St. Patrick's Day Cottage Pie

My Irish Heritage

Next week we leap to the month of  March, and in just 16 days everyone will be "a little bit Irish".

I'm more than a "bit" Irish (and one glimpse at my reddish-blonde hair, green eyes, and leprechaun-like stature will attest to that!)

My paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Guiney, was born in 1875 to English-Irish parents. At the age of 16, she became a member of the Salvation Army; she was an officer before the age of 20 and one of the first missionaries to travel to Canada.

I am in awe of Elizabeth's dedication to pursuing what she believed in, her passion to do what was needed, and the courage she displayed in moving away from friends and family at such a young age. Unfortunately, I never really knew her. She died when I was just 6 months old. If not for her determination, she would not have journeyed to this continent, she would not have met the man who would become my grandfather, and I would not exist.

I love my grandmother, and in March, I dedicate my thoughts and my cooking to her memory.

"Mary had a little lamb...and peas and

carrots and potatoes and called it shepherd pie." --Carb Diva

What (you might ask) is Shepherd's pie? Shepherd's pie is, simply put, leftovers—reinvented with a bit of necessity and a healthy measure of frugality.

The English tradition of meat pies dates back to the Middle Ages. Game and mutton pies were popular and served in pastry "coffyns." They were cooked for hours in a slow oven and topped with rich aspic jelly and other sweet spices. The eating of "hote [meat] pies" is mentioned in Piers Plowman, an English poem written in the 14th Century.

One key ingredient that separates shepherd's pie from the Middle Ages "hot coffyn" is the use of potatoes. Potatoes are a new world food and were first introduced to Europe in 1520 by the Spanish. Shepherd's Pie, a dish of minced meat topped with mashed potatoes, was probably invented sometime in the 18th Century by frugal peasant housewives looking for creative ways to serve leftover meat to their families.

Sunday dinner centered around a roast. On Monday, you ate roast again, but cold this time. Tuesday the leftovers were chopped/minced finely and reinvented as "pie". (And after that, dinners for the remainder of the week went decidedly downhill).

Shepherd's pie was so named because the meat used was lamb (or probably mutton). However, today many cooks make it with beef.

Remove the lamb and your Shepherd's Pie becomes Cottage Pie.

Photo Credit: Sandra, Galetas ala Matilda

St. Patrick's Day Cottage Pie

Ingredients

• 4 cups leftover mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups ground beef or turkey*
• 1 cup carrot, chopped
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups beef or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400 F. In a saucepan, gently heat mashed potatoes and milk, stirring occasionally, until well combined. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground meat and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. (If using leftover meatloaf, you don't need to cook and brown for 5-7 minutes. Just a minute or two to heat is sufficient).
3. Add carrot and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in flour, stir, then add chicken broth. Simmer for 3 minutes and remove from heat. Add peas and mushrooms. Spoon into an oven-proof casserole and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake until the top is golden, about 40 minutes.
4. *In place of ground meat you can substitute 4 cups of chopped leftover roast or meatloaf

Homemade Almond Pasta

I love Saturdays. Every other day of the week is filled with work and routine, but Saturday is my one day to really spend time in the kitchen. That's the way it was for my mom. 

Early Saturday morning I would awake to the aroma of yeast dough proofing in the pantry, waiting to be formed into loaves of bread, rolls, or coffee cake. And while waiting for the dough to rise there would be a pie in the making—apple, peach, maybe apricot, rhubarb, or (Daddy's favorite) gooseberry.

And then, in the afternoon while the bread was baking and pies were cooling, mom would make pasta dough for egg noodles.

Mom made the most amazing noodles. They were hand-rolled—paper-thin, and light as air. And when she wasn't looking (or so I thought) I would grab a bit of the raw dough and pop it in my mouth. Flour-y, eggy, salty wonderfulness!! As the years passed Mom's arthritis made it impossible for her to wield the rolling pin that formed those thin layers of pasta dough. So Daddy bought a pasta machine for her.

I have Mom's pasta machine now, and whenever I use it I think of her. Today with the help of Mom's pasta buddy I made noodles. But these were no ordinary noodles. In my pantry is a large (I mean REALLY large) package of sliced almonds. I found them in our local warehouse store; they were just too great of a bargain to resist. They have appeared in salads, cakes, and cookies. And today they served as my inspiration for this pasta.

