Shepherd's Pie AKA Hunting Rancher's Pie

I was looking for something new to do with our ground beef (we have a lot in the freezer right now), and was paging through the new (Feb. 2010) Martha Stewart Living when I ran across her recipe for Shepherd's Pie. I was intrigued by the use of parsnips and yogurt in the mashed potato topping, but not by the ground turkey or the weird chili powder in the filling. (chili powder? in shepherd's pie??) Not that I've ever had shepherd's pie, but chili powder just doesn't sound right to me.

I pulled out my American Classics cookbook, written by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine. You know, the people who test the daylights out of recipes to come up with the "Best" way to make them? So they suggested using diced lamb shoulder chops for the best flavor, which is probably true, but I've got ground beef. If I remember today I'll check the freezer in town for some lamb to add to the beef.

Then I remembered Shell's Shepherd Pie recipe that she posted back in November. It looks quite similar to the American Classics recipe, except doesn't call for wine. I like wine. The measurements are almost identical, but Shell's also adds corn. I like corn, too.

So this is what I decided. I'm going to use ground beef, and maybe some lamb. I'm going to use the Martha's topping and Shell's/American Classic's filling, with wine and Shell's corn. I won't even have to go to the store for this!

I think it will be the Best of Three Worlds. I guess we'll see. It doesn't sound very fast, but I'm still making it on a weeknight.



I couldn't find lamb in the town freezer, but I did grab a package of ground elk. Should be interesting. And delicious!

Okay. Had there not been excitement on the way home and subsequent emailing and reporting, I would have started this dish much earlier. Oh well. You can't eat on time every night, right?

I didn't really end up following any of the three recipes, except for ingredient lists, so we'll see how this goes. It's such a mishmash of ingredients and techniques and amounts, I believe I've changed more than enough to take credit for it now! It is smelling and looking delicious...but dinner was served almost an hour late. I could have left it in the oven for 5 more minutes to get just a bit more golden, but we were hungry!


And it IS delicious! I really like how it turned out, and ate too much. Number One and H-Bomb liked it too. Sawed Off wasn't really into eating tonight, but I'm sure he would have liked it, if he had tasted it. I guess technically with the elk and beef it should be called more of a Hunter's Pie or a Ranching Hunter's Pie, a Hunting Rancher's Pie? What do you think?


Min's Shepherd Pie
Inspired by Martha Stewart, American Classics, Shell & Alton Brown!

For the topping:
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces (I don't peel potatoes)
3 parsnips (6 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup plain yogurt
salt and freshly ground pepper

For the filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground elk (or lamb)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 medium onions, chopped coarse
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup full-bodied red wine
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon thyme leaves (dried, or chopped if fresh)
1 teaspoon rosemary (dried, or chopped if fresh)
1 cup peas (I used canned, drained; if frozen, thaw first)
1 cup corn (I used canned, drained; if frozen, thaw)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the topping: Place potatoes and parsnips in a medium saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a simmer. Cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, return to saucepan, add yogurt and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Mash and mix together; season with pepper.

Make the filling: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add meat and start cooking. Add onions and carrots, cook until vegetables are softened and meat is browned. Add garlic, flour and tomato paste and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the broth, wine and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until some of the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat. Stir peas, corn, thyme and rosemary into meat mixture and check the seasonings. Pour the meat mixture evenly into a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish. With a large spoon, place the potato topping over the entire filling. Starting at the sides to ensure a tight seal, use a rubber spatula or a spoon to smooth out the potatoes and anchor them to the sides of the baking dish. (you should not see any filling).

Bake until the top turns golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.

Lazy Day Braised Pot Roast

This recipe comes from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, which has some interesting recipes in it. I turn to it from time to time, but it seems like there are a lot of ingredients that are not typical pantry fare, so I don't end up trying the recipes. Then I forget what ingredient it was that I needed, or what recipe the ingredient I picked up was for, and so I still don't try the recipes. I think my system needs some fine-tuning.

Anyway, I got a couple roasts out the other day, when we thought we might be having company for dinner. Good thing I didn't cook the roasts, because they didn't show up! It did give me some time to look for a new recipe to try.

Number One isn't a fan of roast, so I'm hoping this is a good one. He says they are "too dry" but maybe this one will be different...The cider vinegar is interesting; I'm eager to see how it turns out. I'm typing this up and publishing before I know the results...I will update after the roast is done and dinner is served!

Oh, and I always spray my slow cooker insert with PAM Cooking Spray before I put the ingredients in there--it helps to prevent that stubborn, stuck-on stuff that's so hard to clean.

