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A Millennials thoughts on what’s for dinner! Enjoy!
Cooking for Two: Shepherd’s Pie
By: Diana Gonzalez
Being a married millennial with only two cats is a great thing. Responsibilities are shared with a partner and, as a couple, we’re free to do what we please on our own time; our cats mandate that Meow Mix be available and pets are given at dinner time, and that’s pretty much it. Otherwise, no bedtimes or babysitters to worry about. There is, however, one flaw to this lifestyle and that is dinner. Dinner is such a mundane and daily part of anyone’s life- baby-free millennial or not, it’s surprising how difficult it becomes. Feeding six or eight mouths is hard, but I’d argue that feeding just two is hard all on its own. I imagine, like any person who has ever had only one or two mouths to feed, that we’ve all faced the same troubles resulting in the same inevitable ending: dinner ruts and boring leftovers. Or worse. Food waste. Tell me if this sounds familiar:
Things You’ve Tried
It’s a weekday afternoon, the grocery store is a must-stop at this point in the week, but you’ve been excited to try a new recipe, probably found on Pinterest, only to realize that some of the ingredients on the list aren’t necessarily obscure, but they’re not items found on your regular shopping list either. Sun-dried tomatoes and turmeric are just two examples I’ve come across. Now, neither of these ingredients are bad. In fact, they’ll probably add something wonderful to your meal. But, you only need three slices of the sun dried tomato and a teaspoon of turmeric. At $4.99 and $4.49 respectively, these items don’t seem like outlandish indulgences (though, it’s not pocket change either), and the turmeric will live in the spice cabinet, but then the ultimate question becomes what else will I do with the rest of the 8.5 oz of California’s finest tomatoes? They won’t wait patiently for me in my fridge like the turmeric will in my spice cabinet. They’ll expire, they’ll mold, they’ll get thrown away and that is a cardinal sin we millennials must avoid- wastefulness. So, ultimately, you decide to forego the sun dried tomatoes (you can justify the turmeric, it’ll live in your spice cabinet afterall). And when you make that pinterest-worthy meal, it’ll be fine, probably not as good as the internet promised, but it’ll be a meal to make again, and eventually you’ll forget all about the sun dried tomatoes you didn’t have. Fine, but boring.
Or
Maybe you’ve decided that what you should do is embrace bulk! So, that Sunday afternoon you decide to meal prep. You’ve got your dedicated containers, you’ve got your big pot and you meal prep 7 identical meals for you and your hubby. But then it’s Wednesday afternoon and you absolutely cannot get yourself to eat yet another container of chicken and rice with a side of carrots, and if we’re honest, your husband gave it up Tuesday afternoon and had Cookout instead anyway. Boring (and wasteful, yikes!)
Or
You’re like me, and you don’t really mind leftovers for two or three days. In college, I picked two meals I’d make for dinner and then make both on Monday and Tuesday and have their leftovers Wednesday-Friday (on the weekend, I just kind of grazed on animal crackers and peanut butter). Unfortunately, I’ve never met a husband who is gung-ho for this approach, and as it turns out, it only worked for me because I worked four jobs and wanted to spend my money on dancing with my friends, not vegetables (don’t tell mom). In retrospect, it wasn’t the most exciting approach to dinner. The dancing helped, but it was pretty boring.
Finally, in desperation, you’ve accepted your fate: casseroles. They’re not dancing-like-your-22-with-your friends-exciting, but they feed, and that’s what counts. However, you once again face the reality that casseroles are meant to feed 4-6 people and leftovers soon plague your fridge, and later your trashcan. You realize your dinner routine has officially become a hallmark movie: predictable and boring.
The Power of the Muffin Tin
I won’t promise that what I’m about to share with you will instantly solve the how-to-cook for-two-people problem, but I do hope that it’s just out of left field enough that you are excited to make dinner tonight, and I encourage your to embrace the concept with all of those casserole recipes you have lying around. The answer is simple: cups. Whatever you're making, put it in your muffin tin. I don’t know how, but somehow using your muffin tin to portion out your meals for you, as they cook, somehow makes them more manageable and reduces leftovers and ultimately wastefulness. I’m convinced that it’s the same as when you cut a PB&J diagonally versus vertically. If you cut a sandwich horizontally, you get more sandwich than when you just cut vertically. It’s science somehow. Just trust me on this one. Anway, when you put a classic recipe in muffin tins, it’s easier to eat all of it because the portions are automatic and you and hubby will go back for more, more than once, AND you need the family sized portions that you can’t escape at the grocery store in order to do it! I’ll show you what I mean with the recipe below. I give you: Shepherd's pie cups.
