FOODIE FRIDAY: MFAMB’s Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

MISCMar 01 20135 Comments

Jenny from MFAMB is a badass design blogger, painter, actress, mother and also a gourmand, and recently gluten-free foodie! She’s also like the Brandi Glanville of blogging yo- tells it like it is and takes no prisoners! (Except with better taste!) Here she is bringing you her single serving mushroom shepherd’s pie. It looks ridiculous. I’m always looking for non-meat based dishes that are hearty and wont make my husband say  ”that’s rabbit food,” or “vegetarian bullshit”  and this is a good one. (For my kosher readers, Jenny uses butter/milk and chicken stock in the dish, but I’m sure you could sub out the stock for vegetable stock, which is what I usually do, or even water. You also could probably change out the milk products for non dairy versions to make it parve.) So, I’ll leave her to it, Jenny’s Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie for one, maybe two.

Some Questions for Jenny: 

1. If I could only eat 3 foods for the rest of my life, they would be… assuming that this is based solely on my 3 favorite foods vs REALLY what I would choose to sustain life…I would choose roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and nutella on buttered toast.  
2. My secret weapon in the kitchen is… I don’t have one secret weapon for the kitchen but I do have secret weapons for certain things…like a ricer for perfect mashed potatoes, maldon sea salt for finishing dishes and hot chocolate (seriously, a sprinkle of maldon sea salt on any chocolate dish is going to elevate it to ridiculous levels), sriracha mayo on french fries and fried egg sandwiches..there are more and I should probably write them down for a future blog post of my own but I can’t think of any others. I will say though that every kitchen needs the following items to make your life easier…a good chef’s knife, mine is wusthof, a good non stick 12″ skillet, a dutch oven (invest in a le creuset, find one on ebay if your budget is tight like mine…they last a lifetime so even a used one is ok, and it’s more than likely well seasoned) and a big cutting board.  Also I can’t recommend prepping well in advance for dinners, makes your life SO much easier.  
3. My easiest fail proof recipe…Well, I can cook roast chicken and velvety mashed potatoes in my sleep..but I would say the easiest (emphasis on the easy) fail proof recipe is any kind of fish baked in parchment.  You can add just about anything in the fridge to the parchment “bag” and it’s a winning dish because the parchment seals in all the flavors. Plus it takes about 5 minutes and it is super healthy. 
4. My favorite person to cook for… Mike, my husband. He’s who i STARTED cooking for. He’s also a great eater and appreciates my efforts and never fails to say ‘thank you’. 
5. Dream person to have dinner with… Jesus. It would be nice to hear him say: Chill out everyone…I’m just a regular guy with a good heart.  Follow my lead of coolness and stop hating on people who are different.  We would probably spend the whole night shaking our heads over the dumb shit people do “in his name”.  
6. Favorite meal in Atlanta... I am always underwhelmed when I eat out which isn’t very often and also probably why I am always underwhelmed.  The meal I ate at Bacchanalia a few years ago was incredible.  But it set us back about 400 dollars which is another reason we don’t eat out much.  I always find I can do better than most restaurants anyway. You think I’m kidding, but come to my house…it’s for real y’all.

special equipment:

a small gratin dish.
Pre-heated oven to 425 to 450 degrees depending on the accuracy of your oven.  once I got an oven thermometer I was rather shocked to see that my oven temp varied by 50 DEGREES!  For example, if I want a 450 degree oven I set the temp to 500. If I want a 425 degree oven I set the temp to 475.  Get an oven thermometer.  Or a better oven.

 For the mushrooms:

-1 container of pre-sliced mushrooms (you can get as fancy as you want with the mushrooms.  if it’s spring or fall the exotic mushrooms are more readily available, such as horn, chanterelle, hen of the woods, lobster, porcini etc.. While SOME of those were available at my whole foods they weren’t fresh looking and I don’t pay 4 million dollars for mushrooms that don’t look like they were JUST plucked from the dark earth bed of a misty forest. This is why I chose plain mushrooms and they were delicious. Shitakes are cool too and readily available year round, I am allergic to them to a degree but if you’re not they are a good choice to mix in with the button or crimini.)
-1 tablespoons butter
-1/2 red onion or 2 small shallots- diced fine
-1 clove of garlic- minced
-1/4 cup of marsala, sherry or red or white wine.  I used marsala because it goes great with the mushrooms but any wine will do.  Vermouth is an option as well.)
-1/4 cup chicken stock
-3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
-salt and pepper

for the potatoes:

-3 medium sized yukon gold potatoes
-1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream or milk (I used heavy cream but if you’re worried about fat use whatever you want. You could even use chicken stock)
-2-3 tablespoons butter
-salt and pepper
-fresh grated parmigiana reggiano (never use the fake stuff in a can or I will come for you)

directions:
for the potatoes:
peel and cut the potatoes in half and place in a steamer basket in a saucepan of (1 inch) simmering water with a tight fighting lid
steam until fork tender, about 30-45 minutes

for the mushrooms:

Melt 1 tablespoon with a splash of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat.  Once the butter is foaming add the mushrooms and sauté until golden. Remove to a plate.
Add another splash of olive oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium low, add the chopped onion, sauté until soft.  add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Turn the heat up to high and deglaze the pan with the wine. Reduce to about a spoonful. Now add the stock and the mushrooms back to the pan.  Reduce the stock to about a spoonful.
Season with a bit of salt (the reduced stock might be all the seasoning you need, it was for me) and pepper.  stir in the chopped parsley and spoon into a small gratin dish.
for the potatoes:
Once the potatoes are cooked you can transfer them to a bow to which you have added the cream and butter OR you can put them through a potato ricer, which is what I did. And if you don’t have one I suggest you get one.  No more lumpy mashed potatoes.  That said, if you like a bit of chunk in your potatoes then just mash them with a fork or a potato masher.  Once you have your method of mash just fold everything all together to create a smooth and creamy potato topping.
add a little salt and pepper and fold again.
assembly:
Spoon your potatoes over the mushrooms.  Just eyeball it. You may not need all of your potatoes, just create a high enough surface so that the potatoes don’t get flooded out with all the mushroom juices while it bakes in the oven. (That’s what she said.)
Now grate the parmigiana over the top and bake it on a cookie sheet or with a piece of foil underneath, in your (correctly) pre-heated oven.
Bake time about 15-20 minutes.  Just watch it.  For the last minute if it’s not browning up the way you want just turn the broiler on.
Let it cool for about 5 minutes and spoon out onto a pretty plate, add a small green salad with vinaigrette and you have a really special lunch for yourself.
(I’m going to add this to my dinner tonight! Happy Weekend Y’all!)
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