After Dinner Update: The pot roast has a nice flavor, it cooked just over 6 hours. I think it could have cooked longer (the potatoes were not quite as mushy as I like), but Number One disagrees. He said this roast wasn't too dry, but he thought if it cooked longer, it would have been. Who knows.

I can tell you: that weird little beurre manie? While it sounds like a nice idea for making gravy, it just didn't do a darn thing for mine. I started out turning the crock pot on HIGH as directed, whisking away, but after 10 or 15 minutes of Nothing Happening, I gave up and dumped everything into a saucepan. On high heat. Still nothing (or not enough for me to call it gravy).

I had plated the roast and vegetables and stuck it in a 200 degree F oven to keep warm--thank goodness. Finally, Number One asked if he could take the meat out and serve the boys. Of course. I tried longer to make the gravy, I really did, whisking in front of the stove while everyone else ate and I knew my portion of dinner was getting cold. I whipped up another mixture of butter and flour, whisked it in, the gravy boiling away (hoping for a bit of reduction).

Still not enough to call it gravy. I gave up. I poured some into a bowl, and as you can see it is just thin thin thin. I am disappointed in the gravy ordeal, which normally isn't a problem for me. But, thankfully my dinner wasn't quite cold, and the gravy was flavorful if not thick.

I'd make this again. I'll just plan an extra hour for the gravy-making time.


Lazy Day Braised Pot Roast

This is lazy because there's no browning, no fussing. Just load up the cooker and later in the day thicken the flavorful juices collected in the crock. This recipe has much more liquid than the others, and that is the basis for your gravy. The meat stays moist and tender, just the way we like our pot roast. It is just as good the next day.

Serves 6 to 8

Cooker: Medium oval or large round or oval
Setting and cook time: LOW for 6 to 8 hours

One 4-pound boneless chuck roast, trimmed of as much fat as possible and blotted dry
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large carrots, cut into 3-inch lengths (I peeled mine)
4 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
3 cups water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Put the roast in the slow cooker and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Add the carrots, potatoes, onion and bay leaves. Pour the water and vinegar over the meat and vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

2. Transfer the meat and vegetables to a heated platter and cover with aluminum foil. Turn the cooker to HIGH. You will have about 3 full cups of liquid. In a small bowl, mash together the butter with the flour to make a beurre manie (using a fork or small food processor, mash or pulse together until the mixture becomes a semi-firm mass). Add to the hot liquid in the cooker and stir with a whisk until melted and the liquid thickens. Ladle some gravy over the meat and vegetables and serve the remainder in a bowl.

Chicken Fried Steak & Gravy

Chicken Fried Steak is a favorite of mine to order in restaurants, usually for breakfast. There's just something comforting and familiar about it, especially if it's good. I don't think we've ever made it before though.

This recipe comes from Betty Crocker's Country Favorites. The recipe description reads: This fried steak and gravy dish, popular in Texas and throughout the Southwest, was invented out of necessity on cattle drives. To feed hungry cowboys, trail cooks would slice beef off a hind quarter, tenderize it by pounding it with a meat cleaver, roll it in seasoned coating and fry it hot sizzling oil like chicken--hence it's name. If you'd like to save a bit of time, substitute cubed steaks for the round steak.

Whatever the recipe's origins, it is delicious. And pretty easy too. The other night we served it for dinner, with mashed potatoes and salad.


Chicken Fried Steak
6 servings Prep time: 35 minutes Start to finish: 35 minutes

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef round steak, about 1/2 inch thick
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
1 cup soda cracker crumbs (28 squares) [we used oyster crackers]
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Milk Gravy (recipe below)

1. Cut beef into 6 serving pieces. Pound each piece until 1/4 inch thick to tenderize. (we put the beef into a ziploc bag, then pounded it for much less of a mess)

2. Beat water and egg; reserve. Mix cracker crumbs and pepper. Dip beef into egg mixture, then coat with cracker crumbs.

3. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook beef in oil 6 to 7 minutes, turning once, until brown. Remove beef from skillet; keep warm. (We kept our steaks warm on a plate in a 200 degree F oven)

4. Reserve drippings for Milk Gravy. Make gravy and serve with steak.


Milk Gravy
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk

Measure reserved drippings (from step 4 above). (I didn't measure. I just tipped the pan up, eyeballed the drippings, and decided it didn't need more oil. You can measure if you'd prefer). Add enough vegetable oil to drippings, if necessary, to measure 1/4 cup. Return drippings to skillet. Stir in flour and salt. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly to loosen brown particles from skillet, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Slowly pour milk into skillet, stirring constantly. Heat to boiling over low heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.