Sunday, December 11, 2016

HelloFresh: Shepard's Pie

The second HelloFresh meal we made was called Easy as (Shepard's) Pie. Nick loves Shepard's Pie in all forms and was very excited about this one! We ended up adding three extra large potatoes and cheese to the what they sent in the box because there didn't seem to be quite enough of them. The Shepard's Pie turned out pretty good, but the sauce needed to be significantly thicker. However, the carrots were so amazing we are going to head out to the local farmers market to try to find some more of them. https://www.hellofresh.com/recipe/detail/581c9949cc7bd028121e14e3/easy-as-shepherd-s-pie-with-caramelized-onions-and-roasted-carrots/











Ingredients:

16 oz       Yukon Potatoes (+ 3 large potatoes)
8 oz         Baby Carrots
1              Yellow Onion
2              Cloves Garlic
1/4 oz Thyme
10 oz Ground Beef
1 TBSP Flour (Contains: Wheat)
1              Chicken Stock Concentrate
4 oz         Peas
1/4 Cup Reduced-Fat Milk (Contains: Milk)
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese (Contains: Milk)  (+ 1 cup of Cheddar cheese )

Directions:

1. Wash and dry all produce. Preheat oven to 420 degrees.

2. Toss carrots on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt and pepper. Roast until starting to brown, about 20 minutes.

3. Cut potatoes into ½-inch cubes. Place in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and put in a mixer bowl.

4. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion. Mince garlic. Strip thyme leaves off stems. Discard stems.

5. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add beef and thyme. Cook until browned, 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

6. Add another drizzle of olive oil and onions to pan. Cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and ¼ cup water.

7. Sprinkle flour over onions and stir 1 minute. Add stock concentrate, ½ cup water, and peas. Stir until sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes.

8. Add beef and stir to combine.

9. Use a mixer to mash the potatoes with ¼ cup milk and 1 TBSP butter until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

10. Transfer beef mixture to a medium baking dish. Spread mashed potatoes over top. Sprinkle with Parmesan and Cheddar cheese, and bake until melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes.

11. Serve with roasted carrots on the side.

What we liked:

The carrots were amazing. We wish there were more of them! The Shepard's Pie was pretty good, it was not the best we have made but it was still very good.

What we didn't like:

The sauce for the Pie was way too thin. A proper Shepard's Pie really needs a thick gravy like sauce, but this recipe made a far too little of a very thin sauce. The sauce tasted great but it just wasn't quite right.

What Kaspian thought about it:

Poor Kaspian was still feeling bad from his strep infection (again!) and didn't feel up to trying it out.

What Astrid thought about it:

Astrid loved the peas! She went absolutely crazy over them and would yell at us whenever we had one on our spoon heading for our moths instead of hers. 

Next time:

We would make much more of a thicker sauce by adding beef broth (or onion broth) and more flour to the sauce step. We would also put some Cabernet Sauvignon in the sauce to give it a little more flavor. Finally, we would add carrot circles directly in the pie and maybe put the pie in a nice crust. 

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