Andouille Shepherd's Pie

Today is Mardi Gras! I am celebrating Fat Tuesday with this super spicy Andouille Shepherd's Pie. I found the recipe in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Tastes cookbook. I have had this book for many, many years but I have never made anything out of it. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to make at least one recipe in each of my cookbooks. This one is perfect for a Mardi Gras feast! Also, I was challenged to make some type of pie this month!


This meal was a labor of love. I spent 2 days making this Andouille Shepherd's Pie. I have not made mashed potatoes in over a year and I forgot what a pain they are. To make the entire entree I think I used 5 bowls, 3 pots/pans and countless measuring cups and spoons. It was definitely alot more work than I am used to. And I'm not posting the recipe here because it is three pages long and I don't feel like typing it all.

First step is to peel and cut up six pounds of potatoes. Then you boil them and mash them together with butter and whipping cream. There are 9 different spices you combine together to make a bowl full of seasoning mix. Then come the veggies. Julienne and chop red, yellow and green peppers, carrots, garlic, celery and onions. The, julienned veggies get tossed with some seasoning. The chopped veggies get sauteed and then mixed in with an evaporated milk and egg mixture. Then off to the fridge for some cooling. That was where I stopped for day one.

Tonight I had to grind up the andouille sausage and them mix it together with ground beef and bread crumbs. Then all of that got mixed into the chilled veggie and egg mixtures. Spread all of that on the bottom of a 13x9 pan, top with the julienned veggies and then spread the mashed potatoes over all. Bake for 50 minutes. The juices from the meats boiled up and spilled over the edge of mine and started smoking when they landed on the bottom of my hot oven. So I pulled it 10 minutes early so that I wouldn't be eating a smoky dinner.

I'm glad I went through all that work. This dish is amazing! It is one of the spiciest things I have ever eaten. It made me sweat! Really. I had sweaty armpits and a moist brow! That has never happened to me before. But it was perfect because the potatoes cut the heat. This can feed about 10 people though. I made two leftover lunches and still have 2/3rds left. I'm going to bring it to my friend to feed her family dinner.

Check out the roundup for Waiter, There's Something in my . . . Pie! hosted this month by Cook Sister later this month.

Creole Sausage and Shrimp

Although this recipe for Andouille Sausage and Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce is featured in the February, 2007 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine, it was brought to my attention by Becky from Key Lime and Coconut. She reviewed this recipe and used it as her submission for her Weekend Herb Blogging entry a few weeks ago. I hope Becky knows that imitation is supposed to be the highest form of flattery . . . because I am totally copying off of her. Not only did I make the recipe for dinner tonight, but I'm also going to use it as my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted by Tomatom. I was going to do something else, but I ended up with a thyme story so I figured I'd write about it here.


First of all, the recipe . . . Make this. Go out and buy yourself a pound of shrimp, some spicy sausage, creole mustard and creole seasoning. You will be happy you did. It's pretty easy to make and is nice because it only uses one pot. The hardest part was taking the shells off of the shrimp but you can purchase them without shells to make it even easier. I had one issue with the recipe because my sauce did not thicken in two minutes. It took mine more like 8 minutes and I was worried that the veggies would over-cook but the whole thing came out just perfect. This dish has a bit of spice to it, but it's wonderful spice. The flavors are just amazing and it's super satisfying. Now for the thyme. . .


Thyme is a Mediterranean herb but it grows easily in many parts of the world and has become a standard for various ethnic cuisines. The thyme leaves are tiny and by the time I got mine home, they had folded and looked more like an evergreen than small parsley. This recipe calls for chopped fresh thyme. I have one of those Pampered Chef food choppers so all I have to do is pill up my herbs and then stomp, stomp, stomp . . . it's all chopped. Well, most herbs anyways. This was not the case with the thyme. My normal practice is to chop the herbs stems and all. Those thyme stems are some tough suckers! I kept chopping and chopping and they wouldn't break down fine enough. I brought out the knife but they just weren't cooperating. So my advise is to take the time to pull the leaves off of the stems when working with thyme. This was definitely a learning experience for me with using fresh herbs. But isn't that what this is all about?

Andouille Sausage and Shrimp with Creole Mustard Sauce 4 to 6 servings Ingredients: 1 pound uncooked peeled deveined large shrimp 1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided 1 pound andouille sausage, cut crosswise on diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick pieces 1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/3-inch-wide strips 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 cup low-salt chicken broth 5 tablespoons Creole mustard (such as Zatarain's) 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Instructions:
Toss shrimp with Creole seasoning in medium bowl to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add sausage pieces, cut side down. Cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to bowl. Add shrimp to skillet; cook until browned and just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl with sausage. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, bell pepper, and thyme to skillet. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add broth, mustard, and vinegar. Stir until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Return sausage and shrimp to skillet. Simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.