Shepherd's Pie

I am not from the Northeast, and I first saw Shepherd's Pie at the Yankee Doodle Tap Room in the basement of the Nassau Inn in Princeton, where I would occasionally have dinner. I had known pot pies as a kid but these were far richer, more decadent, and far more delicious. Mette and I used to go to this Scottish pub in Pennsylvania called Braveheart and we enjoyed a passable Shepherd's Pie, but you can make one yourself that is damn near the perfect autumnal-winter's dinner. To be correct, as my friend Penn pointed out, a real Shepherd's Pie contains ground lamb. A similar pie containing ground beef or anything else is rightly called a Cottage Pie. However, being rebels, we will call this pie, made with ground beef, Shepherd's Pie, and we will love it.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef, pork, veal, or lamb
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced or sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 clove garlic, minced finely (I now buy jars of minced garlic in olive oil)
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock, low sodium if possible
1/4 c. red wine from last night
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bunch fresh thyme, leaves only
half a package of frozen peas (5 to 6 oz.; keep frozen)

2 lbs Russet potatoes (3 large), peeled and chopped into large dice (1/2 inch)
milk
butter
1 egg yolk

Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and brown gently in oil or fat. Remove and set aside. Add oil if needed to the pan and add onions and carrots plus a pinch of salt. Once the vegetables have softened, add the tomato paste and garlic and stir and cook for a minute or two. Add the flour, stir in well, and cook for another minute. Whisk in the liquids, the stock, wine, and Worcestershire, and mix everything together well, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the browned meat and the thyme and simmer for a half hour.
Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water and drain. Mash potatoes (or use a food processor). Stir in milk and butter as desired to make a creamy consistency. Stir in an egg yolk quickly so that it doesn't make scrambled eggs.
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Add the frozen peas to the finished meat mixture and combine well. Spoon the meat mixture into a pie pan and top with dollops of mashed potatoes. Using a fork, rake the potatoes across the top until they completely cover the meat mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes begin to brown on top. Let rest for a few minutes and then cut and serve, preferably with a good beer.

Liver Pate (Leverpostej)

Leverpostej is an all-around Danish favorite on sandwiches. If you can get pork livers, they are worth the extra trouble, but you can make a very fine pate with lowly chicken livers. The finished pate can be packed into a ceramic container and covered with cracked black peppercorns, strips of cooked bacon, or even a layer of aspic. In our house it is used as a spread on toasted baguette rounds or thinly sliced rye bread (rugbrod) and topped with some coarse salt and a balsamic onion relish, canned fried onions, crumbled bacon, or sliced cornichons. The preparation is very simple and consists of a flavor base followed by searing off the livers and then cooking them further in white wine. The flavor base makes use of an interesting property of anchovies: they will dissolve in a hot oiled pan and deeply flavor a dish, but people won't be able to guess what the flavor is. Delicious!

olive oil
2-3 anchovies
2 Tbsp. capers
1 pound of chicken livers (rinse them well)
1 cup of white wine or champagne
kosher (pure) salt
pepper and cracked black peppercorns, if desired

Heat a large skillet or saute pan to medium high and add some olive oil to coat the pan. Add anchovies and capers and stir occasionally until the anchovies have dissolved. If the anchovies are very high quality or very fresh they will sometimes not dissolve completely but will break up into small pieces. After a few minutes, add the chicken livers and cook them for about six minutes, turning them halfway through, so that they are nicely browned on the outside and quite firm. Add the wine or champagne and cook for another 20 minutes or until the liquid has been reduced somewhat and seems thicker. Transfer to a food processor and puree until very smooth. If the mixture seems too thick, add a drizzle of olive oil to help thin it out and puree again. Taste and add salt or pepper as needed.
Pack the pate into a ceramic container, smooth out the top, and cover with a thin layer of cracked peppercorns.

Sometimes I make a balsamic onion relish to top the leverpostej sandwiches. It's well worth the time. Take a couple of onions, slice them very thinly on a mandoline, sweat them in butter in a covered skillet for about 20 minutes, then uncover, add a cup of balsamic vinegar, and cook down until the mixture is syrupy. Add salt and pepper to taste.