Shepherds' Pie, Family Size!

I was in the mood for Shepherds' Pie so I Googled for a low carb version. Of course I tweaked it quite a bit!

It is *mostly* low carb and *mostly* paleo. I did take a couple of liberties as you will see. You will be able to easily make changes to make it more exact if you want.

It filled my huge lasagna pan, and the six of us barely ate half. I have a hard time switching back and forth to the college boys being home. When they are here, it seems there is never enough! But this would be easy to adapt quantities, too.

It was liked by all, and will be a keeper.

Shepherds' Pie

4 pieces bacon, chopped
3 pounds ground beef
large onion, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups chopped vegetables of your choice. I used carrots, yellow squash, and broccoli.

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 head cauliflower (or 16 oz. package frozen)
1 medium potato (peeled if you like. I don't peel mine.)

1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
2 T butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Add the vegetables and heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Mix the 1/2 cup yogurt with the beaten eggs. Stir into meat mixture along with 1 cup of cheese. Spread into pan(s). I used a large lasagna pan. It's about 15x12. You could also use two 9x13 pans with no problem.

Meanwhile, cut the potato into chunks and cook with cauliflower in boiling water for about 12 minutes until very tender. Drain well. Put the cauliflower, potato, 2 T butter, 1/2 c yogurt and 1/4 c cream into a food processor. Process until smooth. Adjust seasoning if necessary, then spread over the meat mixture in the pan(s). Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

NOTES:
* To lower carbs and make it more "legal", leave out potato. It added more authentic taste and texture for not a lot of carbs per serving, but would be fine without it.

* You can cut this recipe in half and use either a 9x13 pan, or a 9x9 pan (will be thicker). We could easily have fed 6 on one pan of this.

* Add whatever veggies you like, in whatever quantity you like, or none at all. The beauty of something like this dish is it's great to use up what you have languishing in the fridge! It would also be a great way to sneak something in that the kids usually don't eat. For instance, I had a few kale leaves that needed to be used, not enough to make kale chips (which the kids will eat), so I chopped it up and stuck it in. :)

* I think in the future I would like the meat mixture to be a little creamier, so if I cut the recipe in half I would use the same amounts of egg and yogurt. If I made the large recipe, I would double that. Just my personal preference.

Pizza Burgers

I created this dish on the fly the other night, and it was amazing, so I want to get it down even though I didn't measure anything!

My daughter had her birthday party and the kids made their own pizzas. My husband and I are eating low carb so I got out some ground beef to make us some hamburger patties. As it thawed, I was feeling kind of bitter about missing the pizzas. I love pizza! Then I got the idea to season them into "pizza burgers". I chopped up the pizza toppings and mixed them right in with the meat, formed it into burgers and cooked them on the stove.

As they cooked, I got to thinking I could top them with mozzarella cheese, just like the pizza. Then I thought how about some pepperoni? And I kept thinking!

So, here's the basics. I didn't measure any of it, just put in what you like.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
about 3 T bread crumbs or substitute (since we are low carb, I used ground flax meal)
1 clove garlic, pressed
about 1/4 onion, chopped fine
a few slices green pepper, chopped fine
about 10 back olives, chopped fine
about 10 slices pepperoni, chopped fine
about 1 tsp Italian seasoning
about 1/2 tsp salt
a sprinkle of red pepper flakes
about 2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
about 3 Tbsp pizza sauce

mix all of the ingredients together until well mixed. Form into patties (we got 5). Flatten the patties as much as possible, but not too thin or they'll fall apart.

Cook on both sides just till brown. They'll be rare, but that's fine.

Transfer to an oven safe pan if your skillet is not oven safe. Top the patties with another dollop of pizza sauce and your choice of toppings. We used - in this order - cheese, pepperoni, sauce, then more cheese.

Bake at 425 for about 8 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly brown. This was the same time and temp the pizza crusts said to use, so we ran with it and it seemed to be just right. Keep an eye on it and don't let the cheese burn.

Serve with extra sauce and parmesan cheese.

This will definitely go into our meal rotation!

Tapenade

I need to come up with a catchy name for this.

It's a combination of several different recipes I found online the day I was looking for something made with olives to spread on crackers. It was adapted based on ingredients I already had, as well as my personal tastes (I don't like anchovies).  I think it lends itself quite well to adaptation, so play with it as much as you like! I will probably never follow this recipe exactly again, but wanted to get it down so I can use it as a base. it was a huge hit with adults and kids and I will definitely add it to my go-to list. it also keeps well - my last batch was in the fridge for 2 weeks and it may last longer, but we ate it up too fast to know. :)

I used plain, inexpensive olives and it was great. I don't see any point in using fancy olives, but maybe it will just be that much more awesome!