Step 1: Make a hot water crust. This will consist of flour, lard or butter, boiling water, and salt. Any version of this will do, but I do recommend using some sort of crust when cup-ifing your recipes because it will ensure you can remove your cups and enjoy them as units, as opposed to just a splat of food you scooped out of your tin. Hot water crusts are great for savory recipes (which dinner usually is). So, win-win. Once you make your crust, press into each cup of your muffin tin. You’ll likely only have enough for 10 of the 12 cups. If you can get 12, bully for you!
Step 2: Put together your basic shepherd’s pie filling: seasoned, browned, ground beef with mixed veggies. Fill your cups and top with mashed potatoes (DIY’d potatoes or instant potatoes, I won’t judge). If you have any beef mixture leftover, consider it a cooking snack (for you or for your husband) and continue to step 3.
Step 3: Bake to golden perfection. I almost always bake at 375-400 degrees and for something like this, I’m just watching for a deep golden brown color on the crust’s edge and a crispy look to the mashed potatoes. Usually about 25 minutes. Afterall, the filling should be already cooked. You’re just baking the crust and heating everything through.
Step 4: Allow to cool like you’d allow a steak to rest, just a few minutes. Use a fork to scoop out two or three cups and enjoy!
This is what will happen. Say you have a standard 12-cup muffin tin. Your recipe will fill probably ten of those cups. You’ll take 2 and your hubby will take 3. Don’t bother with making side dishes. This is an all-in-one meal afterall. That leaves you with 5 more cups. Because the cups are only muffin size, you’ll go back for one more, hubby too. Now you have 3 cups left over. Hubby will decide “just one more” before the end of The Amazing Race, so you’ll only have 2 cups left over after dinner. That’s lunch for you tomorrow! By the time you get home from work the next day, you’ll realize that a meal that usually serves six (Shepherd's pie) has now served your husband for one meal and you for 1.5 meals. You’ve successfully had something new (cupped shepherd’s pie), reduced your leftovers (just enough for lunch the next day), you didn’t have to buy any obscure ingredients (beef, frozen veggie mix and potatoes are standard practice in an American kitchen), and you didn’t waste any food because it was all eaten!
Next time you’re frustrated trying to make a meal plan on a Wednesday night, try taking something tried and true, and adding it to your muffin tin. Don’t forget the hot crust pastry, and enjoy your evening!
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 375
Ingredients for the filling:
1 small bag frozen mixed veggies
1 lbs of ground beef
Beef seasonings of your choice - follow your heart… and your nose
2 potatoes
Several tablespoons butter
Several tablespoons milk
Salt
Ingredients for the hot crust pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour
4 TBSP butter
½ cup water
Salt
Directions
First make the hot crust pastry* by:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Scoop out a well in the center.
In a medium saucepan, bring the water and fat to a boil, stirring to melt the fat.
Pour the liquid into the well in the flour mixture, stirring until everything is evenly moistened and cool enough to handle comfortably.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times.
*Recipe adapted from King Arthur Baking Company
Second, make the filling and potatoes
Pierce potatoes with a fork all over. Bake in microwave for 7-10 minutes, until they’re fork tender.
Carefully remove potato skin and set on cutting board to cool
Brown beef and season to your liking. Add frozen veggies. Cover and cook until veggies are bright. Check seasoning
Dice potatoes into cubes. Place in sauce pan on low heat. Add milk and butter. Mash with potato masher until smooth, adding milk as needed if it becomes too dry.
Third, make the cups!
Tear off a golf ball sized (or slightly larger) piece of dough and press into muffin tin cups. Be sure to press the dough up the walls of each cup.
Fill each up with meat mixture
Top with mashed potatoes and flatten into a “potato pancake”
Bake at 375 until potatoes have a crispy top and top edges of each pastry cup are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Let us know what you think of the recipe!
