"Sweet" and Smokey Turkey Shepherd's Pie

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"Sweet" and Smokey Shepherd's Pie
adapted from Rachael Ray

Ingredients
2 large (orange) sweet potatoes, also named yams, peeled and cubed
1 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
Coarse salt
cooking spray
1 1/3 pound ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon smoked paprika, available in small cans on spice aisle of market
(You may substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each sweet paprika and cumin combined- which is what i did.)
Coarse black pepper
2 tablespoons, 5 or 6 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 ear of corn, kernels cut off (you may also use 1 cup frozen corn)
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt, divided
3 tablespoons butter
1 large egg, beaten
fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Directions
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray your pan evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Add ground turkey to the pan and break it up. Season the turkey with smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and thyme. When turkey browns up, add onions and carrots. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then add red pepper, corn and peas cook another 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook flour 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and combine. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and combine. Simmer mixture over low heat.

Preheat your broiler to high.

When potatoes are tender, add a ladle of cooking water to the egg. Drain potatoes and return to the warm pot to dry them out a little. Add remaining 1/2 cup sour cream, butter, half of the chives, and salt and pepper. Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg. If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.

Pour turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish. Top turkey with an even layer of smashed potatoes and place casserole 5 inches from hot broiler. Broil the potatoes until golden at edges and remove the casserole from the oven. Garnish the casserole with the remaining chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

This is a wonderful recipe; completely comforting and full of a great mingling of flavors.  The original recipe from Rachael Ray adds in bacon and uses only Idaho potatoes.  I am heading towards my big grocery shopping day, so I needed to improvise with what ingredients I still had in my pantry.  I only had  one Idaho potato and two sweet potatoes, and I also had one ear of corn.  So I thought it would make a nice contrast adding in the sweet potatoes and sweet corn to play on the smokiness of the paprika.  I also omitted the bacon from the original recipe because I was fresh out- I know, how depressing!  We definitely didn't miss the bacon, although I am sure it would be a tasty addition.   We all agreed that this recipe is a keeper and one that will easily slide into our regular rotation of favorite meals.  It is also a huge kids pleaser!  Jackson love, LOVED this meal.  He gobbled his right up telling me it was so yummy.  And the fact that it only goes under the broiler for about 5 minutes, you get a nice comfort meal without heating up your kitchen.  Perfect.


**Be sure to come back tomorrow for My Retro Kitchen's next giveaway!  It is an awesome one provided by my friend Melissa Kroft of Tastefully Simple!!  You don't want to miss out on this one- I promise!

Steak Fajitas

Do you remember that amazing steak marinade I told you about?  It is a great stepping stone, and just with a squeeze of lime and a substitution of Southwest Seasoning Salt (I love Tastefully Simple's!) and you have a wonderful Mexican flavor that is perfect for Steak Fajitas!  These are a simple dish- no fuss really.  And with the fresh spinach and greek yogurt you are giving yourself some great health benefits!  Of course you can totally use any lettuce you have on hand and sour cream for the greek yogurt.  But trust me, this is de-lish!

Steak Fajitas

1 lb thin cut tri-tip (flank steak and skirt steak also work great for this dish)
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped into halves or forths, depending on size)
a handful of spinach, roughly chopped
cheddar cheese, shredded
greek yogurt (or sour cream), for serving
favorite taco sauce or salsa, for serving
flour tortillas

for the Fantastic Steak Marinade
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Southwest Seasoning Salt (Tastefully Simple's version Simply Southwest Seasoning and Rub is perfect) and freshly ground black pepper (if you don't have southwest seasoning salt, sea salt will work just fine.)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
juice of half a lime

Mix Together the garlic, grill seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, Southwest Seasoning Salt, lime juice and pepper. Whisk in the EVOO. Pour into a 9x13-inch glass dish or a sealable plastic bag. Add the steak and coat it evenly in marinade. Let stand for at least 10 minutes.

Grill Steak for 2-4 minutes a side, depending on thickness of your meat.  Remove from grill and allow to rest under tented foil for 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips, diagonally against the grain.

Meanwhile, over medium heat, saute sliced onions in one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil until tender and caramelized.

Top each tortilla with steak, caramelized onions, spinach, cheese, tomatoes, greek yogurt and sauce/salsa.  Wrap and enjoy!

The next afternoon, I had the leftovers for lunch.  I couldn't decide on having a fajita like the night before- or using some bagged shredded coleslaw mix (this stuff is awesome to keep onhand!) and teriyaki sauce, and making a version of my Teriyaki Pork Wraps.  So I made both!  Soooooo good!

Apple Muffins with Cinnamon and Sugar

These muffins are wonderfully light, and despite the sugar topping, they are the perfect sweetness.  Not too sweet- just right.  You will love these.  I promise.  

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Apple Muffins with Cinnamon and Sugar
makes 6 3-inch muffins or 24 mini muffins

3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more for sugarcoating the muffins
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1 cup skim milk
6 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup frozen apple-juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

Position rack in the center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.  Lightly grease or line with paper baking cups six 3-inch muffin cups.

In a large bowl, blend together the two flours, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a medium bowl, beat the egg, milk, oil, apple juice, and lemon extract until smooth.  Stir in the apples.  Combine the two mixtures, blending until the dry ingredients are just moistened.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5-7 minutes.

Serve warm, or invert onto the rack to cool completely.  While still warm, coat the muffins with sugar.

I doubled the recipe and made a batch of mini muffins as well as regular sized. I LOVE the mini muffins! These are the perfect flavors for a little bite-sized treat. I definitely recommend making them tiny like this. Isn't anything more fun when they are small?  Plus, this way you can have more then one and not feel guilty....