Last week was Asian week with the eggrolls, this week was British fare! By the way, I'm thinking of making this Union Jack garland (made from computer clip art, index cards and yarn) a part of my permenant decorating scheme! I love that little flag.....it reminds me of The Queen, The Beatles and Mick Jagger's annoying tight pants.
Last night, I made shepherd's pie, my way. That would be without any disgusting green vegetables or tomato paste or heaven forbid--ground lamb (the thought of grinding a lamb makes me cry). I've taken a traditional shepherd's pie recipe and tweaked it to my liking. Shepherd's Pie is my favorite food in the world (well, tied with curry), so I take pride in my little concoction.
Oh, good gracious. That little Miley Cyrus British flag t-shirt is incredibly tight, even by my standards. I think that will go straight to Goodwill after this week. I tell you, what we go through around here for a theme!
Kimberly's Shepherd's Pie That's Good Enough For Jude Law
2 pounds ground beef
1 packet of brown gravy mix5 lb. Russet potatoes, peeled, and boiled (reserve about 1 cup liquid from pot)
2 teaspoons white pepper
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger (you can also use fresh ginger paste)
6 Tablespoons butter, sliced into small sections
1/2 cup half-and-half or heavy whipping cream
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 Tablespoon each of fresh herbs: Tarragon, Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
While potatoes are boiling, saute onions and mushrooms together with a little butter or olive oil. Add ground beef. While you are waiting for it to brown, mix brown gravy with water according to package directions. When meat is browned, drain fat, then add gravy mix to the pan. Sprinkle in fresh herbs and cinnamon and salt and pepper to your taste. Turn down to medium low for a few minutes until gravy mix thickens a bit.
Mash potatoes with half-and-half and butter. Use reserved potato liquid, a little at a time, until the desired thickness is achieved. Add fresh ginger and white pepper, then salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Using a deep cassserole dish, transfer the beef mixture to the bottom of the pan. Spoon the mashed potatoes over the meat, smoothing with a spatula. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley or fresh herb leaf if desired.
What really took all day to make, and was the most labor-intensive thing I've made all year next to ciabatta bread, was handmade English Toffee. Here is the finished product, which I have to say is AMAZING.
The food was tasty and of course, the leftovers are always fantastic on Wednesdays.
All this talk of England is making me a little homesick. In college, I attended Cambridge University for a summer semester and that is where I feel like I really "found" myself. That was in 1996, but every memory of every ancient cathedral, every rose garden around each corner, the smell of every drop of rain during the daily afternoon storms, it's all as vivid as something that happened yesterday. There's nothing like walking the sidewalks of a school attended by Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Byron, Charles Darwin and other people way smarter than me......
Experiencing all of those things alone was part of the maturing process. You can do a lot of deep thinking when you're by yourself, accompanied only by your thoughts and a tattered old journal. I carried that journal around everywhere, filling it each day with my adventures. It is now one of my most treasured possesions.
I fell in love with England that year, and within a week of returning back to the States, the boy I fell in love with before I left asked me to marry him. I want to go back there again with him, as my husband, and relive all those memories. And make some new ones.
So happy 800th birthday, U of Cambridge. You don't look a day over 300.
No comments:
Post a Comment