Mashed Potatoes - 3 ways

 On Sunday I made 3 versions of mashed potatoes.  First, the vegan version - potatoes, vegetable stock, oyster mushrooms and kale.  They turned out well - the vegetable stock I think is a better option than soy milk because it doesn't impart much flavor to the potatoes.  Yukon gold potatoes are creamy enough on their own.  

Next is the kids version - Broccoli Cheddar Mashed Potatoes.

These potatoes had butter and milk, broccoli and cheddar cheese.  They were requested by the picky 6 year old neighbor who loves them.  I haven't had any complaints.

Last the Colcannon Potatoes.  These are the inspiration for the whole mashed potato event.  These have butter, milk and sauteed kale.  They were my least favorite as the flavor was sharp.  True Colcannon potatoes are served with a tablespoon of butter on top.  More butter would have helped a lot but I couldn't quite bring my self to use enough.  My favorite were the broccoli cheddar, they will be on the menu again, as will the vegan version.

Veggie Version

The veggie version of Shepard's Pie that I made for book club was a hit.  I used eggplant and oyster mushrooms in place of the lamb.  I also put a layer of kale under the mashed potatoes.  Everyone love it.  For the vegan version we used soy milk and vegan butter substitute.  Reviews were good but I would have preferred vegetable stock to the soy milk to bring out the potato flavor.   

We awoke on Saturday to a total collapse of the sink.  No cooking here for a while!

Shepard's Pie!   After spending last week trying again to perfect Thai food, with moderate success.  This week I spotted a pound of frozen ground lamb and whipped up a Shepard's Pie.  It's so much nicer to work with flavors I'm comfortable with and to not need a cook book.  Of course none of the kids liked it, not even the adventurous pre-teen.  I sauteed onions, carrots, celery, zucchini and oyster mushrooms and the lamb.  I used red wine, tomato sauce and some Penzey's Krakow nights seasoning, which was a gift from a neighbor.  It is a nice blend of salt, pepper, mustard and other things that worked well.  I used some flour to thicken it and topped it with mashed potatoes.   Helen & I loved it - I think it will make the menu for book club on Friday with a veggie version.  I may even make a little vegan one with rice milk or something in the potatoes, if I'm feeling nice.

Collecting a group of recipes which can be made in versions for humans and vegans is both easy and challenging for me.  This one is pretty simple, just don't add the lamb to part of it.  However, then the mashed potatoes get in the way.  I hate soy, so probably will add vegetable broth & rice milk.  I hope it turns out ok.  Other good human/vegan menus are chicken & eggplant Parmesan, paella and veggie pasta with chicken or shrimp.  Also tacos of course!