrots only, but I'm feeding growing big backs, so I want the whole gamut of veggies, not just peas and carrots - ya dig?

It's quite simple, but if you feel like your gravy isn't done up right, you can make a cornstarch slurry and add it in. IF YOU DO THIS, you need to add about 20 more minutes in the oven because that mixture will need to be brought back to boiling temperature.

Cornstarch Slurry: A small amount of COLD water (less than 1/4 cup) with 2 spoonfuls of cornstarch. Stir it until it looks like milk or Elmer's glue. Add it to whatever sauce you want to thicken. Bring that sauce to a boil. Viola! Thickener!

Need an alternative to cornstarch? Arrowroot. Just don't use arrowroot with sauces that contain dairy, as it makes the sauce go slimy.