Mail-Art Cafe

Comment

Comment by Eduardo Cardoso on January 31, 2012 at 11:17am

Comment by Ruud Janssen on January 29, 2012 at 6:38pm

looks delecious....!

Comment by Rod Summers / VEC on January 21, 2012 at 11:22pm

Comment by Rod Summers / VEC on January 21, 2012 at 11:19pm

Ah, Dear Kate... in your case I would just leave out the garlic altogether... but then I hate garlic salt, it is a poor substitute.  In Iceland at my friends sheep farm  I use minced cooked lamb with some bread run through the mincer but here in the Netherlands lamb is very expensive and not very good (In my opinion as I have eaten splendid Icelandic lamb ¦~)) and so I tried to make an alternative using the processed vegetarian mince we can get from the supermarket, then after several tries I finally arrived at a very tasty meal.  The shepherd's pie I make in Iceland is very different in taste (mmmmmm) and much less fiddly to prepare.  I go up to Iceland for a short visit next month but then I'll be letting my friends cook for me, Helgi, the Viking for whom I write the sagas is a brilliant cook and his brother Darri is also cool in the kitchen.  My friend Ásta cooks Puffin for me but perhaps I had better not mention that :))))))

In August I will go back to Iceland and visit the sheepfarm and will certainly cook shepherd's pie for them and, for sure, the chicken curry that the farmer's children like so much... they all came to visit me here in Maastricht just before Christmas and demanded chicken curry, I was more than happy to make it for them.

Comment by Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat) on January 21, 2012 at 10:15pm

Sounds delicious, Rod. I can't eat garlic, though I might add just a pinch of garlic salt instead of a glove of garlic. "vegetarian mince"? Won't a shepherd use minced lamb? ;-) A Greek shepherd would. (Although the Mediterranean diet is basically "vegetarian"). Might try making this on Monday...

Comment by Rod Summers / VEC on January 21, 2012 at 9:37pm

Yes Ruud, just the one, it's all related to getting the perfect balance of tastes, of course you could always use more garlic but then the balance would be altered and, as I wrote, this recipe has been developed over a long time. 

PS I love garlic and tend always to use too much in other recipes!~)

Comment by Ruud Janssen on January 21, 2012 at 4:43pm

just one clove....? of garlic

Comment by Rod Summers / VEC on January 15, 2012 at 1:02pm

Veggie Shepherds Pie.
Rod Summers/VEC

This recipe has been in development for a long time, I made it exactly as here described last week (1 January 2012) and it was, for my taste perfect.

This should feed four people.

Ingredients:
1 kilo potatoes.
1 large tin or jar of carrots
2 packs of vegetarian mince
6 cm long piece of leek
1 clove of garlic
1 stick of celery
5 Brussels sprouts
3 small pieces of dried forest mushroom
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tin of tomato puree
Olive oil and butter
Milk
Salt and white and black pepper

Notes:  My local supermarket offers three different types of veggie mince, they are all suitable for this recipe.
The additions like the mushrooms and sprouts and celery are there in those proportions to enhance the flavour not to dominate it.

Preparation:
Slice the leek finely and put the slices into a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes, stir around occasionally to allow any grit to fall from between the layers. Drain using a colander.

Put the mushroom pieces in a bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to soak for 20 minutes.  Squeeze as much water from the pieces as possible then slice thinly.

Clean and chop the celery into short pieces. Clean then slice the Brussels sprouts thinly discarding the base core. Drop the celery and sliced sprouts into a pan of boiling water, cook for 10 minutes then drain thoroughly.

Strain the tin of tomatoes into a bowl using a sieve. Using your fingers break up the tomatoes removing any skin or tough stem core. Continue to allow to drain and the strained juice to settle. After 20 to 30 minutes carefully pour off the top layer of clear water leaving the tomato juice in the bowl.

Peel and quarter the potatoes, wash thoroughly and boil in salted water for 20 minutes. Drain and return the pan to the heat to drive of excess moisture. Remove the pan from the heat add half of the tin of carrots, white pepper, a generous amount of butter and mash really well, add milk until the mash is smooth.

Gently heat the oil and a knob of butter in a frying pan add the sliced leek and pressed garlic, cook very slowly for about 10 minutes. Add the sliced mushroom, celery and sprouts then stir in the veggie mince fry gently for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and the tomato puree and the other half of the tin of carrots squishing the carrots between your fingers as you add them, stir well together. Now add the tomato juice, black pepper and salt to taste.

Put the mince mixture into a casserole dish, pile the potato on top and, using a fork spread it so that it completely covers the mince.

Bake in the middle of the oven at 180° C for about 30 minutes.

Serve with home made green tomato chutney.

Comment by E on January 15, 2012 at 12:39pm

Comment by Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat) on January 1, 2012 at 6:56pm

Come by the Cafe and I shall cut the Greek Vasilopita...let's see who gets the lucky coin...good luck in the New Year 2012!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 42
• 43
• 44
• 45
• 46
• …
• 141
• Next ›
• Page