Noms de Provence
My room mates are the culinary equivalent of that person who has closets full of clothing but can't put any outfits together. Because everything was bought with magpie randomness and no thought as to how they would work together. I have sorted out some of the most unusable items and put them in the cupboard over the fridge. A whole cupboard of stuff I'm never gonna cook with. Like 10 cans of Mae Ploy Thai curry paste. I'm convinced it's the "hamburger helper" of Thailand. That stuff is foul, IMO.
Then we have a cupboard of stuff that's not ridiculous, merely superfluous. I mostly cook from scratch. I make gnocchi verde and galushki and spaetzle from scratch. Not that they are tremendously complicated, but that ought to tell you I'm not gonna make gravy from a mix! As the cabinet of superfluity reaches the exploding point sometimes I will use stuff from it just to make room. Usually it's meh, but sometimes I get inspired. I liked the yakisoba kit enough that I learned how to make it (the yaki, not the actual soba noodles!) from scratch.
Today's inspiration worked out rather well. We had a box of instant mashed potatoes with herbes de provence. They were ok, but I put them on top of a shepherd's pie with herbs de provence, and that was a tastty, tasty combo. I will make it again, but with home-made mashed potatoes.
Shepherd's Pie with Herbes de Provence
2 or 3 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, minced
5 or 6 large carrots, sliced into wafer-thin rounds
7 or 8 celery ribs, finely diced or sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
about 2 or 3 cups good beef broth
2 tbsps dijon mustard
1.5 lbs ground beef
5 tbsps flour
salt
pepper
4 tbsps herbes de provence (our batch is old, with a new batch maybe 2 tbsps)
3 cups leftover mashed potatoes (pre-seasoned with salt, pepper and butter, a little roasted garlic wouldn't hurt, either)
Add oil to pan and saute onion until starting to turn golden. Add carrots and saute for a few minutes. Add celery, garlic, enough broth to cover, mustard and 2/3 of the herbes de provence, cover and simmer until vegetables are almost as soft as you want them to be.
Meanwhile, saute the ground beef with salt and pepper until the beef is slightly browned and the juices start to come out. Sprinkle the flour over top of the ground beef and stirring occasionally continue to cook until quite brown and almost crusty. Mix beef and vegetables together and put into a 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Deglaze the frying pan if needed (not usually necessary with non-stick) and pour that over the beef and vegetable mixture. If the mixture seems dry, add a bit more beef broth. Mix remaining herbes de provence into the mashed potatoes and spread them evenly over the mixture in the pan. Using a fork, score the potatoes in a decorative fashion. (I think a windowpane plaid effect works nicely)
Bake at 350 for about 40 or 45 minutes until the gravy begins to bubble up around the edges of the potato crust. If potato crust is not golden brown, put under broiler for a few minutes. (If using a glass baking dish, ascertain whether it is suitable for use in broiler, first)
Enjoy! I doubt this dish is actually made in Provence, but it was certainly tasty!
Then we have a cupboard of stuff that's not ridiculous, merely superfluous. I mostly cook from scratch. I make gnocchi verde and galushki and spaetzle from scratch. Not that they are tremendously complicated, but that ought to tell you I'm not gonna make gravy from a mix! As the cabinet of superfluity reaches the exploding point sometimes I will use stuff from it just to make room. Usually it's meh, but sometimes I get inspired. I liked the yakisoba kit enough that I learned how to make it (the yaki, not the actual soba noodles!) from scratch.
Today's inspiration worked out rather well. We had a box of instant mashed potatoes with herbes de provence. They were ok, but I put them on top of a shepherd's pie with herbs de provence, and that was a tastty, tasty combo. I will make it again, but with home-made mashed potatoes.
Shepherd's Pie with Herbes de Provence
2 or 3 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, minced
5 or 6 large carrots, sliced into wafer-thin rounds
7 or 8 celery ribs, finely diced or sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
about 2 or 3 cups good beef broth
2 tbsps dijon mustard
1.5 lbs ground beef
5 tbsps flour
salt
pepper
4 tbsps herbes de provence (our batch is old, with a new batch maybe 2 tbsps)
3 cups leftover mashed potatoes (pre-seasoned with salt, pepper and butter, a little roasted garlic wouldn't hurt, either)
Add oil to pan and saute onion until starting to turn golden. Add carrots and saute for a few minutes. Add celery, garlic, enough broth to cover, mustard and 2/3 of the herbes de provence, cover and simmer until vegetables are almost as soft as you want them to be.
Meanwhile, saute the ground beef with salt and pepper until the beef is slightly browned and the juices start to come out. Sprinkle the flour over top of the ground beef and stirring occasionally continue to cook until quite brown and almost crusty. Mix beef and vegetables together and put into a 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Deglaze the frying pan if needed (not usually necessary with non-stick) and pour that over the beef and vegetable mixture. If the mixture seems dry, add a bit more beef broth. Mix remaining herbes de provence into the mashed potatoes and spread them evenly over the mixture in the pan. Using a fork, score the potatoes in a decorative fashion. (I think a windowpane plaid effect works nicely)
Bake at 350 for about 40 or 45 minutes until the gravy begins to bubble up around the edges of the potato crust. If potato crust is not golden brown, put under broiler for a few minutes. (If using a glass baking dish, ascertain whether it is suitable for use in broiler, first)
Enjoy! I doubt this dish is actually made in Provence, but it was certainly tasty!