Shepherd's Pie Recipe
• 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 8 potatoes, peeled, boiled, and mashed
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• beef broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Parmesan cheese
Brown ground beef and sauté onions in 2 tablespoons butter until golden. Mix ground beef with onions, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Add a few tablespoons of beef broth and cook, covered, over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist. Beat egg yolks until light, then in another bowl, beat whites until stiff. Beat the yolks, cream, 6 tablespoons butter, and garlic powder into hot mashed potatoes. Gently fold in beaten egg whites. Put meat mixture into a casserole then top with potato mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350° until potato topping is puffed and browned, about 25 to 35 minutes.
Vegetarian Moussaka with Ricotta Topping
This recipe is taken from
Delia Smith's Winter Collection.
If you prefer a meat version, substitute ground lamb or beef for the lentils. Serve it with a large bowl of crunchy salad along with some warm pitta bread. Serves 4-6
2 aubergines, each 8 oz (225 g)
10 fl oz (275 ml) vegetable stock
2 oz (50 g) Puy lentils
2 oz (50 g) green lentils
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, de-seeded and chopped into 1/4 inch (5 mm) dice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 x 14 oz (400 g) tin chopped tomatoes, drained
7 fl oz (200 ml) red wine
2 level tablespoons tomato purée or sun-dried tomato paste
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 level tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly milled black pepper
For the topping:
1 x 9 oz (250 g) tub ricotta
10 fl oz (275 ml) whole milk
1 oz (25 g) plain flour
1 oz (25 g) butter
1/4 whole nutmeg, grated
1 large egg
1 oz (25 g) Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano), freshly grated
salt and freshly milled black pepper
You will also need a shallow dish about 9 x 9 x 21/2 inches (23 x 23 x 6 cm) deep.
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
Begin by preparing the aubergines: to do this cut them into 1/2 inch (1 cm) dice leaving the skins on. Place them in a colander, sprinkling with salt between each layer, then put a small plate with a heavy weight on top – this will draw out any excess juices.
Meanwhile, pour the stock into a saucepan together with the Puy lentils (but no salt), cover and simmer for 15 minutes before adding the green lentils. Cover again and cook for a further 15 minutes, by which time most of the liquid will have been absorbed and the lentils will be soft. While they're cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large solid frying pan and fry the onions until they're soft and tinged brown at the edges (about 5 minutes), then add the chopped pepper and soften and brown that too for about another 4 minutes. Next add the garlic, cook for 1 minute more, then transfer the whole lot to a plate.
Next transfer the aubergines to a clean tea cloth to squeeze them dry, then add a further 2 tablespoons of oil to the frying pan, turn the heat up to high and toss the aubergines in it so they get evenly cooked. When they're starting to brown a little, add the drained tomatoes and the onion and pepper mixture to the pan. In a bowl mix the wine, tomato purée and cinnamon together, then pour it over the vegetables. Add the lentils and the chopped parsley, season well and let everything simmer gently while you make the topping.
All you do is place the milk, flour, butter and nutmeg in a saucepan and, using a balloon whisk, whisk until it comes to simmering point and becomes a smooth glossy sauce. Season with salt and pepper, remove it from the heat and let it cool a little before whisking in the ricotta followed by the beaten egg.
Finally, transfer the vegetable and lentil mixture to the dish and spoon the cheese sauce over the top, using the back of a spoon to take it right up to the edges. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and transfer the dish to the pre-heated oven and bake on the middle shelf for 1 hour. Then allow the moussaka to rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Leek & Potato Soup
2 leeks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
stock (vegetable or chicken)
cream
chives for garnish
Using a little olive oil, gently fry the leeks and onions until soft and clear. Add the potatoes and stir. Add the stock (enough to cover the veges & then some). Bring the boil and then lower heat. Allow to simmer gently until the potatoes are cooked through. Blend the soup with a stick blender, or if you don’t have one, take out the veges and blend before returning them to the stock. Add cream to taste and garnish with chives. Traditionally this soup is served cold, but I like it hot!
Corn Chowder *
• 3 oz butter
• 2 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 4 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup canned creamed-style corn
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels (frozen is fine)
• 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper
• 3 Tablespoons cream (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh chives to garnish
Heat butter in large heavy based pan. Add onions and cook over medium heat for 5 mins or until golden. Add garlic and cumin seeds, cook 1 min stirring constantly. Add stock and bring to boil. Add potatoes and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add creamed corn, corn kernels and parsley. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Stir through cheese, salt and pepper, and cream. Heat gently so the cheese melts. Serve sprinkle with chives. Serves 8. * This is a vegetarian soup, but I like to throw in some bacon bones or a bacon hock into the stock as I feel it gives it more flavour depth.
Another thing to freeze is
gnocchi - recipe on my blog.
Spicy beef and carrot stew is an excellent pie filling.
Baby Mustard Meatloaves
Moroccan Baked Chicken with Chickpeas and Rice (from
Delia Smith's Winter collection)
Serves 4
1.5-2 kg chicken jointed (I use chicken legs or chicken pieces)
110g dried chickpeas (I use canned mostly)
175g brown basmati rice
2 fresh green chilles halved, deseeded and finely chopped
1 rounded t cumin seeds
1 level T coriander seeds
1/2 t saffron stamens
30g fresh coriander, finely chopped (keep some for sprinkling over the top of the finished dish)
2 small thin-skinned lemons (I use some of my preserved lemons)
juice of one lemon
2 large yellow capsicums
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic, chopped
275ml good chicken stock
150ml dry white wine
50g pitted black olives
50g pitted green olives
2 T olive oil
If you are using dried chickpeas, deal with them in the usual way. Which is, soak overnight in cold water and then boil them until tender the next day.
Dry roast cumin and coriander seeds. Crush them coarsely in a mortar and pestle. Crush the saffron stamens to a powder and then add the juice of one lemon to the saffron.
Season the the chicken with salt and pepper. Cut capsicums in half and remove seeds, then cut each half into 4 large pieces. Slice onions roughly the same size as the capsicums.
Heat 1 T of the olive oil and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Remove to a plate.
Add the second T of oil to the pan and heat to its highest setting. Add capsicums, onions and cook them in the hot oil, moving them around until their edges are slightly blackened. Turn the heat down and add the fresh coriander, garlic, chillies, spices, chickpeas, and rice giving everything a good stir. I now transfer it to a clay casserole pot I have that goes in my oven. If you are fortunate to have a pan that goes from stove top to oven, then use that. Season well with salt and pepper, then add saffron and lemon mixture with the stock and wine. Scatter over the olives. Add the preserved lemon. Place in pre-heated 180 deg. C oven for 1 hour until rice and chickpeas are done. Garnish with a little fresh coriander.
Freezer Meals...
Kim 
)
, but if you google "freeze ahead meals" or "once a month cooking", you should find a bunch. 
