Shepherding NYC Culinary Trends
New York City is undoubtably the quintessential culinary hotspot. Sure London and Paris are cities with excellent gastronomic reputations, but in the United States, New York City seems to set the trend for the rest of the country - in large part due to Frank Bruni, I’m sure.
I have been noticing in my eating travels around the Island that chefs are turning basic comfort food dishes, like macaroni and cheese, into sophisticated main dishes. To illustrate, last weekend I had lunch at a new restaurant in my neighborhood called Artica. The restaurant is a bit of a melange between a Corkish pub and a James Bond Icelandic party. The restaurant is English/Irish and it’s menu is very pubish, but retro-pubish, not saw-dust pubish. Items on the menu included Bangers and Mash and Shepherd’s Pie - both considered traditional “poor man’s” meals in the UK. Bangers and Mash, for example, is a dish consisting of mashed potatoes and sausages. The reason why the dish was given the name bangers and mash was because during wartime rationing the sausages were filled with water to make them appear meatier.
Shepherd’s pie, similarly, is a traditional “left-over” dish. Shepherd’s pie was traditionally made with leftover meat and vegetables and served with a layer of mashed potatoes on top for substance. Shepherd’s pie is generally prepared with ground lamb, but a little research indicates that any ground meat can be used. The ground meat is sauteed with onions, carrots, peas and herbs. A layer of mashed potatoes is then added on top of this meat mixture and the pie is baked.
I chose the shepherd’s pie at Artica and found it to be a very simple, but sophisticated and artfully spicy dish. Last night, I tried to emulate what I remembered tasting at Artica because I had some leftover vegetables that I needed to use.
I made my shepherd’s pie with ground pork and ground beef. I sauteed the beef with chopped onions, carrots, celery and some peas. I flavored this meat mixture with salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme. I chose these spices arbitrarily, but a spice like paprika is often used in shepherd’s pie. I also added about a half of a cup of beef broth and thickened it with flour and butter. Once the mixture was done, I transferred it to a 9'’ pie pan. On top of my meat mixture I put a layer of garlicky mashed potatoes. In a 450° oven, I baked my shepherd’s pie for about 15 minutes. I wanted my mashed potatoes to become a bit crispy so I added a few chunks of butter to the top of the potatoes. Unfortunately, this just made a buttery top, not a crispy one. Maybe next time I’ll put the dish under the broiler...
Although this was a “poor man’s” supper and it didn’t break the bank, it certainly was excellent. It was a simple dish to make, but very sophisticated and a bit trendy if I do say so myself. By coupling my shepherd’s pie with a nice Chianti, I sort of felt as if I was following suit on a culinary trend in New York City.
Until next time...
I have been noticing in my eating travels around the Island that chefs are turning basic comfort food dishes, like macaroni and cheese, into sophisticated main dishes. To illustrate, last weekend I had lunch at a new restaurant in my neighborhood called Artica. The restaurant is a bit of a melange between a Corkish pub and a James Bond Icelandic party. The restaurant is English/Irish and it’s menu is very pubish, but retro-pubish, not saw-dust pubish. Items on the menu included Bangers and Mash and Shepherd’s Pie - both considered traditional “poor man’s” meals in the UK. Bangers and Mash, for example, is a dish consisting of mashed potatoes and sausages. The reason why the dish was given the name bangers and mash was because during wartime rationing the sausages were filled with water to make them appear meatier.
Shepherd’s pie, similarly, is a traditional “left-over” dish. Shepherd’s pie was traditionally made with leftover meat and vegetables and served with a layer of mashed potatoes on top for substance. Shepherd’s pie is generally prepared with ground lamb, but a little research indicates that any ground meat can be used. The ground meat is sauteed with onions, carrots, peas and herbs. A layer of mashed potatoes is then added on top of this meat mixture and the pie is baked.
I chose the shepherd’s pie at Artica and found it to be a very simple, but sophisticated and artfully spicy dish. Last night, I tried to emulate what I remembered tasting at Artica because I had some leftover vegetables that I needed to use.
I made my shepherd’s pie with ground pork and ground beef. I sauteed the beef with chopped onions, carrots, celery and some peas. I flavored this meat mixture with salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme. I chose these spices arbitrarily, but a spice like paprika is often used in shepherd’s pie. I also added about a half of a cup of beef broth and thickened it with flour and butter. Once the mixture was done, I transferred it to a 9'’ pie pan. On top of my meat mixture I put a layer of garlicky mashed potatoes. In a 450° oven, I baked my shepherd’s pie for about 15 minutes. I wanted my mashed potatoes to become a bit crispy so I added a few chunks of butter to the top of the potatoes. Unfortunately, this just made a buttery top, not a crispy one. Maybe next time I’ll put the dish under the broiler...
Although this was a “poor man’s” supper and it didn’t break the bank, it certainly was excellent. It was a simple dish to make, but very sophisticated and a bit trendy if I do say so myself. By coupling my shepherd’s pie with a nice Chianti, I sort of felt as if I was following suit on a culinary trend in New York City.
Until next time...
posted by Anonymous @ 11:19 PM
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