Another good one from Ms. Ray

Smoky Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats Copyright 2005

3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons EVOO - extra-virgin olive oil - 2 turns of the pan
1/4 pound smoky bacon or turkey bacon, chopped I used applewood smoked bacon
1 1/3 pound ground turkey breast I only used a pound
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
(You may substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each sweet paprika and cumin combined)
Coarse black pepper
2 tablespoons, 5 or 6 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves I used a small bit of dried thyme
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups frozen peas that's a lot of peas!
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour I used a little more
2 cups chicken broth I used sodium-free bouillon
1 cup sour cream, divided I used lite sour cream
3 tablespoons butter I used less
1 large egg, beaten
10 to 12 blades fresh chives, chopped or snipped I didn't use these

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. Add EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, to the skillet. Add bacon and brown it up, then add ground turkey to the pan and break it up. Season the turkey with smoked paprika, salt and peppe,r and thyme. When turkey browns up, add: onions, carrots, celery. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then add red pepper 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.
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This is supposed to be a 30-minute recipe but it took me much longer. The veggies only cook during the sauté and simmer and even though I chopped mine finely, I still had to cook them longer than called for to get them tender. They were still on the crisp side in the end.

I used a large baking dish so the filling was spread out rather thinly (which made for easier reheating - I made this ahead of time and reheated it in the oven). I had trouble with my potatoes almost sinking into the filling (maybe because I only used a pound of turkey). Since I made this ahead of time I should have let it cool and firm up a bit before topping it with the potatoes.

Making this was a bit of an ordeal - peeling potatoes, chopping bacon, chopping veggies, making two components, the sinking potatoes. It was a bit more work that I thought it would be, same as another Rachael Ray recipe, the Bourbon Orange Skillet BBQ Chicken with Cornbread Topper . However, just like that other recipe, all was redeemed in the end because this was really good. Shepherd's pie (cottage pie or whatever you call it) can be bland but the smokiness in this was great. I used applewood smoked bacon which added to the smokiness, I think. It was the first time I used it - I didn't even realize that was what I bought - and it seemed smokier.

There were a lot of peas. I like peas but I still thought they were a bit overpowering (although very pretty). I know this isn't exactly a light recipe but it does have a lot of vegetables and I lightened it up where I could. I removed as much bacon fat as I could, I used lite sour cream, I used sodium free bouillon, I cut back on the butter.

I've been put off by RR's long ingredient lists and the formatting of this cookbook in particular. There will be a recipe written out in full and the next recipe will just tell you what to ADD to, OMIT from, or SWAP in the original recipe to make it into something else. I don't care for that. Maybe it's my ADD but I prefer to see all of the recipes written out in full.

I will say that her recipes always sound delicious and so far, they've always turned out delicious so I will probably make a greater effort to try more of them from now on.

Question of the Day: Do you like peas?