Recap: Miss Fresh #9

As I’ve been talking about recently, its been a busy time so what better week than to order another Miss Fresh box. The last one was just two weeks ago. However, this menu fit what we liked so why not, right?

Let’s get cooking! 🙂

Miss Fresh #9

Shrimp Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Shrimp Rolls with Peanut Sauce

This box was quite the adventure since I found my cooking motivation early in the morning as I scrambled to get this together and prepare for heading out to work. Particularly the first two recipes were made in the early hours however, they did turn out pretty good. The first was this shrimp rolls. I used to my shrimp rolls with my best friend however, she always took point and I just had to put it together so learning how to make this felt great because I’m a huge fan of this plus Miss Fresh’s recipe avocado which is a really nice twist since I don’t eat raw veggies so my husband made them with the cabbage while I had a simple one with vermicelli, shrimps and avocado along with the peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was really awesome and really made this dish delicious.

Asian Tofu Stir-Fry

 The first two meals are very easy to make. In fact, they are delicious as well. I’m a huge fan of stir-fry and its not only because I’m Chinese and grew up with it. The idea of tossing a bunch of stuff together in a wok and it turning into a meal is efficient. Of course, it is never as simple as tossing it together but how to cook what and when. We don’t get a lot of tofu and my husband’s not a huge fan of mushroom although he does tolerate shitake mushrooms. This dish made the house smell so nice and it is incredibly easy to do. Maybe one of my faves Miss Fresh recipe.

Shepherd’s Pie with Cauliflower Topping

Shepherd’s Pie

My husband loves Shepherd’s Pie. I just never make it because its a bit of a hassle. I hate meals where I need to cook and then bake. As you see, I’m all about efficiency. Shepherd’s Pie also has that mashed potato aspect which only is good with a decent amount of milk or butter. While I digest butter, I know my husband prefers milk and then there’s the whole corn issue. My health is ridiculous, I know. The price for not taking better care when I was studying in university. Now I’m getting preachy, so I’ll stop and get back on track. However, this one does a nice twist with a mix of mashed potatoes and cauliflowers. I do like the texture of it even though it only uses butter. The minced meat is seasoned well and its all very tasty. Definitely one worth giving a go a second time.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples, Brussel Sprouts and Rice

After the searing part…

Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Brussel Sprouts

The pork tenderloin is pretty easy to put together and it does taste good with just coating with coriander and a spices blend (cinnamon and something else). The searing part after 10 minutes each side gets about that look up in the top picture. Sorry for the blur. However, we’re not much for seared foods so I decided to cook it through instead in making the veggies portion. It turned out for the better and I really liked this one a lot as well. The apples add a little acidity to it that works well with the dish. I’m not huge on the apple cider vinegar part. I’ve tried it out a few times in some other Miss Fresh recipes and it adds a weird taste to it that takes time to like. Overall though, this one is good. I’d redo it but maybe change out the apples or maybe use something else than vinegar.

Overall…

Miss Fresh doesn’t fail us. I’d venture to say that this is one of the better boxes because all the meals were winners even if I would have tweaked it to match our tastes a little better. Shrimp Rolls definitely take the win for this one. That peanut sauce is to die for and the rolls are good even in its simplest form. I’m actually craving it as I write this up (not only because it is during my lunch break).

Shepherd’s Pie

More cooking! I promised you that I’d be back on track with that! Some late night cooking for the boyfriend since I was going out for an advanced screening tonight 🙂  Not so sure about the movie but its okay, its free anyways.

I’ve only ever made Shepherd’s Pie months ago to help my friend’s family out.  I never actually tried how it turned out but apparently it was pretty good.  My boyfriend kind of wanted me to do it for us but I never got around to it until now. So here we go! Last weekend, I promised that I’d do it this week and after a late night cooking, its all done.

It looks a little weird but its partially because of the lighting and second, because I kind of messed up a part of the ingredients but I’ll elaborate after the recipe.

This one was inspired by Looneyspoons recipe.  The original one includes squash and sour cream for the potato topping but I did a traditional mashed potato with some milk and butter instead.

Here is the recipe:

Makes 6 servings

Meat and Vegetables

1 1/2 lbs extra-lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
*1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 cup frozen mixed peas and carrots
1 cup canned corn
1/3 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
*2 tbsp chili sauce
1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp each salt and ground black pepper

Potato Topping

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
*2 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash
*1/2 cup + 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
*1/2 cup light (5%) sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
*Dash nutmeg
*Minced fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

1. To make filling, cook beef, onions and garlic in a large pot or skillet over medium-high heat until meat is no longer pink and onions are tender.  Stir in paprika and thyme.  Cook 1 more minute. Add peas and carrots and corn.  Mix well.

2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together broth, chili sauce, flour and Worcestershire sauce.  Add to meat mixture in pot, along with salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Let simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Mixture will thicken slightly.  Remove from heat, cover and keep warm while you prepare potato topping.

3. To make topping, place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil.  Add squash.  Cook until both potatoes and squash are tender, about 12 to 14 minutes.  Drain potatoes and squash in a colander. Return to pot.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan over vegetables.  Cover with lid and let stand 1 minute for cheese to melt.  Add sour cream, salt and dash nutmeg. Mash well using a potato masher. Try to get out as many lumps as possible.

4. To assemble casserole, spread meat mixture evenly over the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish.  Top with potato-squash mixture.  Fluff with fork so small peaks are formed.  Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp Parmesan over potatoes.  Bake at 375F for 25 minutes, until completely heated through.  Remove from oven. Sprinkle top with parsley, if desired.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

A lot of changes were made.

• All the asterisks(*) show those that were omitted except for dried thyme
• Dried thyme was replaced with half dried basil and half dried oregano
• I used frozen peas but fresh chopped carrots
• Flour was gluten-free
• Potato topping was not at all like this one but mashed potato. I forgot to replace the squash that removed so I fell short for the topping. Instead of sour cream and everything, I used unsweetened almond milk and butter.

I have an issue with corn so my boyfriend was the only one who tasted it. Apparently, I need to work on making the potato topping.  Other than that, it was a tasty dish 🙂

I am curious about how squash potato mix would work for the potato topping.  Maybe I’ll try that next time! It doesn’t look too amazing in the first picture but the topping looks very appetizing. Plus, my kitchen had a wonderful delicious aroma from the cooking. Guess that helps when its 2am and I’m still waiting for this to come out of the oven 😉

Do you like Shepherd’s Pie? Any tips on making mashed potatoes? 

**Psst: I’m experimenting on cooking so another recipe going up very soon 🙂 This time, it’ll look awesome! Remember to check back.