Shepherd's Pie | Cookout . 11

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Men at work, obviously. Work in progress. Don't try this at home just yet! Dinner's tomorrow, Sunday 2/28, at 18:00 hours GMT sharp, if you're hungry, in the neighborhood (Dot) and can bring a bottle of half-decent Chardonay - or whatever.

The Oxford American Dictionary  makes short shrift of shepherd's pie as ... a dish of ground meat under a layer of mashed potato. Wikipedia, which seems to know everything these days, and some of it may even be true, redirects inquiries to the older usage of ...

Cottage pie refers to an English meat pie made with beef mince and with a crust made from mashed potato. A variation on this dish using Lamb mince is known as Shepherd's pie.

The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791,^[1][2] when potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "cottage" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.^[3][4]

The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until the 1870s,^[2] and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was beef or mutton.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} There is now a popular tendency for "shepherd's pie" to be used when the meat is mutton or lamb,^[9] with the suggested origin being that shepherds are concerned with sheep^[10] and not cattle,^[11][12] however this may be an example of folk etymology.

In the United States a similar dish is called cowboy pie. In New England the most common recipe for shepherd's pie consists of ground beef, canned creamed corn, and mashed potatoes

Now I've heard of cow pies, and stepped in a few, but never cowboy pies. And cottage pie is obviously an English affectation with corrosive class overtones. So Shepherd's Pie it is. We're going to make a vegetarian version of the New England variation, with a few more ingredients to replace what used to be known in this kids' fave as hamburger.


INGREDIENTS

1 head cauliflower, divided into bite-sized florets
peas, frozen and defrosted
corn kernels, frozen and defrosted
onions, chopped
scallions, thinnly sliced
thyme, dried and crumbled
curry powder
butter
flour
vegetable stock
white wine
extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
Parmesan cheese, grated
potatoes
milk
yogurt, low fat
garlic, minced and mashed or pressed


PREPARATION

January 10, 2010

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Discovered Songza Radio. See yesterday's Journal entry for details. It's nuts. We'll be reviewing it soon.

Sat on my precious Maxell headphones - again - with predictable results. Sutured with masking tape. Don't sound the same though. Boogers. I think I like them more than my Koss, which sounded great but were bulkier, started falling apart 5 seconds after I bought them and crapped out on their own. Occupational hazard. Headphones are the only thing for close, detailed listening and mixing. The music is inside your head rather than out there. Which is where nusic begins anyway. It's all in your head. With some sympathetic strings.

Biked downtown yesterday to meet a new client. Stepping outdoors into the strong sunshine it felt fine. On the road - 22 degrees of freeze and a sharp breeze. Baby it was brisk, but not bad. Bad is snow, rain and ice. Cold itself is cool.

Photographed MLK's bachelor digs on Mass. Ave. with freezing fingers and failing batteries. See below - although I've just dropped a huge hint. So what, as Miles says in modes. In the end nothing matters. Nothing does. Nothing finally matters. Nothing does. Nothing.

Rose early. Started prepping for today's dinner, a recipe which I've made before but I'm going to try to finally nail - Shepherd's Pie, a vegetarian version anyway (hold the little lamb).

I cook in stages on Sundays, over the course of the whole day, while I'm doing other stuff. If you're lucky this will give you the illusion that you never did any work. The first step is simply the 'mis en place' - getting all the ingredients scrubbed and in place, ready for the knife. Oh, and before that - cleaning up the kitchen and breakfast, eaten while breaking down the Sunday papers. To be a free spirit you have to follow strict routines. So be it, for some reason.

Image ... Northeast windows, third floor landing outside the office.

Vegetable Stock | Cookout . 6

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Stock is the basic building block for many good things constructed in the kitchen. Soups, stews and sauces all often rise or fall by their stock.

Now there's store bought stuff called 'stock' that comes in cans or cartons, or god forbid cubes and powders. Maybe it's better than nothing but nothing beats freshly homemade stock.

Stock isn't too difficult or ime-consuming to make. Chopping vegetables and boiling water are the necessary skills and most of the time involves unattended cooking whose duration is flexible.

Other good news. You don't need to peel or seed anything, in fact the peels and seeds add flavor. Simply wash and chop the vegetables, cutting out any bad spots. An unmistakable scent will soon fill your house - and you will be sampling.

There are two types of stock, light and dark. To make a light stock the vegetables are simply simmered together for a few hours. For a dark stock they're roasted together in the oven for an hour or so before simmering. This produces a richer, darker stock. In general, light stocks pair well in dishes using ingredients with lighter tastes - potatoes, say. Dark stocks complement ingredients with more assertive flavors - broccoli, perhaps.

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds turnips, chopped
2 pounds carrots, sliced
1 pound potatoes, chopped
2 pounds onions, chopped
1 head garlic, chopped
1/2 pound celery, sliced
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
1 - 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 apple, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (if making dark stock)
8 peppercorns
3 whole cloves
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups dry white wine
1 gallon (16 cups) water

PREPARATION - Dark Stock
Pre-heat the oven to 400° F.
Wash and prepare the first seven vegetables. Toss in a large bowl with the oil. Place in a large roasting pan with the tomatoes.
Roast for an hour in the middle of the oven, turning several times with a spatula.
Transfer the vegetables to a large stock pot. Deglaze the roasting pan with some of the wine. Add the remnants, remaining ingredients and water to the pot.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover, lower the flame and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
Strain the stock, pressing the vegetables in the strainer with a large spoon to extract all the juices. Allow the stock to cool and settle. Skim any froth off the top. Take the spent vegetables to the compost bin.

PREPARATION - Light Stock
Wash and prepare the vegetables.
Place the vegetables and all other ingredients in a large stock pot.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover, lower the flame and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
Strain the stock, pressing the vegetables in the strainer with a spoon to extract all the juices. Allow the stock to cool and settle. Skim any froth off the top. Take the spent vegetables to the compost bin.