Savory Cauliflower Pie

Happy Tuesday, Gang. Hope you all had a lovely 4th of July.

Today we cook. Cooking is not like baking. Baking is like Science; formulas must be followed to attain the desired result whereas Cooking is like Religion; you can make it up as you go to suit your tastes.

This is an incredibly tasty, healthy recipe.  You can alter the ingredients to make it less healthy should you feel the need, but why would you want to?  It’s my twist on Shepard’s Pie. Shepard’s Pie is a lovely concoction of lamb, peas, carrots, green beans and mashed potatoes. In its original form it is hearty and warm and comforting. This version is no less hearty, warm or comforting; it just lacks most of the evil carbs from the original version.

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 head (or 1 bag frozen) cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons butter (set aside until the end)
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour or almond flour (or the Flour of your choice) 
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (I actually use bacon grease)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I like mine finely chopped, but chop yours however you like.)
• 1 cup frozen organic peas & carrots, thawed
• 1 pound ground meat (beef, bison, lamb, deer, ostrich, turkey, chicken etc.)
• 1/4 cup beef stock or broth
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• ½ cup Sour Cream
• Squirt of Spicy Mustard
• ½ cup cheese

This won’t take too long, especially once you get the swing of it, so go ahead and preheat your oven to 400F.

We start with cauliflower. It will be replacing the mashed potatoes. Never fear if you don’t like or don’t know if you like cauliflower. The taste is so similar to mashed potatoes that you may not even notice.  Chop it up in to large chunks and steam it until just tender. If you have an immersion blender, time to use it, though a food processor will work just fine. If you have neither, I recommend obtaining one or both. Process until smooth and add seasonings to taste. I like to add grated cheese to mine, but that’s me.

Heat some oil in a skillet. I used left over bacon grease, but you can use whatever you have on hand; olive oil, coconut oil, etc. Chop up the onion and throw it in the oil. I like to very, very finely chop mine so that it just blends into the meat later. I don’t like big chunks, but if you do, go crazy and chop it rough. Once the onions are soft add the meat. I used turkey this time, but lamb is by far my favorite. Once the meat is browned, toss in the peas and carrots. I don’t like green beans, so I didn’t add any, but you can if you like them… or you can add any vegies you like… again, go nuts. Cook for about 5 more minutes.

Now we are gonna stir in the flour, add the stock, sour cream, mustard and herbs and reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes; season to taste. If you don’t like mustard, skip it. If you like Worcestershire, add a couple squirts. You gotta eat it, make it taste good.

Ok… assemble. Take your lovely pie plate or whatever dish you will be using. I have a clear Pyrex dish that I love.  Dump the meat mixture into the pie pan and evenly sort of squash it flat. Don’t smash it, just press it down a bit. Spread the cauliflower mixture over top and smooth it out. I like to sprinkle a little extra cheese on top and maybe some extra herbs to make it pretty.  If you are a butter fan, you can cut some little cubes up and spread it on top. It makes it nice. 

Bake your masterpiece for 30-35 minutes and then let it set up for about 10 minutes before serving. 

Voila. 

~SR~