After a satisfying meal of Crispy Seabass with Tomatoes and Capers in Butter Sauce, I'm on to my next meal in the dinner box I bought from Urban Stove.
All the food items for this dish arrived properly portioned, packed, sealed and labelled.
The Ingredients:
The Prep Needed:
The Cooking:
Again, it came with a recipe card with simple to follow instructions.
This is the Beef Shepherd's Pie with Mixed Salad ready for serving.
Meal 2 - Beef Shepherd's Pie with Mixed Salad
All the food items for this dish arrived properly portioned, packed, sealed and labelled.
The Ingredients:
Minced beef, mashed potatoes, mixed salad leaves, garlic, onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste and balsamic vinegar.
The Prep Needed:
Dice the carrot, onion, celery and garlic.
The Cooking:
To make the pie filling, I had to saute the minced beef with the diced up carrot, onion, celery and garlic together with tomato paste (I think it needed a bit more tomato paste) and a little water until the gravy thickens. But, because the recipe didn't specify the quantity of water, my vegetables could have been softer though.
Pour the cooked mince and vegetables into a baking dish and spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the top and fluff it with a fork (extra step - I sprinkled some seasoning over the potato mash).
Bake in an oven at 180C for about 10 minutes (I left it in the oven for a further 5 minutes) until the mash was lightly golden brown.
A side of mixed salad tossed in the balsamic vinegar dressing provided.
This is the Beef Shepherd's Pie with Mixed Salad ready for serving.
I scooped half of the Beef Shepherd's Pie.....
.......and served it with some Mixed Salad for a one-person portion. For better presentation, I would suggest that you bake these in two separate ramekins for an individual portion each.
My thoughts on the dish:
The flavour of the cooked mince was pretty pleasant but the mashed potatoes were not as smooth as I had hoped (a bit lumpy actually) and lacking in the flavour department (even though I added seasoning to it which wasn't suggested in the recipe). The salad leaves were slightly limp though the balsamic vinegar dressing was satisfactory.
In terms of the cooking, this one was really easy compared to the previous dish of crispy seabass though the result was not as satisfying. If they had provided a bit more tomato paste and made a smoother potato mash, this could have been a more successful dish. But, then again, if not for Urban Box, I'd probably wouldn't have known where to begin to make a Beef Shepherd's Pie.
My Overall Thoughts
My Overall Thoughts
My concluding comments on Urban Stove's dinner box will be in my next post! Up next.....Meal 3 - Chinese-style Sweet and Sour Chicken with Steamed Rice.
Does your lumpy mean, chunky, as in, got some bite size chunks? I actually like my mashed potatoes that way rather than all smooth, because that's how my mom used to make mashed potatoes...
ReplyDeleteYes...chunky! I agree that's how we usually do it at home...the rustic way. But, if restaurant grade, it should be smooth and creamy coz they pass it through a sieve (more than once I think) to make it really smooth.....and I like it that way! ;D
DeleteI love this! Have not made for a long time now. Yours has beef in it - like mine...and I called it shepherd pie too till people kept telling me that it should be cottage pie, shepherd pies use lamb. Ah well...who cares! Most important thing is in the eating and my girl loves it! The filling looks really good. Maybe I should make some too coming weekend...feel inspired by your post. LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad my post inspired you to revisit this recipe. You're not wrong if you call it a cottage pie or a shepherd's pie...both are inter-changeable (and correct). Just that some like to refer to it as shepherd's pie if it's made with lamb (coz shepherds tend to sheep mah)! :D
DeleteI have been wanting to bake a Shepherds Pie for the longest time. I think I shall wait no more! I can see that the potatoes are lumpy and not smooth. I'm with RG, I like it that way.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, make one....I'd like to see yours! I'm sure it'd be better than mine (erm, actually Urban Stove's)! :D But unlike you and RG, I like my mash to be really smooth like the one I had at Yellow Brick Road.
Deletecomfort food! i like how this recipe seems to represent Urban Stove's philosophy quite well - providing recipes that people can enjoy both making and eating :)
ReplyDeleteYes, this is definitely comfort food :)
DeleteEh, how come the recipe did not specify how much water to put? I thought this kind of recipe must be accurate to the dot so have to specify the quantity for all ingredients needed. Lacking in taste? Maybe it is designed for people like me who does not want to eat salty and flavourful food and thus cook at home rather than eat out (the latter is not me lah since I don't want to cook at home).
ReplyDeleteI think they missed out on that (the quantity of water) and since their recipes are pre-printed, I guess they couldn't make the amendment even if they wanted to. When it comes to seasoning, you're on your own. It's really up to you how much seasoning you want to add, perhaps I added too little (although the recipe also didn't ask us to season the mash).
DeleteI didn't....Urban Stove did! ;D
ReplyDelete