Zzz: May 7, 2008 (cont.)

I Am Become Prep Time, Devourer of Dinner

I was coming up on no more ingredients for making dinner tonight, until I realized I had 2 pounds of ground beef in the freezer, and 3 pounds of potatoes, plus carrots and onions. So I decided I'd try making some shepherd's pie. How hard can it be? Unfortunately, the only short-cut I employed was using ground beef instead of cooking a lamb roast and then grinding the leftovers. That would have been a riot. As The I Hate to Cook Book says; what is up with leftover meat? You don't need to do anything with leftover meat. You can just eat it.

The mashed potatoes, as it happens, were by far the easiest part. It turns out that if you quarter a bunch of potatoes and boil them for 15 minutes, it is idiot-simple to mash them. What sucked up the time was peeling them, chopping the vegetables, and failing to notice that the recipe specified cooking the latter on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, so I didn't get them started until the potatoes were done.

By the time it was in the oven it was well past bedtime, by which time I had eaten a bag of dates (a small bag of organic dates, not my usual act of apocalypic gluttony) and started this entry while waiting for it to cool down before clingwrapping it and making room for it in the fridge. Irritatingly, it was a little too much for the 2 litre baking dish, and a bit thin spread over the 5L one. Which just means that I'll have to try making the actual specified amount next time instead of doubling the recipe on my first attempt.

The Joy of Cooking makes vague gestures towards heart-healthy cooking, telling you to pour off the fat, but then they turn around and tell you to scatter chunks of butter on top of it before putting it in the oven. (Was the original version even fattier? I'm afraid to find out.) I compromised by using the fat I poured off the beef to drip on the mashed potatoes.

Whatever else happens, that's dinner and lunch for 3 days taken care of.

Previous Entry Index Next Entry