LIFE & STYLE
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COMFORT IN ONE POT BY MEAGAN CAMP
Not enough can be said about one-pot meals. They can feed two or 10 and take 30 minutes or eight hours; it is up to you and what you want to make that day. And the best part—the cleanup is a snap. During the grey Texas winters, nothing sounds better than a bowl of something rich, creamy and comforting like a COUNTRY PIE (just like a Shepherd’s Pie but with ground beef substituted for ground lamb). Country Pie also is a dish that can be made in no time, so walk right past the aluminum packaging in the freezer section and clean out your leftover root vegetables in the refrigerator. This dish makes a great dinner the next night as the flavors really marry overnight. An interesting thing I found when developing this recipe was that the dish feels very heavy without the addition of a few things that I found went surprisingly well together. The first is cinnamon. Cinnamon and beef go together wonderfully because the cinnamon adds so much warmth and depth of flavor with the dish. The second is lemon zest, a surprising yet easy answer to finishing a heavy dish. If you don’t have dark beer around the house (although a bottle of Shiner is always in my pantry for dishes like this), use beef stock or more chicken stock because water might dilute the great flavors too much. So think about balance when adding the liquids! 1 pound 85% lean ground beef 2-3 slices of bacon, diced 1 carrot, diced 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 tablespoon tomato paste
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LIVING-MAGAZINE.COM
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 cup dark beer 1/2 cup chicken stock or water 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon lemon zest 5 Yukon Gold potatoes, around the same size
MASHED POTATO TOPPING: 1-2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed Butter Cream Plenty of salt and pepper Preheat oven to 350˚. In a stockpot add potatoes, a few tablespoons of kosher salt and cover with cold water. Bring to a low boil and cook for 15-20 minutes. Drain and toss into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and stir on low for 2-3 minutes. Add your favorite additions to your potatoes like cream, butter, even blue cheese would be fun. I always add a few tablespoons of olive oil right at the end of mixing for a really smooth texture. In a deep medium saucepan or Dutch oven on medium heat, render the bacon
until cooked through; reserve bacon. Add onions, carrots and a pinch of salt and cook until softened, 7-8 minutes. Toss in garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add ground beef and cook through, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon. Add the tomato paste and mix it thoroughly, then add the flour. Stir the flour thoroughly; add spices then the liquids. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes until reduced into a thick meat sauce. Stir filling and taste for extra seasoning. Pull off the heat and add lemon zest. In a casserole dish, pour in filling and smooth top with a spatula. If you are making this for a dinner party or want to make the dish a bit fancier, you can push the mashed potatoes into a pastry bag and pipe them over the filling. For an equally nice look, smooth the potatoes with a small spatula creating a smooth cap over the entire dish. This forms a seal over the filling so it won’t overflow in the oven. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes or until the potatoes brown lightly. Serve in deep bowls next to a fire or family style in the middle of the table. It will taste great everywhere. This dish can be made ahead and put in the oven just before serving.