Today’s recommended book is a cook book! Told you we’d have variety here! 🙂
One of my finds from the big, biannual library sale down in Ithaca, Monday is Meat Loaf has quickly made it to the top of my favorite cookbooks list. (Its companions being “Joy of Cooking”, “Good Housekeeping’s Illustrated Cookbook” and the “Holden Family Cookbook”, that’s high recommendation in itself!)
I picked it up hoping to be able to find some recipes to add to my list of easy favorites. So far each of the recipes I’ve tried have proved to be just that – easy, and made from mostly basic ingredients already on hand. It’s perfect for those times when I’ve forgotten to think about dinner until 4 pm (or later) , all I have to work with is a pound of ground beef, and I’m not in the mood for spaghetti. Most of the recipes can be made with what you have on hand from a well-stocked freezer and pantry, with maybe only one or two items to fetch from the store.
I’ve already made the Beef-and-Onion Shepard’s Pie twice. The second time I made it, Olivia, Anneke, and
Beef and Onion Shepard’s Pie
1 Lb. sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. paprika
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. allspice
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/2 Lb. mushrooms
1/2 c. beef broth
1 LB. ground beef
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. brown sugar
- preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut a few short slits in the sweet potatoes for steam vents. bake the potatoes for 35 min, or until tender.
- Meanwhile, combine flour, paprika, 1/4 tsp. of the ginger, the salt, pepper, and allspice in a small bowl and blend.
- In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onions. Add the mushrooms and cook until they’re softened, 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the seasoned flour and cook, stirring, until it is not longer visible, about 30 seconds. Add the broth and bring the moisture to a boil, stirring until thickened about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and preheat the broiler. Halve potatoes and scoop the flesh out into a medium bowl. Add the butter, brown sugar and remaining 1/2 tsp. ginger, and mash into the potatoes with a potato masher or a fork.
- Transfer the beef mixture to an ovenproof skillet or shallow baking dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes around the rim of the skillet on top of the bee mixture. Broil the pie for 3-4 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned the filling is heated through.
(I didn’t use the mushrooms, and the original recipe called for cubed roast beef, but I changed it to ground beef. )
I am going to keep my eye out for the rest of the series, “Tuesday is Chicken”, “Wednesday is Spaghetti”, “Thursday is Pot Luck”, and “Friday is Fish”.
Thanks so much for the recipe! I used left over corned beef & had to settle for regular potatoes since my sweet potato had gone bad. Great flavor!
Oh, I wish my hubs would eat sweet potatoes! They're so healthy!!
Thanks so much for joining up with the fake-o shamburger helper carnival!
🙂 Katie
Best. . .Idea. . .Ever. . . .
Sounds like a great cookbook series! I have a divided household — vegetarians and not — so I always have to adapt these kinds of books. But: This has inspired me to put together a recipe file arranged by days of the week. Yay!
Thanks for the recipe and the cookbook idea, Monday is Meatloaf. I love recipes and cookbooks, so this is a treat to have a new book to look for. I love to read cookbooks and collect recipes…that I will make some day. Love
Aunt Marilyn
Ha ha
you can tell I never read recipes all the way through… when I read Red's comment, I was like sweet potatoes? the recipe didn't call for sweet potatoes….so I went back and read the whole recipe through…um..not really…i just read the part about the potatoes. Sure enough, the recipes does call for sweet potatoes 🙂
HMMM that is interesting. So you put the brown sugar and sweet potatoes over the beef and onions… I guess their sweetness does not interfere with the seasoning of the beef? I think I have only had Shepard's pie with regular old potatoes, so am just trying to figure how this would taste :p