She shared her recipe! It sounds so easy: How To Make Shepard's Pie Stuffed Mushrooms
I love Jackie, she lives in Queens and is an amazing singer, and she does cooking demos and sings at the same time. We have a fun tour of the Ferry Building on one of her visits, her blog is cute too. If you're interested in networking on Google+ she's a good person to network with.
Shepherds Pie Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
BASE
1.5 pounds of extra large mushrooms (20-24 mushrooms—about 3” in diameter)
Olive oil cooking spray or olive oil
FILLING
1/2 pound of ground beef or lamb
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 cup of peeled and finely diced yellow onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1/3 cup of peeled and finely diced carrot
1/3 small parsnip, peeled and finely diced
1/3 cup of peeled and finely diced turnip
1 teaspoon chopped, fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/2 cup of frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 cup of stock (Any kind of stock is fine. I used chicken stock.)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
TOPPING
1 pound of potatoes (I used Russets), peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup of half and half
1/2 cup of salted butter
Kosher salt
white pepper
1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese (I used Kerrygold Aged Cheddar)
FILLING
Brown ground beef in a medium skillet, over medium heat. Strain beef from the fat and return the fat to the pan.
If needed, add enough olive oil to make one tablespoon of fat in the skillet and return to medium heat, Add onions and garlic to the pan and sautee them until they are translucent.
Add celery, carrots, parsnips and turnips and sauté until tender.
Add reserved ground beef, tomato paste, thyme, peas and stock to the skillet. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook filling until the liquids evaporate, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool.
TOPPING
Cover potatoes with cold water in a medium-size saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until tender.
Remove from heat, drain and return the potatoes to the pan. Add half-and-half and butter to warm potatoes. Using a potato masher gently mash potatoes until smooth and creamy.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cool potatoes for 20 minutes. Place one half of the potatoes in a large pastry bag fitted with a star or round piping tip
.
BASE
Remove the stems from the mushrooms and reserve for another purpose (see note).
Trim the edges of the mushroom caps to make more room for the filling. I did this by using a paring knife to just cut the ridge off the mushrooms. Be careful not to cut away too much of the edge so that you still have a cup-like shape that will hold the filling.
ASSEMBLY
Preheat oven to 350°.
Prepare a baking tray by spraying or brushing with olive oil.
Place mushroom caps on the baking tray and spray or lightly brush with olive oil. You are using a brush make sure you brush the bottoms of the mushrooms as well.
Fill mushroom cups with shepherds pie filling with a teaspoon, pressing the filling in gently, taking care not to break the mushroom. Filling should be level with the top edge of the mushroom. Do not overfill or mound the filling.
Pipe potatoes over the shepherds pie filling, in the mushrooms, starting from the outside, in circles, until you get to the center.
Sprinkle the top of each mushrooms with grated cheese (about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon). Press cheese gently so it sticks to the mashed potatoes.
Bake until the cheese is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Makes 20 - 24 stuffed mushrooms depending on the size of your mushrooms.
http://www.jackiegordon.com/index.php/blog/how_to_make_a_shepherds_pie_stuffed_mushrooms_--_live_cooking_demo_google_v/
