White Trash Vegan Cooking #2- Shepherd’s Pie

LeftyMom

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Tue Jun-20-06 11:22 AM
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White Trash Vegan Cooking #2- Shepherd’s Pie

Edited on Tue Jun-20-06 11:28 AM by LeftyMom

I want to preface this entry by saying that this recipe is one I modified and not one that I created from scratch. As far as I know the originator was a poster at AmityMama, an attachment parenting site. I can not find the link to the original post, though this http://veganknitting.blogspot.com/2005/12/christmas-dinner-recipes-shepherds-pie.html appears to be the same recipe with only minor modification. Anyhow, here’s the cheapened, modified and tweaked over several years version that my family knows and loves. (Note: this recipe makes an 8x11” pan that’s pretty darn full, enough to feed a family of four with leftovers or for a smaller group to really overdo it. It halves nicely .)

Step one: Scrub up somewhere between 6 and 8 russet potatoes, depending on size, cut them up so they’ll cook a bit faster and put them on to boil. Skins on or off, it’s up to you. Give yourself plenty of time, because the longer they cook and the softer they get, the easier the mashing is and you‘ll be preparing the filling as they boil.

Step two: While the potatoes boil, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Step three: Skin and chop two carrots and a large yellow or white onion. Set aside (one container for both is fine. Rinse and cut up a double handful of mushrooms (I like criminis a little better than button mushrooms for this recipe) and set them aside in a separate container. If you will be using fresh garlic, chop or press a few cloves at this time.

Step four: You can use two types of seitan (seasoned braised wheat gluten) for this recipe. Chicken-style sits in a vegetable broth that tastes rather like chicken, traditional does not. The full recipe uses two packages of chicken-style seitan (1 lb 2 ozs net wt with broth,) if the traditional is a much larger package without broth you may only need one. Either one is fine, I will assume you have chicken-style, if traditional is used just add a bit more bullion or veggie broth to get a full-flavored gravy when we get to that step. Open the packages, reserve any broth for later use and then cut the seitan into bite-sized pieces.

Step five: Time to start preparing the filling. Put a generous splash of oil (olive oil or something lightly flavored like canola will do- if you go with canola try to get a non-GMO version) into a wide pan at least four inches deep. A stock pot or “chicken fryer” will do nicely (those chicken fryers are very useful pans, in my experience.) Add the fresh garlic or a teaspoon or so of garlic powder and the onions and carrots, then cook them until the onions are translucent and the carrots are mostly soft. At this point, add the chopped seitan (but not the broth) and a tablespoon or so of a decent quality soy sauce. Be careful that the mixture does not burn.. Once the seitan is warmed through, add the mushrooms and give them a moment or so to get soft, then add about a half a cup of flour and stir through.. If additional oil is needed at this time to create a rather chunky roux, go ahead and add it. Again watch closely to prevent burning and let the flour mixture cook for a minute or two. At this point, stir in any reserved broth from the seitan or about ¾ cup of a veggie broth, either regular or unchicken (broth made from bullion is fine unless you‘re watching your salt intake.) Give this a few minutes to cook and then make any adjustments needed to consistency (it should be thick, a little cornstarch and water can be used if it’s thin) or body. Once that’s done, pour the mixture into the baking dish. If it fills more than half the pan you’ll need to put the remainder in a separate container to cook at the same time or later, because the remaining space is needed for the mashed potatoes.

Step six: Drain the now-cooked potatoes. Mash them as mushy or chunky as you like, with water, broth, earth balance and plain soymilk or whatever you prefer. Use a fork, a potato masher or a hand mixer. It’s all good.

Step seven: Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the filling in the pan. If you have extra set them aside for another night’s dinner. Bonus homemade mashed potatoes are never a bad thing. If you have a olive oil mister spraying a little on top helps the pie to brown while it’s in the oven, but this is optional.

Step eight: Bake at 350 until warm all the way through and ideally a bit browned on top, roughly 20-30 mins. A few minutes under the broiler at the end can help with browning but this isn’t strictly needed and I’m usually too hungry to bother with this step because this is one of those recipes that fills the house with the smell of very good food.

Step nine: Remove from oven, allow to cool a few minutes as it makes for much easier serving.