Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

[Sweet_Sadie]

Oh my - I tried the cauliflower faux mashed potatoes and (DRUMROLL!) -

I don't care if I ever eat another potato again in my life! Mmmmmm - Where's the licking lips smiley?

So, Sheppard's Pie - WAS a layer of ground meat onions garlic and gravy, a layer of veggies, and a layer of mashed potatoes.

I guess the only thing I really can't figure out to convert it to Atkins is the gravy part.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

I have not yet tried this Sadie, but one of these days I'm going to...I read somewhere about using unflavored psyllium husk (think unflavored metamucil) to thicken gravies and sauces. You'll get the added benefit of the fiber, and it will thicken the gravy.

Most time I use heavy cream to thicken sauces and parmesan cheese...but that doesn't work all that great for a meat style gravy.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Xantham gum is a good thickener. I haven't tried it to make a real gravy though, I usually thicken all my sauces with heavy whipping cream and just let them cook down a little.

[ladyinred]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

There's a recipe over at Linda's Lowcarb for shepherd's pie. I printed it off and it's at home. I don't recall anything about the gravy, but I'm going to try it on the weekend.

[ladyinred]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Forgot to ask....where do you buy xanthan gum? Health food store? Baking aisle of a regular store?

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Barb sent me some of hers. I think she said she bought it at Walmart. I haven't looked for any since she sent me enough to last a lifetime LOL.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Here's a link to the recipe that LiR says she has.

http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/shepherds_pie.html

[cristylp]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Forgot to ask....where do you buy xanthan gum? Health food store? Baking aisle of a regular store?

I found it at the supermarket in the section where the natural and organic foods are.

[scott123]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

I have not yet tried this Sadie, but one of these days I'm going to...I read somewhere about using unflavored psyllium husk (think unflavored metamucil) to thicken gravies and sauces. You'll get the added benefit of the fiber, and it will thicken the gravy.

I haven't experimented with pysllium myself, but I know someone who has and they weren't happy with results. They thickened a gravy with xanthan at the same time and much prefered the xanthan.

I'm not a big fan of soluble gum fibers (xanthan, guar, thickenthin not starch) for gravy making. Texturally, they're just too slimy for me.

Although I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to carbalose and poultry gravy, it works very well with stronger flavors such as beef. Texturally, a carbalose gravy mirrors regular flour perfectly.

A pretty easy/quick workaround for beef gravy is pureed cooked onions.

[ladyinred]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

A pretty easy/quick workaround for beef gravy is pureed cooked onions.

So cooking down some heavy cream and then pureeing with cooked onions should work too, right? That sounds really good. I'm gonna have to try that. I wonder if that would work for turkey too? I found a turkey in the freezer and I thought I'd cook it this weekend. Gravy would be nice.....

[Miss Phode]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Although I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to carbalose and poultry gravy, it works very well with stronger flavors such as beef. Texturally, a carbalose gravy mirrors regular flour perfectly.

A pretty easy/quick workaround for beef gravy is pureed cooked onions.

Scott is so smart. Thanks for the ideas

[not2late]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

I haven't experimented with pysllium myself, but I know someone who has and they weren't happy with results. They thickened a gravy with xanthan at the same time and much prefered the xanthan.

I'm not a big fan of soluble gum fibers (xanthan, guar, thickenthin not starch) for gravy making. Texturally, they're just too slimy for me.

Although I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to carbalose and poultry gravy, it works very well with stronger flavors such as beef. Texturally, a carbalose gravy mirrors regular flour perfectly.

A pretty easy/quick workaround for beef gravy is pureed cooked onions.

Totally agree with Scott about the gums and the onion gravy.

The onion puree gravy can be done 2 ways:

Cut the onion into large pieces, cook with the meat, then puree the cooking juices and the cooked onion together. You might need to thin it with water or stock to the consistency you desire.

Or, the method I read about in an Indian cookbook: Roughly chop the onion, toss the pieces into a blender or food processor with a enough liquid to puree the onions into a smooth paste. Scrape the puree out and simmer it with the meat. As the mixture cooks, the onion puree will thicken. You might need to add liquid during the cooking to avoid scorching or to avoid it from thickening too much. This is my preferred method now (don't need to worry about pureeing and transferring the hot liquid and solids, so less of a chance of burning myself.)

I also use a 50-50 mix of celery and onions rather than straight onions, because I think the celery gives the gravy a better flavor. But you can toss in a clove of garlic and herbs and spices of your choice.

[scott123]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

So cooking down some heavy cream and then pureeing with cooked onions should work too, right? That sounds really good. I'm gonna have to try that. I wonder if that would work for turkey too? I found a turkey in the freezer and I thought I'd cook it this weekend. Gravy would be nice.....

If you have any beef stock or drippings, I'd add that to your heavy cream and onions.

The flavor of onions is extremely complimentary with beef. The two strong flavors mesh wonderfully in gravy. Onions are excellent with poultry, but they're a pretty major departure from a traditional poultry gravy.

I don't know. Now that I think about it... I do have a lot of chicken/onion recipes. I make a chicken fricasee that's loaded with onions. Maybe it might work.

If I was doing a traditional thanksgiving turkey gravy, though... I'd use carbalose. Hmmmmm... maybe I could dilute the strong taste of the carbalose with a little gelatin and some cream. Actually I'm not entirely sure I like cream in chicken gravy. It always seems to get a little oily. This is really getting crazy/specialized but I think for extra creaminess, I might add some calcium caseinate. Casienate could be an excellent supplement to carbalose in gravy..

Miss Phode, you're welcome. Thank you for your kind words

[Binsk]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

LiR, I buy Xanthan at Zehrs (loblaws) in the health food section. One package will last you forever. I find that if I deglaze the pan after frying meat and mushrooms and onions with a little broth or water, I will use 1/8 tsp of xanthan gum that I dust over the surface with a fine seive so I don't get lumps. I add the meat back to the pan and let it simmer and reduce to the desired thickness. If you use too much xanthan it will get a little slimy, but don't forget we have been eating this stuff for years, just read ingredient labels, its everywhere, I think its even in ketchup.

I make Shepherd's Pie quite often in the winter with mashed cauliflower on top and I add a little grated cheddar on top to make the top crispy.

[ladyinred]

Re: Where's a sheppard's pie recipe? Or just Gravy.

Thanks Binsk. I've never looked for it before so I didn't know how easy it was to obtain. I'm going to try to get some for my weekend batch cooking.