Dinner--or Dessert--Tonight

[Langue_doc]

And, my sense of the "difference" between a pot pie and shepherd's pie was that the latter uses mashed potatoes on top, instead of a pie-crust-like topping, but I could be wrong about that.


M.

This is how I differentiate between pot pies and a shepherd's pie.

Today's dinner was lamb loin chops, basmati rice, and zucchini. Beverage: black tea. Dessert: trying to decide among three Ben & Jerry's flavors.

[ab_grp]

Yes, I put a crust on it and it is indeed the best part (well, the gravy isn't too bad either, if I do say so myself...).

One thing I love about the crust is dipping it in the gravy.  Yum.  Thanks for the tips!

The very best ever shepherd's pie I had was at an Irish restaurant that used ground lamb and had the most delicate rosemary-lamb liqueur instead of a gravy for the meat (I suspect a light white wine or cooking sherry, maybe? But I didn't ask...), and the top must have been brushed several times with butter while baking to put such a crispy crust on it.

I also just read somewhere about a vegetarian pot-pie with dry-roasted root vegetables topped with spicy mashed sweet potatoes (i.e., not sweetened further, as with OJ or honey, but zinged up a bit..I'd have to look up what spices they used...it might have been a tiny bit of mustard and cinnamon or something like that...).

That's the thing about going to a really good restaurant every now and again and taking ideas home with you....

More fun stuff to try out!

The vegetarian pot pie sounds great.  And the idea for our fish pies came from an Irish restaurant! When we were driving cross country, we stopped in Tulsa, and the #1 spot (bbq) was already out of food by about 1 PM.  So we went to the #2 spot, which I was skeptical about, not thinking there would be a good Irish restaurant out there.  Wow.  One of the best meals I have ever had.  We spent quite a while there, and their fish pie was so good, like lick the ramekin and who cares who sees it good.  In the restaurant reviews, someone had commented that they had gone to Tulsa on a business trip and were thinking of relocating their family there because of that fish pie, and I totally understand that.  We have thought of flying through Tulsa on trips just to go there again.  Husband bought me an Irish cookbook for my birthday last year (?) after trying to find one that had a similar fish pie.  In that cookbook, they use mashed potatoes on top.  We like it both ways, but having the crust puts it over the top for me (calorie-wise, too...).

[mamselle]

What kind of fish do you use? Did they use?

What vegetable(s) if any?

I can see it working several ways!

M.

[ab_grp]

They apparently use shrimp, cod, and scallops, leeks, and mushrooms.  We use the same fish but without veggies.  Both are creamy white sauces, though theirs has a slightly different flavor. 

[mamselle]

Almost sounds like a coquille St.Jacques, which uses a white sauce thats a bit more buttery and lightly fishy, usually placed in a pie-crust like nest with a little piecrust-like lid.

But they're smaller and less pot-pie-like,so maybe not.

In any case,, yours sounds good, too!

M.

[ab_grp]

I think I had coquille St. Jacques a long time ago and will have to look through the cookbooks and see what that entails, but it sounds great.

We had decided on ordering Chinese so I could populate that spreadsheet further, and because apparently election night is a big pizza night, but the day was so busy that we just went with leftover steak, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, and some supplementary brussels sprouts.  We will probably do the Chinese tonight.  It's pretty lazy to be too stressed and worn out to have to keep an eye out for the delivery person, but spouse was on the phone all day dealing with a crisis at work and had to go in early today, so we wanted to just eat dinner when we were ready to and without having the night further interrupted.   The leftovers were good, though! And healthier, I suppose.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Tonight there was, and still is to some extent, a chill in the air. So, we made some soup from scratch.

Beverage = hot tea (I had Darjeeling and some kind of lemon tea, he had Earl Grey)

Main Course = Creamy chicken soup with carrot & potato with pumpkin rolls.

Dessert = None for me.

[mamselle]

Dinner: Tuna melt with potato chips

Dessert: (Take your pick of the names: Blond Brownies, Harvard Squares, Congo Bars, Dagwood Bars) a chewy Chocolate-Chip-cookie-like matrix, baked in a dish with an egg to make it rise, using brown sugar, a bit of maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves, etc., and Ghiarardelli's 70% chocolate chips.

I had to go back and get a second (tiny, cut to last for the week...maybe) dessert bar, they were so good....

M.

[Larimar]

Dinner tonight will be bean and cheese enchiladas. Yum! I'm also planning on my usual 'Sleepytime Honey' herbal tea.

[mamselle]

I think I had coquille St. Jacques a long time ago and will have to look through the cookbooks and see what that entails, but it sounds great.

We had decided on ordering Chinese so I could populate that spreadsheet further, and because apparently election night is a big pizza night, but the day was so busy that we just went with leftover steak, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, and some supplementary brussels sprouts.  We will probably do the Chinese tonight.  It's pretty lazy to be too stressed and worn out to have to keep an eye out for the delivery person, but spouse was on the phone all day dealing with a crisis at work and had to go in early today, so we wanted to just eat dinner when we were ready to and without having the night further interrupted.   The leftovers were good, though! And healthier, I suppose.

Now you've got me thinking about coquille St. Jacques myself...yikes!!

Allrecipies has this:
   https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/235471/how-to-make-coquilles-saint-jacques/

but i'm used to seeing it in the little flaky pastry shells: or at least topped with them as this writer suggests:
   https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/03/french-in-a-flash-coquilles-st-jacques-pot-pies-with-roasted-lemon-recipe.html

This looks like a cool riff on the idea, too: Creamed lobster in a white sauce in puffed pastry shells (I am familiar with bigger shells, not sure where one gets the moules for those...maybe overseas?)
   https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Creamed-Lobster-on-Puff-Pastry-Shells-2214795

The complete shells are here, if you just want frozen ones (P'pg Farm are fine....easier to find, anyway):
  https://www.puffpastry.com/course/desserts/?filters=technique/19,&posts_per_page=36
   
I also like the idea of bacon with the fish/scallop component of the dish....

This reminds me I have to go grocery shopping again, soon....

;--}

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Dinner tonight will be bean and cheese enchiladas. Yum! I'm also planning on my usual 'Sleepytime Honey' herbal tea.

We had enchiladas tonight too, but with chicken.

[mamselle]

On the meat pie theme, this just came across my food-feed/news-feed...a meat pie based on a very thick beef bourguignon:

   https://www.timescolonist.com/life/food-drink/eric-akis-classic-french-pie-has-rich-pastry-1.23497044

For a vegetarian dish, just make it with mushrooms--chunks of a sturdy braised portobello would work--which could also supply an idea for the "main meatless dish" question for Thanksgiving (I think that was on this thread).

Anyway, I'm strongly considering it...

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

On the meat pie theme, this just came across my food-feed/news-feed...a meat pie based on a very thick beef bourguignon:

   https://www.timescolonist.com/life/food-drink/eric-akis-classic-french-pie-has-rich-pastry-1.23497044

For a vegetarian dish, just make it with mushrooms--chunks of a sturdy braised portobello would work--which could also supply an idea for the "main meatless dish" question for Thanksgiving (I think that was on this thread).

Anyway, I'm strongly considering it...

M.

This sounds delicious!

[Larimar]

For tonight and a couple nights after, we've got a big crock pot full of homemade vegetarian 'beef' stew, to be eaten with rosemary bread. Another of my favorites.

[mamselle]

Inviting myself over, virtually...

The bread alone would do it!

M.