[Recipe] Kid-Friendly Shepherd's Pie
Jan. 13th, 2005 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsKouryou-chan is notoriously a sweet, not a savory. She doesn't like things that don't have a taste of sweetness in them, even when it would be weird. This puts us into conflict for I am most definitely a savory; I was the kid who didn't like cookies and while my sister gorged on them I would be downing every salty thing I could find. Pretzels were okay, but I *really* liked celery with cream cheese and extra salt.
Tonight, I made shepherd's pie. Mostly to get rid of the potatoes in the larder that were going a bit soft and growing eyes, as well as the green bell pepper before it, too, started to go soft. But the question was, how to get Kouryou-chan to eat it?
The recipe is in two parts. First, the mashed potatoes: wash enough potatoes for about three cups mashed. Cut into cubes about one inch on a side. Prepare enough water to cover them all and toss in two beef bullion cubes (I use this thick, gooey bullion paste that's just amazing). Bring to a boil, stir, and toss in the potatoes. Let boil for thirty minutes, drain. Put 3/4 cup of milk into the microwave and make warm (about 90 seconds on high). Toss into the potatoes three tablespoons of butter (I was very indulgent and bought Polgara double-cream butter for the chocolate chip cookies I made earlier; I used it on the potatoes. Sugoi!) and mash. Add milk in little sips, mashing and stirring until it's smooth. Cover and set aside.
In a large pan, saute 1 large onion and 1 green bell pepper in two tablespoons olive oil. This takes about ten minutes. Add 1 pound of ground beef and brown, again about ten minutes. While the meet is browning (you don't have to stir it constantly), chop up 1/2 cup of dried fruit; I used a blackberry/blueberry/cherry mix I got from Trader Joe's. That's what makes this all kid-friendly. Make a 1/2 cup of hot water and stir in one full bullion cube. In a bowl, add 2 tbsp cold water to 1 tbsp cornstarch, then mix the cornstarch, bullion, and fruit together. Let sit until the meat is done, drain all the fat from the pan. Toss the cornstarch and fruit mix into the pan, let warm about a minute, then put into a casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, even out the top and then roughen the surface with a fork.
Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees, then brown the top with the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes. Take out and let cool for ten minutes.
It worked. Kouryou-chan ate it, even commenting on the little "bumps" of sweet fruit in all the mix. I was very happy. We had cookies to celebrate.
Tonight, I made shepherd's pie. Mostly to get rid of the potatoes in the larder that were going a bit soft and growing eyes, as well as the green bell pepper before it, too, started to go soft. But the question was, how to get Kouryou-chan to eat it?
The recipe is in two parts. First, the mashed potatoes: wash enough potatoes for about three cups mashed. Cut into cubes about one inch on a side. Prepare enough water to cover them all and toss in two beef bullion cubes (I use this thick, gooey bullion paste that's just amazing). Bring to a boil, stir, and toss in the potatoes. Let boil for thirty minutes, drain. Put 3/4 cup of milk into the microwave and make warm (about 90 seconds on high). Toss into the potatoes three tablespoons of butter (I was very indulgent and bought Polgara double-cream butter for the chocolate chip cookies I made earlier; I used it on the potatoes. Sugoi!) and mash. Add milk in little sips, mashing and stirring until it's smooth. Cover and set aside.
In a large pan, saute 1 large onion and 1 green bell pepper in two tablespoons olive oil. This takes about ten minutes. Add 1 pound of ground beef and brown, again about ten minutes. While the meet is browning (you don't have to stir it constantly), chop up 1/2 cup of dried fruit; I used a blackberry/blueberry/cherry mix I got from Trader Joe's. That's what makes this all kid-friendly. Make a 1/2 cup of hot water and stir in one full bullion cube. In a bowl, add 2 tbsp cold water to 1 tbsp cornstarch, then mix the cornstarch, bullion, and fruit together. Let sit until the meat is done, drain all the fat from the pan. Toss the cornstarch and fruit mix into the pan, let warm about a minute, then put into a casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, even out the top and then roughen the surface with a fork.
Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees, then brown the top with the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes. Take out and let cool for ten minutes.
It worked. Kouryou-chan ate it, even commenting on the little "bumps" of sweet fruit in all the mix. I was very happy. We had cookies to celebrate.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-01-14 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-14 09:25 am (UTC)I wonder...
Date: 2005-01-14 01:26 pm (UTC)Course, the dried fruit option sounded pretty good to me, and I usually can't stand someone putting strange sugary things in meat dishes (well, unless it's an Indian dish...Indian food gets special dispensation!), so I was rather surprised. Cheers to you for not ending up cooking two seperate dinners! My husband loves things very spicy and very strongly flavoured (and over the years, that's what I've come to like, too) so I often end up making two versions of each main dish--one for grownups, and one edible by children. May not have to do that anymore, though; last time I made tabasco chicken fajitas, I forgot to hold out some for them before putting in it the marinade, so I just gave em lots of sourcream and hoped, and the little beasts claimed it was the best food they'd ever had, despite the fact that one grain of pepper or a sliver of onion was considered reason to complain because 'It's too hooooooot!' before. I am no longer buying into that complaint!
Hmmm...golden raisons. A lot of european recipes seem to have sultanas added at random, and they are both sweet and easy to pick out if you dislike them.
Anyway, just wanted to say that you've always really impressed me with your patience, caring, and success with your adorable little daughter. Speaking as someone who grew up with a wonderful father, then hit high school and was horrified by the sheer number of monsters amongst my friends' parents, I can assure you that someday she will be thanking the deity of her choice that she was born to the parents she was. :)
Velvet
Re: I wonder...
Date: 2005-01-16 11:40 pm (UTC)And it never occurred to us to be like that. At some point, both us simply got the message that we'd have to stand up and make something of our lives and not depend on our families or welfare to save us.
Maybe I'm just talking too much. And I'm not being a very good dad today; too much time catching up on all the geeking I couldn't do last week, not enough with the kidlet. I'm gonna go change that.
Re: I wonder...
Date: 2005-01-18 12:52 am (UTC)I can see how those kind of examples would really make you determined to do things right. It's just so rare to actually see people _doing_ it that way, that I think any of us who realize how unusual it is ought to acknowledge it whenever possible. I was an only child, raised by a fairly isolated family, and I had no idea that other people didn't get the kind of love, support, and nurturing that I had. When I started getting out more, in high-school, and seeing other people's families, and hearing the horror stories from my friends, and seeing the kind of casual emotional abuse that seems to be the rule rather than the exception, I was horrified, but I still thought that maybe it was just because I was from a small town, that that particular culture (small, southern, ultra-religious) was the main cause of the rotten parenting and mixed up priorities/values. Then I left home and went to a large city (New Orleans) where I met people from all over the place, and it didn't get any better! I am literally the only person I know with two sane, supportive, loving, accepting parents, and I only know a handful of people who can claim even _one_. And the kind of unconditional love and security I get from my own extended family...well, I just haven't met anyone else who got a chance to grow up with that, and it gets more important to me every year that I provide the same for my children. As a result, my kids are (heh, totally unprejudiced view coming right up!) something special, and from what I've seen here, yours are too.
Something I've been curious about...is Kouryou-chan learning Japanese too? The reason I ask is that my son Jaime (10) has been watching anime with us recently, and we've all just about decided that we need to learn, so that we're not dependant on the (sometimes not exactly accurate!) subtitles. His reading level is up there with most adults (he started on the Harry Potter books at 6, and is now reading some of the easier sci-fi/fantasy off or our bookshelf), so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like the opinion of someone who's got some experience with the matter--Do you think it'd be best for him to learn along with Shay and I using the same system, or should I look for something kid-oriented? If the latter, what would you recommend?
Thanks,
Velvet