Hey, you turkeys. It's been a long time since I have posted to my blog, but why deprive the world of my amazing recipes, glittering humor and awkward life situations? THERE ISN'T a good reason! Miss you, love you, bye. That's all the attention you get for today.
Jake’s Famous Lamb Shepherds Pie
Adapted from Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Shepherds pie. Made righteous by Jake Stewart.
2 lbs Ground Lamb
1 yellow onion
4 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon, ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon, ground cinnamon
1 or 2 teaspoons, dried oregano
1 or 2 teaspoons, dried basil
1 or 2 teaspoons, season salt
2 teaspoons, fresh ground black pepper
1 cup of frozen peas and carrots
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
2 cups beef stock (Kitchen Basics)
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
3/4th a tablespoon of corn starch (If necessary)
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup of whole milk
Salt and pepper to taste (For mashed potatoes)
Dried Parsley
Paprika
Bring about 3-4 quarts of water in a large stock pot. Rinse the potatoes well, cut them into quarters, add to pot and salt the water generously. Allow to boil until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes. Watch closely, or the starch will cook down too much. Drain potatoes and place them back in the stock pot to cool.
1- Dice the yellow onion. In a large sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté onions until translucent (5-8 minutes). In the meantime, thinly slice the garlic. (DON’T CRUSH THE GARLIC!!!)
2- Add Garlic to pan with onions and stir well. Allow to sauté about 60 seconds, or until fragrant.
3- Add the ground lamb meat to the pan. Allow to brown, but make sure you’re properly separating the meat evenly so this browns well (make sure you’re incorporating the onions and garlic). While the meat sautés, add the six spices and stir well.
Note- I like to over season meat, feel free to play with the spices. The amounts listed here are less that what I generally make shepherd’s pie with.
4- Once meat is cooked, turn off heat and allow to rest and cool for a minute or two. Place your colander in the sink and place the meat in the colander. Using the backside a spoon or spatula and press the fat out of the lamb. It’s very fatty and needs to be drained.Allow meat to sit and drain, about 5 minutes.
5- In a smaller sauce pan, heat the butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and stir vigorously with a wisk. Allow to bubble for about 10 seconds, stir again, but be careful not to burn. Slowly start to add the beef stock to the butter/flour mixtue. Continue to stir in the beef stock, still using a wisk. Add the Worcesterhire. Allow the sauce to simmer (If the gravy isnt had think as it should be, in a separate bowl, add 3/4th's a tablespoon of cornstarch to an extra 1/2 cup of beef stock and mix well. Add to the sauce, should help thicken nicely. Salt and pepper to taste.
6- Return the drained lamb meat to the large sauce pan. Over medium heat, add the gravy and the peas and carrots to the meat and mix well, and heat everything through, about 4 minutes. Turn off heat.
7- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes well. Then add the sour cream, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Mash well again until smooth.
8- In a 8” x 11” casserole pan, ladle out the meat mixture and smooth it out. Then top with the mashed potatoes and distribute evenly. Evenly dust the top of the potatoes with the parsley and paprika.
9- Turn broiler on to 450˚ F, bake for 5-10 minutes, until top of the potatoes is browned. WATCH CAREFULLY! Don’t burn them.
Now go eat your heart out!
