Recipe Makeover Challenge - Shepherd's Pie

Eating healthier ain't easy. I guess nobody said it would be, but still I expected to be sailing thru this here "lifestyle change." As it turns out, every recipe makeover is it's own little monster, but it's a monster I am learning to love! It feels GOOD to cut calories by 30-50% and keep all (or more) of the flavor and feel of the original dish. I'm hoping to develop a "Recipe Makeover Challenge" series here... and this is take ONE!

I'm starting with this recipe for 30 Minute Shepherd's Pie from Rachael Ray, which got great reviews on the Food Network website. I plugged it into my trusty calorie counter, and it came out at a whopping 713 calories for each of the recommended 4 servings!! Here are the deets:

I hereby make it my mission to healthify this recipe and keep it delicious and filling and scrumptious and still satisfy the comfort food craving!

GOAL: around (hopefully under) 450 calories and 15g of fat per serving

Changes I'll be making include:

• Change the all potato topping to a 3:1 ratio of cauliflower to mashed potatoes
• Double (or more) the veggie content
• Use reduced fat cream cheese
• Swap nonfat milk for the heavy cream
• Reduce meat content
• Switch from ground beef to 1/2 ground chicken and 1/2 ground pork (yeah, I know... not really a Shepherd's pie... but if it's tasty, who cares?? Also, Shepherd's pie technically has lamb, so minus 1 for Rachael, too)
• Cut the butter in half (not subbing in evoo since we are making a roux for gravy)
• Cut down the amount of gravy (using more veggies should help keep it moist)

Plugged in this NEW recipe to the calculator, played around with it A LOT, and came up with this! I'll be sticking with this revised version for tonight, thankyouverymuch :)

Filling before potato/cauliflower layer.

Fresh out of the oven (yes, Adrien's side has some shredded cheese on top... I didn't want to start a fight!)

Final product (1 serving pictured). VERY filling and seriously delicious!

Here's the updated recipe!! If you try it, please comment and let me know what you think!!

For the topping:

• 1/2 pound russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 pounds cauliflower florets
• 1 1/4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
• 1/2 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup nonfat milk

For the filling:

• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 turnip, peeled and chopped
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Boil the potatoes and cauliflower in salted water. Drain and run thru a food mill using the medium blade. Combine the cream cheese, parmesan cheese, egg yolk, and nonfat milk in a bowl until smooth. Incorporate into the potato and cauliflower mixture until smooth. Season with S&P.
2. While the other stuff cooks, add 1 t evoo and the meat to a hot skillet. S&P and brown it till tasty (spoon some of the fat off, if there is any). Add the carrots, turnip, onions, garlic, and thyme, and cook for about 7-8 more minutes, until those veggies are soft and delicious.
3. In a separate small pan, make a 3-minute roux with the butter and flour, then whisk in the cup of chicken broth and the Worcestershire. Let it cook and thicken for a minute or so (it doesn't thicken too much), then add to the meat and veggie mixture, and cook over medium or med-low until veggies are done. Stir in the peas.
4. Preheat the broiler to high. Put the meat mixture in a baking dish and top with the cauliflower and potato mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and place under the broiler for 8-10 mins until browned and tasty looking. Top with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!!

Miso Hungry!

Last Thursday's foodventure featured 2 items I've never worked with before... MISO and QUINOA. Pretty exciting! I've had a package of quinoa in the pantry for a while and never really bit the bullet and gave it a shot (see what I did there?). The stuff is pretty awesome though! Good texture, got some good flavors going, and it seems to be a pretty versatile little grain. Miso is weird... I learned a couple of interesting facts: (1) Sprouts only offers brown miso. Bobby wanted yellow. This got complicated, but after doing a good deal of research, the difference still eludes me. I guess that isn't really learning anything... (2) Once opened, the stuff will last in the fridge for about a year once opened... kinda creepy, no?

 

Miso Orange Glazed Salmon (adapted from Bobby Flay's Grill It!)

• 2 salmon fillets, about 8-oz each
• 1 c freshly squeezed OJ (about 4 oranges), plus the zest from one
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1/4 c miso paste (see intro)
• 1/2 T soy sauce
• 1/2 T rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 c thinly sliced green onions 

1. Make yourself a cheese plate for snacking. Begin consumption immediately.

2. Make the glaze for the fish:  Mix up the OJ, zest, and brown sugar in a small saucepan, and boil it. Then simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup. Whisk in the miso and cook for 1 minute, then take it off the heat and whisk in the soy sauce and vinegar. Let it chill out. This is the perfect time to start the quinoa!

3. Coat the salmon with 1/2 the glaze and let it hang for 15 mins. By now you should be halfway done with your cheese plate.

4. Get the excess marinade off the salmon, season with S&P, and put it in a lightly oiled skillet... which shouldn't be too hot or you will burn it to a crispy crispness and be sad (I obviously didn't do this... as far as you know). Cook it over medium heat for, say, 4 minutes on the skin side, then a couple more on the other side, depending on how done you like it (I like medium, so like 2 more mins). Make sure to add the reserved marinade and baste the sucker as much as you can without seeming foolish.

