Woznation

This meal was actually the motivation behind cataloging my recipes.   Its one of our favorites and Phil decided he wanted to make it for his family when he was back in Bloomington a few years ago and asked me how.  And I had NO CLUE what to tell him. ‘Ummm…some carrots, celery, peas.  Then some chicken stock?  Top with mashed potatoes and cheese, then bake it for awhile’.  If you can imagine, it did not turn out well.  And I decided I should start writing down my recipes.  Welllll, finally 2 years later, I am getting around to it.

Now, there are a million different variations of this meal.  I do not think I have made it the same was twice.  We use to eat this with a pound of ground turkey in the mix, but have slowly scaled back the meat over the years and we now eat this without any meat at all.  (However, its still not technically vegetarian since I use chicken stock and worcestershire sauce.  But feel free to use vegetable stock and omit the sauce if you want to go vegetarian.  And just leave off the cheese to make it completely vegan!)  The peas and cheese add quite a bit of protein, but feel free to use some chicken or ground turkey to add a little more heft to it, if you please.

Now, I’ll warn you – this recipe is a bit demanding.  You are going to chop, peel, shred and mix.  It takes about 35-40 mins of work, then you bake for 20-25 mins.  So this probably isnt a quick meal you whip up when you get home after a long day.  But it is delicious and a quintessential comfort meal if you have the time.

Here is what I used:

 

And 4 things I forgot in the first photo:

So I first get started on my potatoes.  I use 2 large baking potatoes -peel and chop them in large chunks

These large chunks filled about 4 cup fulls.  Then I toss them in some water on the stove top and turn up to high heat.  I also ‘half-cover’ them.  This helps keep in some heat, but wont cause your pot to bubble/foam over when the potatoes really get cooking.

 

Then I get started on the vegetables.  I diced up half a large onion (~1 cup), 3-4 carrots (~1.25 cups), and 3-4 celery stalks (~1 cup).

Then toss those all in a large skillet to saute over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.  (Fun fact:  any time you use the combination of these 3 vegetables its known as a ‘mirepoix’).  Add a little salt and pepper.  Im using store bought stock this time, so I was careful on my salt.

 

While the potatoes and mirepoix are cooking, I shredded up about 4oz of block cheese.  This yielded about 1 cup of shredded cheese to be used as a topping later.  freshly shredded cheese does not add any advantage in this meal, if I had preshredded cheese in my fridge, I would have happily used it in this case.)

 

After the veggies have softened up, add 3- 4 cloves of minced garlic (~3 tablespoons) and cook a minute longer.  Then you are going to add about 2 tablespoons of flour.  This is going to mix with the olive oil from your saute and create a roux.  It will temporarily put a film on your veggies, but thats okay for now. It will mix in with the stock soon enough.

 

Cook for about 3 minutes, until the flour has mixed in well with all the left over oil.  Then add in 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce.

 

See how creamy the mixture looks.  Thats the roux at work.  It thickens up the chicken stock so it not as watery.  Dont forget the worcestershire:

 

Now bring the mixture up to boil, then cover and knock the heat down to a low simmer for 15-20 minutes.

 

Now back to the potatoes.  They should be about ready now, so go ahead and drain them and then put them back in the same pot.

 

Totally missed the action shot on that one.  [C’mon motorola – whoever programed this droid x camera ap only used a 1/1000 of a second shudder speed.  Its not a polaroid.  I know some other camera phones that ‘just work’.]

 

Anywho.  To the potatoes, add 1/2 cups of milk, 1.5 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of onion powder, 1/2 tsp of salt and a pinch of pepper.  Then mix all together until creamy.  Side note – you can use any mashed potato recipe you want, but make sure its a pretty thick mix.  It needs to stand on top of the veggies and not melt in.

 

 

Woo.  Finally got that action shot.  Your potatoes are ready to go.  Once your veggies have simmered and cooked together for 15 – 20 minutes, uncover and add 1/2 cup frozen corn and 1/2 cup of frozen peas.

 

Stir together and put into 8×8 baking dish.

Then add the potatoes on top.  I put big globs of potatoes down, then carefully spread them out in a single layer.

 

Then top with cheeeeeeese:

 

Bake at 350 for 20 – 25 minutes and it will be a hot mess (in a good way).  Voila:

 

As you can see, its a pretty soupy mixture.  This is how we like it.  But if youd like it thicker, add less chicken stock or more ‘filling’ for the bottom layer.  Enjoy!

 

Here is any easy copy/paste version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 large baking potatoes (~4 cups of large chunks)

.5 cups of milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp of onion powder

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

1.5 tablespoons of butter

1 cup onion

1.25 cup of carrot

1 cup celery

3 tablespoons garlic

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon worcestershire

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

 

For mashed potatoes:  Peel and chop 2 large baking potatoes and add to water on stove top.  Boil for 15 – 20 minutes until tender. Drain and put back into pot.  Add 1/2 cup of milk, 1.5 tablespoons butter, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of onion powder, 1/2 tsp of salt and a dash of pepper.  Beat with mixer until creamy.  Set aside.

 

For filling:  dice 1 cup onion, 1.25 cups of carrot, and 1 cup celery.  Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium heat.  add salt and pepper to taste.  Add 3 tablespoons of minced garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.  Add 2 tablespoons of flour, cook 2-3 minutes until well combine.  Add 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce.  Bring to boil, then cover and drop to a low simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.  Uncover and add 1/2 cup of frozen corn and 1/2 cup of frozen peas.  Mix together.

 

Add filling to bottom of 8×8 baking dish.  Top with mashed potatoes and spread out to a single layer.  Top with cheese and bake, uncovered, for 20 – 25 minutes at 350 degrees.