Tag Archives: cottage pie

A weekly meal plan is always useful to have. It helps with shopping, meal preparation, healthy eating, meal variety, and can save on the grocery bill. What follows is my suggested meal plan and shopping list for Week 3. I have several weeks’ worth of meal plans developed using recipes I have created for my food blog. You can access the meal plans for other weeks by clicking on the hotlinks at the end of this posting. Of note, the Week 1 posting also includes information on meal planning in general.

I’ve provided a list of the main ingredients that, for the most part, would probably involve a shopping trip to the supermarket for most. However, as always, read each recipe thoroughly and carefully to create your own list as I have not listed what I consider to be “staple” items like regular milk, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, butter/shortening, oil, spices, etc.

Click on the green hotlinks to access the recipes.

MONDAY

Glazed Lemon Pecan Sweet Bread – This is a lovely treat to start off the week. Tuck it in to the lunch bags for a treat at break.

Shopping List: Lemon, pecans

Dinner: Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup with Whole Wheat Biscuits

This soup is the full meal deal – very filling and flavorful.

Shopping List: For the Soup – Ground beef, onion, celery, carrots, rutabaga, parsnip, potatoes, zucchini, garlic, tomato paste, canned diced tomatoes, ketchup, beef stock (click here for my recipe), red wine vinegar. For the Biscuits – All purpose and whole wheat flours, buttermilk

There’s nothing like a wholesome homemade biscuit and these whole wheat biscuits go really well with the Goulash Soup.

Dessert: Apple Crisp

No matter the season, this old faithful dessert will always meet with satisfaction. Pure comfort food at its best!

Shopping List: Apples (e.g., any combo of Cortland, Honeycrisp, Humes, Gingergold), rolled oats, pecans, lemon juice

TUESDAY

Dinner: Pork Loin Roast with Pomegranate, Red Wine, and Black Garlic; serve with Potato Patties and medley of roasted vegetables of choice

Black garlic is not all that common yet, here on PEI, the garlic grower at Eureka Garlic just outside Kensington produces black garlic. Click here to read the story I wrote on Eureka Garlic’s black garlic. Not at all the taste you might think – in fact, no garlic flavor at all. Its transformation is more of a cross between a fig and a prune. Goes particularly well with pork.

Shopping List: For Pork Loin Roast – Pork rib roast, garlic, soya sauce, white wine vinegar, shallots, pomegranate molasses, chicken stock, black garlic, balsamic vinegar, red wine, orange juice. For Potato Patties – Potatoes, sour cream chicken bouillon, breadcrumbs.

These potato patties are such an incredibly tasty way to serve potatoes and they freeze well, too!

Dessert: Date Squares

Date Squares, the perennial favorite with many! These are a yummy treat and they freeze well, too.

Shopping List: Dates, rolled oats, orange juice

WEDNESDAY

Dinner: Savory Cottage Pie

Lovely winter time treat, these little pies are packed full of flavor!

Shopping List: Ground beef, onion, carrots, parsnip, celery, green pepper, garlic, mushrooms, tomato paste, tomato sauce, ketchup, canned diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, beef broth, molasses, frozen peas and corn, potatoes, grated cheddar cheese

cottage pie — My Island Bistro Kitchen’s Cottage Pie

Dessert: Butter Tarts

When it comes to food, it doesn’t get any more Canadian than these sweet butter tarts! A treat for sure, eh!

Shopping List: Pie Pastry, general baking supplies + maple syrup, milk/blend/cream
Butter Tarts

THURSDAY

Dinner: Mussel Chowder served with Pan Rolls

This chowder is incredibly flavorful. They’ll ask for seconds on this one!

Shopping list: For Chowder: 2 lbs PEI mussels, onion, garlic, white wine, celery, carrots, potatoes, chicken broth, whole milk (or evaporated milk); For Pan Rolls: Yeast + standard baking supplies

PEI Mussel Chowder Paired with Upstreet Brewing Company's Commons Czech Style Pilsner — PEI Mussel Chowder Paired with Upstreet Brewing Company’s Commons Czech Style Pilsner

Nothing better with chowder than fresh homemade rolls, still warm from the oven! Bring on the butter!

Dessert: Squash Pie

Pick up a butternut squash and make this delectable pie – it’s even better than pumpkin pie and has a deeper flavor. Don’t reserve this recipe just for the autumn – it’s good any time of the year!

Shopping List: 1½ – 1¾ lb butternut squash, pastry for 10” single crust pie, evaporated milk, whipping cream

FRIDAY

Dinner: Chicken and Mushroom Crepes with Cheese Sauce; serve with favorite green salad

A real special Friday night dinner. These crepes are so tasty with their cheesy sauce!

Shopping List: For crepes – 2 cups cubed cooked chicken, chicken stock, cheese mix (e.g., mozzarella, provolone and parmesan), celery, mushrooms; For salad – lettuce and favorite salad fixings and dressing.

