Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 19, 2010
Kay's Cooking Corner
Kay Bona
This past weekend my husband and I took our annual trip to Branson, Mo. It is a trip we have been taking to celebrate our anniversary for the last 10 years, so it is pretty much routine now.
What got us started going there is because, we won tickets for two for a weekend in Branson at a silent auction through one of the newspaper conferences. We had so much fun, we decided that it was a perfect and quick little get-a-way for us to celebrate and just have some down time.
Branson is quite a place of action and fun things to do and see. We have watched it grow quite a bit in the last 10 years. Now, not only do they have the outlet malls, there is a huge open-air mall on the river downtown. It is a great place to go and people watch, but the prices there are quite a bit more compared to the outlet malls that are just a few miles away.
This year we celebrated a little early, seeing that it is just mid-November and our anniversary isn’t until December – but, who knows…maybe we will go back in December sometime. That sounds nice!
Anyway, while there, we ate at one restaurant that served a dish similar to Shepherd’s Pie. It was ok, but I told Don I could make it a lot better – and so I did. The recipe is below.
Shepherd’s Pie originates from England. Cottage pie, also known as shepherd’s pie, refers to an English meat pie with a crust made from mashed potato and beef.
The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when potatoes were being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (“cottage” meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using any type of leftover roasted meat, and lining the pie dish with mashed potato as well as piling mashed potatoes on top, as a crust.
However, the term “shepherd’s pie” did not appear until the 1870s, and since then it has been used synonymously with “cottage pie”, regardless of what type of meat is used. There is now a popular tendency for “shepherd’s pie” to be used when the meat is mutton or lamb, with the suggested origin that shepherds care for sheep and not cattle; however, this may just be folk etymology.
The Shepherd’s Pie that I ate this weekend was made with chicken, a great healthy alternative to using red meat, if you are trying to watch your red meat consumption. However, in my opinion, the only resemblance to Shepherd’s Pie it had was the mashed potatoes on top. So, to avoid confusion, I named my concoction Cheesy Potato and Egg Noodle Casserole.
Cheesy Potato
and Egg Noodle Casserole
2 packets VELVEETA
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes.
2 cups chopped chicken
1 table Canola Oil
1 cup frozen mixed veget-
ables (peas, carrots, corn)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans Cream of Chicken
Soup (Fat free)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 can refrigerated biscuits
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the potatoes as directed on package. Prepare the pasta until al dente. In large skillet, sauté chicken in oil; drain. Remove chicken, chop into bite-size pieces, then return to skillet. Add vegetables, pasta, soup and chicken broth to skillet; mix well, and simmer until hot. Spoon into baking dish and then cover with prepared mashed potatoes. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until heated through and lightly browned.
As casserole is cooking, bake biscuits as directed on package. To serve, place one hot biscuit split open in half, on plate. Spoon pie on top of biscuit. Serve with a mixed green salad and your favorite fresh fruit to round out the meal.
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