Traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie

Traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie

Delicious, comforting Irish Shepherd’s pie.

Ingredients:

Mashed potatoes

2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup milk or cream ( you can also use unflavored almond milk – any kind you like will do)

2 tablespoons light sour cream salt and pepper to taste

1 eggyolk

Filling:

1 tablespoon oil

1 pound lean ground mutton or ground lamb or ground beef *

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

½  cup dry red wine or guinness bear or broth

¾  cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

½  tsp Cayenne pepper

½  tsp Paprica

½  tsp Cinnamon

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons wheat flour

2 cups frozen peas and carrots or fresh carrots cubed

1 cup frozen corn

Garnish

Fresh chives or parsley, minced

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 Celsius degrees).

Boil potatoes:

Add the peeled potatoes to a medium pot, fill with water. Turn the heat on high and allow the water to come to a boil, without the lid, reduce to a simmer. Allow the potatoes to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes from the water and place them back into the now empty pot that the potatoes were cooked in. Allow them to cool a little.

Brown the beef:

Heat a large, oven safe skillet over medium heat. Heat up the oil. Add the onion, allow it to cook until the onion is tender. Add the ground beef or lamb and break the beef up into small pieces, add salt and pepper and cook until the beef has mostly browned. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir. Add the Worcestershire sauce. Add the rest of the spices. Add the flour over the filling and stir. Add the broth and wine or bear if you use wine or bear. If not add broth instead. Add the carrots and cook until the carrots are tender (if using fresh carrots). Add the corn.

Mash the potatoes:

Returning to the boiled potatoes. Add the butter, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper, mash until mostly smooth and the butter is melted. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Stir in the egg and set aside. If the potatoes seem a little dry than add a splash or two more of milk.

Prepare the Irish Shepherds Pie for the oven:

Pour the filling in a greased oven proof dish. Top with the green peas evenly all over the pie. Top with mashed potatoes: Spread the filling out evenly and spoon the mashed potatoes over top of the filling. Use a spatula to spread out the potatoes evenly over the filling. Make a nice pattern with a fork.

Bake:

Transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the mashed potatoes have browned slightly. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Serve: If you like garnish the top of the Shepherd’s pie with chopped parsley or chives. Spoon onto plates and serve. It is traditionally served with Irish Soda Bread.

*Traditionally Shepherd’s pie is made using ground lamb or mutton but if you live in an area where lamb is hard to come by ground beef works great. However, it is technically called a cottage pie if you use ground beef.

Link to Irish Soda Bread

Crusty French Bread Rolls an Bagels

Crusty French Bread Rolls an Bagels

Ingredients Crusty French Rolls:

20 rolls

600 g (about 1 liter) Wheat flour special

50 g (1 pct) yeast

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

70 g butter or margarine, room warm

4 dl water, 37ºC (finger warm)

Directions:

Crumble the yeast into a dough bowl. Add the water and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Click in the margarine. Mix flour and salt. Add the flourmix to the liquid. Work dough with your fingers or machine, at least 5 minutes by machine or 10 minutes by hand, until the dough feels smooth. Add more flour if needed.

Allow the dough to rise under a baking cloth for about 10 minutes.

Work the dough down smoothly on the floured table and divide into pieces.

Divide the dough into 20 pieces and shape them into round or oval buns.

Lay the lengths or buns on a sheet, lubricated or with baking sheet paper and allow to rise for about 25 minutes under the baking cloth.

If you want a notch in the middle, cut with a knife along the middle after 10 minutes of rising and then place them on the plate with the notch facing down. Allow them to rise covered for another 15 minutes. Then turn the rolls carefully so the notch face up.

 Preheat oven to 220 ° C.

Don't forget to put a pan with hot water in the oven to get a moist heat. It is only then that the bread is rising and gets its characteristic crunchy surface.

Bake at 220 º C in the middle of the oven, 18-20 minutes or until the breads have a nice golden color.

Let the buns cool on the grill without a back cloth.

Bagels

Ingredients:

14 st

About 11-12 dl wheat flour special

50 g fresh yeast

2 tbsp salt

4 1/2 dl water

50 g of margarine

For cooking

2 liters of water

Salt to lightly salted water

Garnish

sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Directions:

Crumble the yeast in a bowl. Melt the water to about 37 ° C. Pour the water over the yeast and stir it out.

Melt the butter. Mix flour and salt. Mix the liquid with yeast and butter in the flour and work the dough for about 5 minutes, it should be quite firm. Allow the dough to rise for about 10 minutes under the baking cloth.

Pick up the dough on a floured bench and work it together with the rest of the flour. Divide the dough into 14 pieces for 14 bagels. Roll out each piece about 25 cm long. Shape into round wreaths, tie the ends together with some water.

Place them on floured baking sheet paper. Allow to rise for 30 min. Set oven to 200 ° C.

Boiling: Boil the water with the salt in a saucepan. Carefully place 2-3 pieces of bagels at a time into the boiling water. Let simmer for about 4 minutes. Turn them once in the meantime.

Garnish: Pick them up with a hollow spoon and place them on plates with baking sheet paper. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool on grill.

If you do not want to cook them, you can just let them rise on the plate, brush with water and sprinkle over sesame or poppy seeds and bake in the oven.

For serving: Feel free to serve them with cream cheese and smoked salmon, boiled egg, ham, cheese, cucumber and tomatoes, yes everything you like.

If you want a spicy flavor on your bagels, add 1 teaspoon of aniseed dough to the dough.

Crusty French Bread Rolls

Crusty French Bread Rolls

Ingredients:

20 rolls

600 g (about 1 liter) Wheat flour special

50 g (1 pct) yeast

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

70 g butter or margarine, room warm

4 dl water, 37ºC (finger warm)

Directions:

Crumble the yeast into a dough bowl. Add the water and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Click in the margarine. Mix flour and salt. Add the flourmix to the liquid. Work dough with your fingers or machine, at least 5 minutes by machine or 10 minutes by hand, until the dough feels smooth. Add more flour if needed.

Allow the dough to rise under a baking cloth for about 10 minutes.

Work the dough down smoothly on the floured table and divide into pieces.

Divide the dough into 20 pieces and shape them into round or oval buns.

Lay the lengths or buns on a sheet, lubricated or with baking sheet paper and allow to rise for about 25 minutes under the baking cloth.

If you want a notch in the middle, cut with a knife along the middle after 10 minutes of rising and then place them on the plate with the notch facing down. Allow them to rise covered for another 15 minutes. Then turn the rolls carefully so the notch face up.

 Preheat oven to 220 ° C.

Don't forget to put a pan with hot water in the oven to get a moist heat. It is only then that the bread is rising and gets its characteristic crunchy surface.

Bake at 220 º C in the middle of the oven, 18-20 minutes or until the breads have a nice golden color.

Let the buns cool on the grill without a back cloth.