Jerk Lamb Shepherd's Pie

Jerk Lamb Shepherd's Pie

Yield: Serves 6

What you need:

• 3 red or yukon gold potatoes, about 1 ½ cups cut into ½ inch cubes
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)
• 3 medium carrots, small dice
• 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
• 1 bunch cooking greens, chopped (such as mizuna, chard, kale, mustard greens)
• 1 lb ground lamb (or beef)
• 1 - 1 ½ cups spring jerk marinade (below)

What you do:

1. Place the cubed potatoes into a large stock pot and cover with cool water. Add a generous handful of kosher salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook until potatoes are fork tender. Drain. Using a ricer or potato masher, mash the potatoes, adding butter if desired.
2. In a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket, add water to just above the basket. Bring to a boil. Add the carrots and a few pinches of kosher salt. Steam until the carrots are tender but still firm, about 5 minutes.
3. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium high heat. Add the chopped greens and a pinch of salt and sauté until they are soft. Remove greens from pan and set aside.
4. Using the same skillet, heat another tablespoon of oil. Add the ground lamb, breaking it up with a spoon until you have ½ inch crumbles. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and sauté until cooked through.
5. Add the jerk marinade to the lamb. Cook about 5-7 minutes until the marinade is absorbed into the lamb and the lamb breaks down further into smaller crumbles.
6. Preheat the broiler. In an oven- proof casserole dish, layer the lamb, followed by carrots and greens and top with the mashed potatoes.
7. Heat under the broiler on high for about 12 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and crisp.

To Freeze: Wrap casseroles tightly with plastic wrap. Label with contents and reheating instructions.

To Reheat: Thaw overnight or for at least 12 hours in refrigerator. Preheat broiler. Remove plastic wrap and broil under high for 12-15 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and crisp and the center is warmed.

Spring Jerk Marinade

Yield: ~ 4 ½ cups

What you need:

• 2 shallots or small spring onions, about ½ cup large dice
• 20 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch scallions, top ⅓ of green removed, roughly chopped
• 4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & roughly chopped, about ¼ cup
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup canola oil
• 6 tablespoons tamari soy sauce or shoyu
• ½ cup lime juice, approximately 4 limes
• 1 ½ ounces fresh thyme, leaves and tender stems only, approximately ½ cup
• 6-8 habanero peppers
• 6 tablespoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
• ¼ cup water

What you do:

1. Put all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Process on high until completely pureed.
2. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Be judicious with the chili peppers. The heat level will intensify over time.
3. Freeze unused portion for up to one year.

Sweet Potato Waffles

These subtly sweet and arguably healthy waffles are perfect for giving new life to leftover cooked sweet potatoes or neglected vegetable purees. I also highly recommend making a batch and freezing for easy kid friendly weekday breakfast. These are actually improved after freezing and a quick toast. No need to defrost first. Just pop a frozen waffle in your toaster at your preferred setting.

Makes ~6 waffles

What you need:

• 1 cup white all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cup plain unsweetened kefir or drinkable yogurt
• 2 eggs, room temperature, separated
• 1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided

What you do:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, egg yolks, sweet potatoes, maple syrup and vanilla. Add most of the butter (reserving about 1 tablespoon for brushing the waffle iron) and whisk swiftly.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix in a few swift strokes with a rubber spatula. It's okay if some of the dry ingredients are not fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
4. Heat up your waffle iron. While it is heating, with a whisk or electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
5. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Do not over mix. You are done when you see small pieces of whites speckling the batter.
6. Brush both sides of waffle iron with melted butter. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the waffle iron leaving room for spread. Cook 4-5 minutes or according to the setting of your iron. Serve immediately with maple syrup or keep warm in a low oven.
7. Freezer tip: cool on a wire rack before transferring to a freezer safe container.

Notes:

• Change the spices to suit your taste. Feel free to use more or less cinnamon, ginger, or cloves, remove altogether or add other spices like nutmeg.
• My vegetable mash of choice for waffles is the flesh (skins discarded) of oven baked/roasted sweet potatoes, but other roasted and steamed vegetables and fruits substitute nicely. Try squash, pumpkin, carrots, beets, apples or combination. See my note in the Shopping in Your Freezer post regarding using what you have.
• If you don't have kefir or drinkable yogurt, you can use about 5+ oz plain Greek yogurt whisked together with enough milk to make 1 1/2 cups of thick liquid. Buttermilk also works.