Kitchen Omens

In preparation for Hurricane Issac, my aunt made meatloaf. (It makes great sandwiches when the power is out.) I was scrolling through my Pinterest boards a couple of days ago and saw this wonder:



So while the majority of the country has been thinking about the last barbecue of the season, my mind has been on meatloaf. Further confirmation -- today's episode of Cook's Country featured whipped potatoes.

It's so on!! Got my supplies at Trader Joe's today. Tomorrow may just be the day (or maybe Monday).  

Feeling Better

This isn't my first post about shepherd's pie, but it is the first one with pictures. It was cool and rainy yesterday and I didn't feel well. I knew shepherd's pie would be one of my dishes this week.

It's really simple. I use ground turkey and a combination of fresh and frozen veggies. I'm out of fresh herbs, but dried will do. Let's make it happen.

Start with the mashed potatoes. Cut up raw potato (I leave the skin on) and cover the pieces in cold water. Add kosher salt, slap a lid on and bring to a boil. Once the pieces are fork tender, drain them and dump them into the KitchenAid.

This was my reduced fat version of mashed potatoes, so once the mixer was going, I added a 1/2 oz of light butter, 1/2 C milk and 1 oz of grated Parmesan cheese. This turned out to be perfect for one large potato.

Hopefully, you're browning the turkey while all of this is going on. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add chopped fresh garlic and onion.

As soon as the meat has browned, but before all of the juice cooks out, remove it from the heat and add it -- iquid and all -- to a mixing bowl. Add peas, corn and carrots. I used fresh carrots that I boiled briefly. The peas and corn were frozen, literally. Everything is usually thawed, but this time I dumped it all in "as is."

I sprinkled a couple of tablespoons of flour over the mixture. I wanted thicker juices this time around. It's still a work in progress. There's always room for improvement, except for my sweet potato pie:-) Okay ... my sister-in-law's sweet potato pie that I embellished.

Give it all a toss and put it in a greased casserole dish.

Now if everything was warm, you could top with the mashed potatoes and bake. Since I was working with frozen veggies, I let mine bake covered, without the potatoes.

Once everything was hot, it was time to add the potatoes. Spread them on evenly. An offset spatula works great for this.

Bake until the potatoes take on some color.

Tools of the trade:

• Shun Santoku
• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Vegetable Brush
• All-Clad Cassoulet
• All-Clad 2-Qt Saute Pan
• Wilton Offset Spatula
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer