If you get your hands on some ground lamb, this is a perfect recipe for shepherd’s pie as well.  Just substitute lamb bouillon for the beef.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Sequatchie Cove ground beef
• 1-2 onions, diced
• 1 bulb of fennel, diced
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped or sliced carrots
• 1/3 stick unsalted butter
• A heaping tablespoon of flour
• Pepper
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine
• Water
• Several sprigs of summer savory
• 2 lbs potatoes
• Butter
• Milk or cream
• Salt

Method:

Cube potatoes, leaving skins on, and boil in salted water until soft enough to mash.

While potatoes are cooking, sauté onion & fennel in butter, add mushrooms and cook until tender.  Add carrots and cook another minute or two until beginning to soften.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Fry ground beef until brown, adding pepper and flour and cook a bit longer until beef is coated and flour begins to brown.  Add crumbled bouillon cubes and tomato paste, continue to stir and cook while ingredients brown.  Add onion, fennel, mushrooms, and carrots and stir together.

Add the red wine and enough water to make a nice thick gravy in the mixture.  Add summer savory and season to taste.  Let cook for another minute or two before removing from heat.

When potatoes are cooked, drain and mash with butter, milk and salt.  Make sure to only add enough milk to soften the mash, but do not make it runny.

Spoon meat mixture into six individual ramekins (4-5 inch size),  or one 2-quart baking dish, and top with mashed potatoes.   Bake in a 375 degree oven until the potatoes start to brown and the filling is bubbly   (about 45 minutes).  Serve with peas, green beans, or grilled okra.

Filed under: Seasonal Food Recipes on July 13th, 2009 |