Chicken and Mushroom Crepes with Cheese Sauce

Dessert: Leftover Squash Pie

SATURDAY

Dinner: Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Rice

Fresh asparagus works best in this chicken dish. Super yummy and looks great when it is sliced with the rings of the asparagus being very showy!

Shopping List: Boneless skinless chicken breasts, Boursin cheese, fresh asparagus spears, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, rice.

Dessert: Blueberry Bread Pudding with Grand Marnier Sauce

Oh là-là, how many different ways can you say “yummy”? This moist and flavorful bread pudding will have them calling for seconds!

Shopping List: For Pudding: 1 – 1lb loaf of soft French bread, whole milk, maple syrup, 2 cups high-bush blueberries (fresh or frozen). For Sauce: Grand Marnier, corn syrup

SUNDAY

Sunday Breakfast: Special Treat – Cinnamon Rolls

Dinner: Cranberry and Ginger Sauced Pork Chops; serve with baked potato and medley of favorite steamed vegetables

Jazz up pork chops with a tasty and colorful cranberry and ginger sauce.

Shopping List: Pork Chops, chicken broth, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, cranberry preserve/jam, mustard, onion

Dessert: Leftover Blueberry Bread Pudding

I hope you have found some interesting recipes from my food blog to try this week!

For other weekly meal plans from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:

Week 1 Meal Plan
Week 2 Meal Plan
Week 4 Meal Plan
Week 5 Meal Plan
Week 6 Meal Plan

Desserts, General, Recipes

Blueberry Grunt

January 6, 2014 Barbara99

I don’t know about you but once the Christmas holidays are over, I crave comfort foods. You know, the foods that are basic, nostalgic, or that you have a sentimental attachment to and that take you down memory lane. Some might even refer to these dishes as vintage. Maybe your mom made them for you when you were a child or you remember them from visits to grandma’s house. I’m talking about foods like macaroni and cheese, baked beans, scalloped potatoes, apple pie or crisp, homemade stews and “boiled dinners“, and baked bread. Cottage pie, rice pudding, roast chicken dinners, meatloaf with mashed potatoes, and fruit cobblers are other comfort foods commonly enjoyed in North American culture. There are many other dishes that bring us comfort in the cold Canadian winters so this list is not exhaustive and what constitutes comfort food may vary between cultures and regions of Canada.

These foods, in their traditional content, are by no means gourmet fare nor are they necessarily devoid of calories. They’re typically plain and simple stick-to-the-ribs kind of fare and they generate feelings of contentment and satisfaction … you feel warm and cozy when eating the meal. These kinds of dishes take basic, easy-to-find ingredients and are not usually difficult or complicated to make. They’re the kinds of foods that, when you walk into a home where they are being prepared, your appetite is immediately whetted and you harken back to early memories of enjoying those foods. They are hearty classics and endure over time, generation after generation. Yes, even the old tuna casserole is still considered a comfort food by many!

This month, I am going to focus many of my blog postings on some of my favorite comfort foods. Today, I am starting with my recipe for Blueberry Grunt. I don’t know the origin of this dessert or how it got its name but it’s really just a fruit cobbler – a slightly thickened fruit sauce on the bottom topped by a biscuit-like dumpling. This dessert is often made on the stove top where the dumplings are put in the pot on top of the bubbling blueberry sauce, covered and let simmer for about 15 minutes. However, my recipe calls for the dessert to be baked in the oven.

My featured Island product in this recipe are the blueberries. Each summer, I pack away several bags of these sweet little Island-grown morsels for use in my favorite recipes like this one for Blueberry Grunt.

[Printable recipe follows at end of posting]

Blueberry Grunt

Ingredients:
4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cardamon

Topping:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1 cup milk
2 1/2 tbsp cold butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugars, cornstarch, and spices. Stir in the grated lemon rind. Set aside.

In saucepan, combine blueberries and the sugar mixture. Add the lemon juice and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer mixture for 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal. Add enough milk to make a soft dough mixture that will cling together.

Grease a 1 1/2 or 2-quart baking dish or 8 individual ramekins. Spoon the blueberry mixture into baking dish(es).

Divide the dumpling dough into 8 portions.

Place dumplings over blueberry mixture (close together if baking in one casserole or centered if using individual dishes).

Bake in 400F oven for about 20-25 minutes or until dumplings are done and lightly golden brown on top.

Serve hot with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (or both!).

Serves: 8

What are your favorite comfort foods?

