"Flockherder's pie"

A friend of mine (Thanks Laura) come up with the title.  Its Shepherd's pie but made with ground turkey.  It's a well seasoned dish.

1 pound of ground turkey, all white meat
1 cup of chopped carrots
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp of Badia Complete Seasoning
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp tumeric powder
1 cup of chicken stock

1 dry packet of turkey gravy*
1/2 cup of water

Saute onions and carrots till tender.  About 5 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients up till the gravy.  Stir well, breaking up the meat in tiny pieces.  Let it come to a boil and turn down to medium and keep to a simmering boil.  Let the stock evaporate and meat is cooked through.  About 15 minutes.  Add gravy and water in a small bowl, mix well. Add to meat and turn up heat stirring well.  Let it cook 5 minutes.

3 russet potatoes, peeled left whole
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar
1 tbsp butter
Salt/ pepper to taste

Cover potatoes with water, bring to a boil and cook 30 minutes or till fork tender.  Remove, add in a bowl with rest of ingredients and blend till desired consistency.  Boiling whole will prevent them from waterlogged.

In a oven safe pan, add a layer of meat.  Then spoon the mashed potatoes on top.  Use a fork to 'scratch' grooves on top.  Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or till lightly browned.

Serve.

*I had this leftover packet of turkey gravy packet that my mom left.  I was surprised that it was so tasty in this dish.   

Crazy Bacon Crackers-lighter version

I saw these on Pioneer Woman's site recently and had to try them.  I looking to cut fat as much as I can without compromising flavors came up eith these.   Next will be to try turkey bacon.

Lower sodium thin bacon, sliced in half
Reduced fat club crackers
Favorite parmesan cheese, grated finely

Preheat oven 250*F

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or non stick foil.  Line up crackers sideby side.  Pour 1/2 tsp of parm on each cracker.  Take the bacon and wrap lengthwise loosely tucking under ends to cover completely the cracker.

Bake in oven 1 hour and half to 2 hours.  Then let completely cool.  And consume.  Yiu can insert a cookie cooling rack inside the cookie sheet to elevate the crackers but I hardly had grease from using half sliced of bacon.

Cuban inspired chicken fried steaks and milk gravy

Cubed sirloin steak
Worcheshire sauce
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp badia complete seasonings
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup of flour
Olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp of reserved flour mixture
1 cup of milk
1 tsp beef base

Open steaks and sprinkle both sides of each steak with worcheshire sauce. Set aside.  In a ramekin/small bowl place all the seasonings.  Stir.  Sprinkle spice mix on both sides a pinch.  You should have half remaining in which you can mix with the flour.  You can let steaks marinate up till a day or proceed to the next step.

Dredge each steak on both sides with the flour and shake off excess.  Let the floured steaks rest for 10 minutes fo t the flour to be moist.  Reserve 2 tbsp of the flour, discard the rest.

Select a fry pan that isn't 100% non stick.  Stainless works best, you want some stuck bits.  In a fry pan, cover bottom with olive oil and set heat on medium high.  When bubbly, quickly fry your steaks till golden on each side.  About 5 minutes per sides.  Refill pan if oil is absorbed.  When all done, add butter and reserved flour mixture.  Stir scraping up bits.  Cook for 2 or three minutes. Add beef base and  wth a whisk, stream in the milk whisking up all the yummy bits.  It will get thick, then remove from heat.  About 5 minutes.   Pour over steaks.  Serve with hearty black beans and rice.

Homemade sloppy joes

I am not a fan of sweet/savory foods, but this one won my heart.  I combined a bunch of recipes for Sloppy Joes and gave it a twist.  I served these on Hawaiin sanswich buns.  But this could have worked on any bread rolls if it's too sweet.

1 pound of cooked and drained hamburger/ground beef. *See note below
1 small onion, diced finely
1 rib of celery, diced finely
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced finely
1 cup of ketchup
2 tbsp of worcheshire sauce
2 thsp of teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp of cider vinegar
2 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp smoked spanish paprika
1/3 cup of water
Salt/Pepper to taste

Throw all in a crockpot, set it on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.  Serve over bread.  This is a "neater" sloppy joe, double everything except the meat if you want it really saucy.

*If your hamburger meat is the 93% fat free, you can throw it in with the with the rest of the ingredients without precooking and add an hour of cooking times.  I often do this to save the step of boiling and draining the fattier blends of hamburger meats.  If you do precook, I boil it for 25 minutes and drain since the fattier blends are more flavorful and cheaper.