Monday, March 4, 2013

ATK and Shepherd's Pie

Some nights there just isn't anything on television.  Last night that happened, and we did the unthinkable....we turned it off and went to bed.  Most nights though, we find something palatable and stay up anyway.

On one of those "nothing good on TV nights" Brian found "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.  (I know!  PBS has good kids' stuff and the occasional concert or documentary, but other stuff too!)  This is a show where they put recipes to the test, making them many times to decide the "best" way.  They also have segments on testing out kitchen gadgets too.  And it's produced and filmed in Boston, so there's the local flair of it too.  Brian's put a bunch of them on our DVR and we've found some delicious things. 

The first one?  Shepherd's Pie.  I've been making it for years, using the recipe in the cookbook from the campground that Brian's family has been going to since he was a kid.  It's good....but nothing dynamite.  Ground beef sauteed with onion, add a can of drained corn, some flour to thicken it up, then put in an oven-safe pan and cover with mashed potatoes.  To make it more flavorful we added a layer of shredded cheddar between the potatoes and meat, and like it with steak sauce dolloped on top of the individual servings.

Yep.....ATK found a way to improve all of that.  Last night's shepherd's pie omitted the corn and added mushrooms, peas and carrots.  They used baking soda as a tenderizer for the meat, and the potatoes got "chived."  The whole thing was cooked in a cast iron skillet (ease from stovetop to oven) so it was truly a one-pan recipe.  And the scalloped top of the casserole with the potatoes perfectly browned?  I bow down to you, America's Test Kitchen.  This was a delightful Sunday dinner. 

The only problem is, theirs takes like two hours to prepare.  So obviously, this is NOT a weeknight dinner for sure.  But it makes a ton of leftovers, so I know what's for lunch almost every day this week.  No steak sauce required.  :)

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