5. Put it on a plate, put more of the miso stuff (it's good... you won't regret it), and throw on some green onions (don't skip... they are pretty AND make the flavors aweeesommee). You gotta scroll down to see the final product... I'm not gonna spoil it by showing you too early!!


Asiany Quinoa with Mushrooms (adapted from Quinoa with Asian Flavors)

• 1 c quinoa
• 2 c vegetable broth (use one you made, if you're awesome)
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T fresh ginger, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 c green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1. Defrost your homemade broth. I know you have it.

2. Toast the quinoa in some EVOO for 3-4 minutes. Add the broth, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Set the timer for 25 minutes.

3. When the timer says 15 mins left, add the sliced mushrooms, stir, and recover. Also, start step 5 for the salmon if you want to eat this all at the same time!

4. Once all the water is absorbed, you're almost done! Stir in the green onions, season with S&P, and serve er up!! Don't forget seconds.

 

Shroomin'

Friday night's foodventure was another glorious success! My only regrets are that I didn't photo-document the beauty and I didn't make enough to last a week. When I tried to steal a picture from somewhere else online and pass it off as my own, I couldn't find something that did it justice! The mushrooms make the butter and cream their bitch, spreading their deliciousness and earthy delights into the sauce and the pasta. Mixing different types of mushrooms is key here. It adds complexity as each mushroom contributes its own distinct flavor to build a truly amazing dish. In fact, I even bought oyster mushrooms, but they were rendered useless as soon as I got home from the store by the discovery of a tragic mold invasion. This recipe is truly a keeper... Adrien may have called it the best vegetarian meal he's ever had. Yeah... that happened!!


Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

• 1 ½ lbs mixed mushrooms (I used a combo of white, crimini, and shiitake), stemmed (save the stems for stock) and sliced
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• ¼ c chopped parsley
• 1 c heavy cream
• 4 T butter
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb fettuccine
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 or more bottles of Chianti 

1. In heavily salted water, cook the pasta 1 minute short of the package directions. Strain.
2. Saute the shallots in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the sliced mushrooms, salt them liberally, and crank the heat up to medium-high, cooking the mushrooms until they give up their juices and the juices cook off. Add the parsley, stir it all up, then add the butter, melt it, and add the cream. Cook over high heat until the liquid reduces by about half (this makes just enough sauce to coat the pasta…if you like it saucier, add more cream before reducing).
3. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and cook it for a minute or so until the pasta is al dente.
4. Serve it up, top the pasta with Parmesan cheese, pour the wine, and embrace the gluttony.

Amendment (01/16/12)... PICTURES! Made this again for my momma, and took some quick pix. Sorry for the poor quality. My phone kinda sucks.

I Can't Read

I have serious ADD when it comes to sitting down and reading. I think it all started when I was a kid and my parents put us to bed at an obscenely early hour. Like... sun still up, school bus still dropping kids off (I'm not sure of this fact, since I never took the bus, but I assume it's true), soap operas still on TV kind of early. I hated it. Obviously, it was too light out to sleep, but it was "bedtime", and thus we had no choice. Our parents were bigger than us.

Our only escape from evening after evening of laying on our backs, trying to identify faces of cartoon characters or former presidents in the textured ceilings, was to read. We were allowed to stay up as late as we wanted if we were reading. That was the rule. And it sucked. According to my mom, I used to love to read. This is one of those romantic memories she has. (Did I mention my mom is a teacher?) Maybe she caught me reading one day and had a warm tingly feeling in her heart like "Oh my, I can't believe my luck! I have a daughter who is reading on her own, and she seems completely content!" And for some reason, that stuck in her head. I remember it differently.

There is one exception to this inexplicable loathing... I can read about food. I can read 20 different recipes from 20 different chefs on how to make the simplest potato and leek soup (by reading the way several chefs do something, it prevents me from taking any one perspective or recipe as gospel, and teaches me a certain amount of improvisation), or read Marcella Hazan's Marcella Cucina from start to finish for the 4th time and learn ten things I didn't pick up on the last time.

And it isn't just cook books. It's anything about food. Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything is one of the few books I'm so glad I picked up (used, on Amazon.com for 37 cents, mind you) and read from start to finish, including chapters entitled "Why Aren't the French Dropping Like Flies?" and "Salad the Silent Killer". What is it about a compare and contrast session on 35 different types of ketchup, or learning the precise temperature at which a potato should be mashed (180 degrees) and why that helps avoid it turning gummy (it has to do with finding the balance between where the potato's cells are no longer strongly bonded to one another and where the cell walls weaken and rupture), that fascinates me?

I honestly don't remember the last time I read a non-food book from start to finish... I'm sure it wasn't in the past 5 years... maybe not even in the last 10. I don't mean that food is my only interest, but it is the only topic of text that undoubtedly captivates me, and that truly and directly translates into real life. You can take a lesson learned and put it on a plate that very evening, and never forget the reason behind the lesson. I understand food people, and I think they understand me. There is always more to learn, and someone great who is ready to teach.

If anyone has a food book they just can't live without, please let me know! I'm officially on the hunt for the next great one.