Empadão de Peru - Turkey Shepherd's Pie

This one became extremely popular after a wisdom tooth extraction and the orders to eat only soft foods for some days. In Portugal, an Empadão is normally made with a mix of ground beef and pork, but we adapted it to our taste and reduced the fat a bit with the substitution of ground turkey. We both LOVE mashed potatoes so any recipe that includes them always causes some smiles around here.

This is truly a comfort food, perfect for cold winter days, but we like it so much that it stays on the menu all year long. The only downside is that takes a while to prepare and will cause a bit of a mess in your kitchen, but the results and the leftovers are well worth it.

Ingredients for 4-6 portions:

For the meat sauce:

1 large Onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves 

2 bay leaves

¼ Pepper (we used an orange one) chopped 

Dried red pepper flakes, to taste

Tomato sauce (1 cup) divided

Bacon (we used two big slices, less than ½ pound/200g)

Ground Turkey (1 pound/450g)

Red Wine (at your preference)

Beer (at your preference)

Balsamic Vinegar- just a splash 

Salt

Pepper

For the mashed potatoes (Purée):

Potatoes

Milk

Butter

Egg

Salt

Cheese (We used Cheddar) for garnish

The Path to the Empadão Kingdom

Take a deep breath before starting the cutting of the onion, smash the garlic and add it and the onion to the pan with a little olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Add a bit of salt and dried red pepper, to your taste. Once the onions become translucent (4-5 minutes), add the chopped orange pepper, about ⅔ cup of the tomato sauce and a bit of red wine and let it simmer for a few more minutes.

While it’s simmering, cut the bacon and season the ground meat with salt and pepper (and/or red pepper). Add the bacon and a little more tomato sauce and reduce the heat to low for a while. Add the turkey and be sure to keep an eye on the texture of the sauce. 

If the mixture gets too dry add some wine and beer to soften the sauce. If it gets too liquidy let it boil with the lid off. Continue to stir the sauce occasionally, because the turkey is drier than the beef and pork it tends to collect into clusters. 

Pull them apart them with a fork if needed so that the meat is evenly distributed in the sauce. Let it boil and develop flavor for as long as time allows. Keep in mind that the sauce is going to the oven later and shouldn’t be too liquidy or too dry when you put it in the dish, look for the happy medium. 

The scent coming from the pan starts making everybody in the kitchen very happy and you should use that cue to start peeling the potatoes for the purée. The number of potatoes you need will depend upon the size of baking dish you’ll use. Remember that a good purée always seems to shrink in the pan, so get some extra potatoes peeled and if by chance you have too much you can always make potato pancakes the next morning.  

After the purée is done and the meat sauce is at the right point, transfer the meat to your baking dish and cover it with the purée. Bake it for 15 minutes at 350ºF then remove and add the cheese, grated or artistically cut. Return to the oven and bake for 20 more minutes. Let cool a bit before serving and Bom apetite!

The night’s selection: 

From Mendocino Brewery Company we chose one of their Select Collection, the IPA White Hawk. We found it at a good price and decided to give it a try. With a 7% alcohol volume, it pleases with the first intense punch of the hops and a bouquet that lingers for quite a while. Now we will be on the lookout for their Imperial IPA.

For the soundtrack to this recipe we choose the Corações de Atum 2011 double album “Romance Hardcore / Hardcore Romance”. This very unusual album features ear-catching lyrics by the peculiar almost candidate to the Portuguese Presidency Manuel João Vieira. The album includes two versions of songs like this one, with the first CD offering 12 songs appropriate for radio broadcast and the second CD including 9 songs with much more colorful language. It’s worthwhile to learn the language just to be able to translate the lyrics of this great Portuguese artist.

Curried Lentil Soup

This soup couldn't have arrived in my life at a better time. It was the day before moving day and my sweet sister-in-law brought it over to finish simmering while she helped me with packing. It could have been because I was famished and exhausted or just because it is truly delicious, but I fell in love with it. She found the recipe in bon appétit and we really haven't done much to improve upon it other than add a bit more carrot and of course, a lot more garlic. The unique thing about this soup is the garbanzo mixture that you add towards the end. It gives the soup great body and a hint of creaminess. The curry rounds things out with a lovely warmth that pushes it over the edge into yummytown. 

3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 for sautéing & 2 for the garbanzo mixture

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 medium carrots, chopped

2 (or more to taste) large garlic cloves, chopped, divided - we used about 5

2 tablespoons (or more to taste) curry powder

1 cup French green lentils- we had regular green on hand which work also

4 1/4 cups (or more) water, divided

1 15- to 16-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained, rinsed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter- you can always leave this out to cut the fat a bit

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

Sauté the onion and carrot in 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil for about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add half of the chopped garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add curry powder and stir for 1 minute. We always soak our lentils for a little while but it’s really not necessary if you’re in a hurry. 

Add lentils and 4 cups water. You can always add more water later if the soup is too thick for your 

liking. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until lentils are tender- this will depend on what type of lentils you are using. We used green which tend to cook a bit faster than french green. 

While the lentils are simmering get your garbanzo mix-in ready. Puree them with the remaining garlic and olive oil, ¼ cup water and lemon juice. This ends up being almost like a hummus minus the tahini. 

Once lentils are tender add in the garbanzo puree and the butter. Season to taste with salt, pepper and additional curry powder, if desired. If you would like to thin the soup a bit, now is the time to do it. Start with ¼ cup water at a time until you reach the consistency you are looking for. We usually keep it on the thick side.

Garnish with sliced green onions and serve with a lemon wedge. Bom proveito. 

The nights selection: 

To go with so much warmth and flavor we needed to have some nice white wine to balance things out. We chose a 14.5% chardonnay called Toasted Head. The bouquet is strong which marries well with the full spectrum of flavor in the lentil soup. We felt that the sounds for the evening should have the same characteristics, so we chose Yo La Tengo’s 2000 album, “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out”, just like the soup, it offers a great range of flavors to satisfy your hunger. Yum yum double yum.