Almond Pasta

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1 tablespoon wheat gluten
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Process the almonds in a food processor until ground. However, don't process to the point of having almond butter. There should be a bit of texture in your pasta. 
2. To the same bowl add the wheat gluten, salt, and flour. Pulse until mixed. 
3. Add the eggs and process until a stiff dough forms and cleans the sides of the bowl. This will take a few moments and a bit of patience. At first, it will seem that the dough will not come together—it will be a bowl full of crumbs. But as the gluten in the flour breaks down, your dough will come together. Trust me!
4. With a pasta machine or by hand roll the dough out to desired thinness. When rolling out the dough, your goal is a thickness somewhere between 1/8 and 1/16 inch thick. If rolling out by hand, you will need to
   (a) cover the dough with a bowl and allow to rest for 15 minutes,
   (b) use a large well-floured surface, and
   (c) lift and flip over your dough several times to ensure that it doesn't stick to your work surface.
5. If using a pasta machine, use the setting you prefer to cut your noodles to the desired width. If cut by hand, you have two options.
   (a) You may use a pizza wheel to slice the dough into strips of the desired width, or
   (b) liberally flour the top surface of the dough, roll it up jelly-roll fashion, and then slice it into ribbons of the desired width (this option takes a bit more patience). Once all the dough is cut into noodles, sprinkle again with flour and toss so that all pieces are coated with flour to prevent sticking.
6. Bring a large kettle of water to boil. Place your noodles in a colander. Shake to remove excess flour and then drop the noodles into the boiling water. Cook until done; the amount of time needed will depend upon the thickness of your dough. Very thin noodles might need only 2 minutes. Thicker noodles will require 5 minutes or more. Sample, taste, assess, and enjoy when ready!

NOTE: Wheat gluten is available in health-food stores and in many major grocery stores in the baking goods section. Gluten provides the "glue" that binds dough and makes it sticky and pliable. A bit of gluten is needed in this recipe because almonds (which do not contain gluten) are taking the place of some of the flour.

Recycled Cookies

I have a confession to make. Yesterday, I rediscovered the cookie jar in the back of the pantry. I don't know how it got there. My heart breaks thinking of the lonely days (weeks?) it might have spent back there feeling unappreciated, neglected, and alone.

And yes, there were cookies within. Oatmeal cookies with pumpkin kisses. The kisses still look wonderful, but the cookie part is horribly stale. The kisses can be snapped off and are "as good as new," but what about the oatmeal cookie that was left behind?

I can't and won't throw them away; my frugal heart just won't allow that. 

Well, years ago I was lucky enough to get a recipe from my local bakery—Recycled Cookies. (This was long before recycling was in vogue). This recipe is the perfect answer for those times when you have cookies, cake, or (at New Year's?) fruitcake that seems past its prime.

Recycled Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. soda
• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant oatmeal)
• 2 - 2 1/2 cups crumbled cookies, cake, or fruitcake

Instructions

1. Cream together shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, soda, and cookie/cake/fruitcake crumbs. 
2. At this point, you will need to add some liquid to moisten. If you have used chocolate cookie crumbs/cake add milk or coffee. Otherwise, use orange or apple juice. You want to add just enough to moisten but not end up with a sticky/gluey mass. 
3. Form the dough into a roll 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm. Slice 1/4 inch thick and bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 375 degrees F for about 8 minutes.

Super Bowl Sunday

When my team is playing, I love Super Bowl Sunday. Unfortunately, this year "the other guys" are the star of the show. But we can still enjoy the Puppy Bowl, Kitty Half-Time, the Budweiser ad, and (best of all) the food.

Here is one dish that might be in my oven on Sunday:

Photo Credit: Image by tarheelgarden from Pixabay 

Seafood Nachos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

On a heatproof platter, layer the following ingredients in the order given:

tortilla chips

chopped green chilies

chopped, seeded tomato

sliced ripe olives

minced green onion

canned black beans, rinsed and drained

cooked shrimp and/or imitation crab flakes

shredded Cheddar or Jack cheese

Repeat layers once. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream and guacamole.