Blueberry Grunt

An easy to prepare comfort dessert, Blueberry Grunt consists basically of blueberries baked in a flavorful sauce under tea biscuit dumplings. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream and/or whipping cream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Keyword blueberries, blueberry grunt

Servings 8

My Island Bistro Kitchen My Island Bistro Kitchen

Ingredients

Blueberry Base:

4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cardamom

Topping:

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1 cup milk
2 1/2 tbsp cold butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a small bowl, mix together the sugars, cornstarch, and spices. Stir in the grated lemon rind. Set aside.
In saucepan, combine blueberries and the sugar mixture. Add the lemon juice and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer mixture for 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal. Add enough milk to make a soft dough mixture that will cling together.
Grease a 1 1/2 or 2-quart baking dish or 8 individual ramekins. Spoon the blueberry mixture into baking dish(es).
Divide the dumpling dough into 8 portions.
Place dumplings over blueberry mixture (close together if baking in one casserole or centered if using individual dishes).
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until dumplings are done and lightly golden brown on top.
Serve hot with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (or both!).

Recipe Notes

Yield: 8 servings

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Beef, Casseroles, Entrées/Main Dishes, General, Recipes

Savory Cottage Pie

April 17, 2013 Barbara99

My Island Bistro Kitchen's Cottage Pie — My Island Bistro Kitchen’s Cottage Pie

I first had Cottage Pie (although I didn’t know that’s what it was) many years ago as a small child at Camp Segunakadeck (Seggie) on the south shore of PEI. I came home from summer camp raving about this yummy dish and trying to describe it to my mother. As a seven or eight-year old, my descriptions of culinary delights would not have been enough for even a seasoned professional chef to be able to concoct some resemblance of the meal. The description would have went something like this…there was hamburg and ‘stuff’ on the bottom and mashed potatoes on the top and it was made in a large pan. Many years later when I would recall my camping experience, I was always reminded of this dish which I have since come to realize was likely a very basic and simplistic version of Shepherd’s or Cottage Pie, most likely the latter.

In the years since, I have tried many recipes for Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie but none were very flavourful and I was never satisfied with the result. One thing I learned not so long ago is that, while both have a cover of mashed potatoes on top of the meat, there is a difference between the two: Shepherd’s Pie is made with ground (or minced) lamb and Cottage Pie is made with ground (or minced) beef, more commonly known as hamburg. So, while many of us use the generic name “Shepherd’s Pie” when referring to this dish, if we are using ground beef, then it’s really Cottage Pie we are making. The great thing about Cottage Pie is that you can add any veggies you like (or eliminate any you don’t) or you can make it primarily with meat and very few vegetables.

The recipe I have created for my tomato-based Cottage Pie contains a lengthy list of ingredients and, I will forewarn, it does take a bit of time to make. However, the end result is worth the effort and this comfort food freezes well (unbaked) so it’s a great dish to have on hand in the freezer for busy nights when everyone arrives home hungry for dinner and no one has the energy to make a fulsome meal from scratch. Serve the Cottage Pie with string beans, asparagus, or a green salad.

Savory Cottage Pie

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb extra-lean ground beef

1 tbsp. olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup diced carrots
2 tbsp diced parsnip
½ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped green pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 oz. button mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp flour
2 ½ tbsp tomato paste
½ cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp ketchup

1 cup canned diced tomatoes, with juice
½ cup tomato soup
¼ cup red wine
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup beef broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tsp. molasses
1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
Pinch coriander
Pinch ginger
Pinch cinnamon

½ cup frozen peas
½ cup frozen corn

Potato Topping:

2 lbs potatoes

½ cup milk
1 egg yolk
Sea salt
Ground pepper
3 tbsp soft butter
Pinch nutmeg
¼ cup grated cheese of choice (e.g., Parmigiano Reggiano or cheddar)

Paprika

Directions:

Assemble and measure out ingredients.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large frypan. Brown meat over medium-low heat. Drain off any excess fat. Set aside.

In large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Sauté onion, carrot, parsnip, celery, green pepper, and garlic for 3-4 minutes over medium-low heat. Add mushrooms. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over the mixture and stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, and ketchup. Cook 1-2 minutes.

Add canned tomatoes, tomato soup, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, beef broth, salt, pepper, molasses, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to medium-low.

Add cooked ground beef and spices. Cook 3-4 minutes until mixture is heated.

Add frozen corn and peas and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Potato Topping

Cook potatoes. Drain and mash. Transfer mashed potatoes to bowl of stand mixer and whip for just a few seconds on medium-high speed with milk, egg yolk, salt, pepper, butter, nutmeg, and grated cheese. Whip only until ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Do not overwhip or potatoes will become gummy.

Preheat oven to 350F.

To assemble:

Grease large baking dish or individual ramekins (recommended) with shortening or butter or spray with cooking oil.

Remove and discard bayleaf from meat mixture and spoon mixture into prepared dishes, filling each a scant ¾ full. Top with spoonfuls of whipped potatoes to the top of the casserole or ramekins. With knife, gently spread potatoes so meat mixture is entirely covered. Using tines of a fork, create a decorative pattern on the potato topping. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes, until topping starts to brown. Remove from oven and let stand 8-10 minutes. Serve with steamed green beans, asparagus, or a green salad.

Makes 8-9 servings