Monday, September 20, 2010

Shepherd's F*ing Pie!!!

There is nothing like a big plate of warm, simple comfort food.
I've always enjoyed the basic flavors of rustic "country" dishes more than any fancy-butt gourmet meal. Gimme rich, buttery potatoes, cheap nutritious veggies, and simple sauces that mellowly flavor the dish without over-powering the natural beauty of it.
Not being able to eat potatoes again has broken my heart. Sure, I can cheat if I want to, I won't die immediately from them. But I'll be damn sorry the next day when my knees and hips get so stiff and painful that I walk around like a rickety old lady. No fun.

The other day I was watching an episode of No Reservations where Tony goes to Ireland. Of course, he has to eat a huge, steamy plate of shepherd's pie, one of my ultimate all time nestled-in-the-cockles-of-my-heart dishes. When I saw it on the tv screen, and I had to figure out how to have it.

Thank god for the potato's unrelated adopted cousin, the sweet potato. Not being a nightshade plant, sweet potatoes don't harbor the same horrible toxin that potatoes do, so I CAN EAT THEM. Yay.

After that, I did an internet search for "sweet potato shepherd's pie". I found this recipe from the infamous Rachel Ray (of all people): http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipes/rachael-ray-30-minute-meals/Turkey-Sweet-Potato-Shepherd-s-Pie
It wasn't perfect, but it was damn close.

So here it is kids. A nightshade-free, dairy-free, gluten-free mother f'in SHEPHERD'S PIE. Bow down before it, then dig in.


Ingredients:

* 2 pounds sweet potatoes (the pale kind, not the orange ones), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
* Sea salt
* 2 tablespoons coconut oil
* 1 pound ground organic local turkey or grass fed beef
* 3/4 large onion, chopped
* 1 large carrot, grated
* 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (I didn't have this on-hand, it's basically sage, rosemary, and majoram)
* Pepper
* 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
* 1/2 cup broth (homemade is best)
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 1/4 cup coconut milk
* 2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1/3 cup nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the sweet potatoes and enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, salt the water and cook until tender, 15 minutes. Drain and set aside, reserving the pot.

2. While the sweet potatoes cook, preheat the oven to 425°. In a deep skillet or pot heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the beef or turkey and cook, breaking up with a spoon. Stir in the onion, carrots, and poultry seasoning. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

3. In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons coconut oil/ butter over medium heat. Whisk in the starch for 1 minute, then whisk in the broth and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes until kinda thickened (this is a sad moment for gluten-free cooks- the fact that gluten makes thick gravy... So just so your heart isn't too broken like mine was, realize this will be watery sauce) Then stir the sauce into the protein mixture. Mix in the celery and remove from the heat.

4. Mash the sweet potatoes with the coconut milk and a dallop of coconut oil. Add more garlic powder to this, it helps cancel out some of the sweetness of the coconut.

5. Throw the protein/veggie mix into a casserole dish. Top with the sweet potato mixture and smooth the top. Cover the sweet potatoes with the nutritional yeast and bake about 5-10 minutes.

6. Stuff yourself full of amazing food!

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