Shepherd's Pie

I have been struggling with finding good chicken that is truly free range around here.  Trader Joe's sells grass fed beef which is awesome, but I haven't cooked with a lot of beef.  We were privileged to hang out with the Butler's yesterday and she gave me an idea of making shepherd's pie!  I haven't ever eaten it before, but my sister used to talk about it all the time.  I found this amazing recipe and adapted it a little.  This is from Elana's Pantry.

Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 

• 1 large onion, diced

• 1 pound turkey or pork bacon, cut into 2 inch slices

• 2 cups diced carrots

• 2 cups diced celery

• 1 pound organic grass fed ground beef

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 2 large heads cauliflower, trimmed, chopped and steamed until very soft (I only used one)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 
  
• Directions:
• 1.  Heat olive oil in a very large frying pan.
• 2.  Saute onion for 15 minutes until soft.
• 3.  Add bacon pieces to pan and sauté until cooked, about 10 minutes.
• 4.  Add carrots and celery to pan and sauté in bacon fat for 10 minutes until soft.
• 5.  Add ground beef to pan and sauté until brown, just a few minutes.
• 6.  Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.
• 7.  Add beef or chicken broth and cook down broth until 60% evaporated. 
• 8.  Place cauliflower in food processor and puree with olive oil until smooth.
• 9.  Pour ground beef mixture into a 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dish.  
• 10.  Pour mashed cauliflower over beef mixture.
• 11.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
• 12.  Serve!

Peppermint Patties

Do you love York Peppermint Patties from the story?  Then you are going to LOVE this recipe!  It takes very few ingredients and it's not really time consuming.  I would have to say it is quite messy though!  I borrowed this recipe from Elana's Pantry.  You should check out her website and buy a cookbook.  She has some amazing recipes and I have tried several!

Peppermint Patties

Ingredients:
½ cup coconut oil
¼ cup agave nectar
½ teaspoon peppermint oil
½ to 1 cup of dark chocolate chips

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, combine coconut oil, agave nectar and peppermint oil, mixing with a spoon.
2.  Smash clumps of coconut oil against the side of the bowl until the mixture is smooth.
3.  Freeze the mixture for a few minutes until it starts to harden and then remove from the freezer.
4.  Use a small ice cream scoop (or cookie scoop as I use) to measure out little balls onto a parchment paper lined plate.
5.  Squish the balls down into flat patties on the parchment paper.
6.  Melt the chocolate over very low heat and allow to cool.  The trick is that the chocolate really needs to be pretty cool in order for it to stick to the oil balls.
7.  Dip the patties into the melted chocolate.  I used a spoon to drop the patty in the chocolate and to cover the patty.
8.  You may need to freeze them again.  Then take them out and enjoy!

It makes about 12 patties.