Olive Tapenade

1 cup pitted black olives
1 cup pitted green olives
1 clove garlic
1 tsp capers
1/4 cup roasted pepper

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Olive oil as desired, optional

Place in bowl of a food processor and pulse until garlic is chopped. Add feta cheese and stir to mix. If you like, add some olive oil.

Serve with crackers or small toasted rounds of french bread.

I put any leftovers back into the olive jar and refrigerate.

Pineapple Compote

My friend Aphra and her husband, Peter, were the managers at a gorgeous retreat center a few years ago. I always loved Sunday breakfast because this delicious dish was always on the buffet. Finally I asked her for the recipe! The new managers don't make it, and Sunday mornings are simply not the same! This was another of her mother's recipes.

Pineapple Compote

1 - 15 oz can pineapple chunks in juice
* add 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (see note)

3/4 cup sugar
3 T flour
1/2 stick butter

10 Ritz crackers, crumbled

Mix everything but the crackers in a casserole dish. Sprinkle crumbs on top.

Bake at 350 for 37 minutes.

*note - pre-grated cheese will not melt properly. However, they used it at the center and I always loved the texture so I would use it again to get the same result. It's your call!

Pontchartrain French dressing

This recipe was given to me by my friend Aphra. It was her mother's, and they served it in the dining room of the retreat center they used to manage. It was the most delicious dressing ever. I am so happy I found this while going through a pile of papers on my desk!

Pontchartrain French Dressing

2 cups olive oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp Creole mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Beat oil and vinegar together for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Baked Olives

I love olives! Straight out of the jar is fine with me. For our turn cooking last Thanksgiving I wanted to go a little fancier. This is so super easy to make. You can adapt it in any way you like. All the adults loved it and so did the kids! We put the leftovers back in the olive jar and they stayed delicious for spur-of-the-moment munching. I may never buy expensive flavored olives again!

Ingredients

1 cup stuffed green olives (with pimento)

1 and ½ cups large pitted ripe olives

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch of black pepper

Add seasonings as desired by the 1/4 tsp (dried). I used dried rosemary and thyme. Add pepper flakes if you want some kick.

Directions

Line a pan with heavy duty foil (about 12x12). Have enough foil to come back and seal up the olives in a package.

Drain olives and pour into lined pan. Top with garlic, olive oil, pepper, and seasonings of your choice.

Fold aluminum foil over top of olives and seal well.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Alternatively use the microwave, in a covered microwave-safe dish for 3 min. on high.

Pancake Syrup

Edit: the syrup crystallized. When we used it the next day, I warmed it by putting the bottle in a pot of hot water, this helped somewhat with the crystals and the taste was still great, but was still a turnoff for the kids. I guess they are just perfectionists because it wasn't distasteful at all to me! I already said I did not follow the original recipe exactly. My friend says hers never crystallized. I am going to play around with this and see if I can solve the problem. First thing I will do is omit the butter so it won't have to be refrigerated. I already removed it from the recipe below. I have looked up some tips online and will add to this as I try them. Sorry if you have already tried it as originally posted. It is still delicious and worth making!

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I've had this recipe stored in my drafts here from a friend's blog, for a couple of years now. I finally got around to making it this morning after my daughter and her friend asked for French toast, but we were out of syrup. Naturally, this is not my friend's exact recipe. I tweaked it a bit.

I was concerned about the lack of maple flavoring. My friend doesn't use it because it's always artificial so she chose vanilla. I can honestly say none of us missed the maple. It was close enough to what we usually get and in fact was pronounced "THE BEST SYRUP EVER!!!" by all.

It was so quick and easy to make, I literally made it at the exact same time I made the French toast. By the time we were ready to eat, we used a gravy ladle to serve it right out of the pan. I boiled the water in a teakettle first and then measured it. I think next time I will just throw it all in together. I'm not sure what the point is of boiling it first and I love saving steps. (note - may help with the crystallization issue. Stay tuned.)

I don't think I will ever buy "pancake syrup" at the store ever again. I always have these ingredients on hand. Have you ever read the ingredients label on "pancake syrup"? Yuck.

If you make this, I would love to know how you like it!

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp corn starch

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix sugars and cornstarch with boiling water. Heat until it returns to the boil. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

When cool, transfer to a storage conatiner. I saved an old syrup bottle for this.