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A warming Autumn dish


Monday, November 7th, 2016

In Adamstown this week, Chef Audrey made one of the children’s favourite dinners: Shepherds pie. This hearty dish is featured as part of our Autumn menu this season and so far it’s going down a treat in the centres – There are never any left overs when our chefs prepare this warming dish!

We use either lamb or beef as they are an excellent source of iron which is a very important nutrient, especially for young children. Ideally, children should eat meat at least three to four times a week to ensure that they get enough iron for their growing bodies. The iron in red meat can also be absorbed by the body up to seven times more than iron from other sources and also it increases the amount of iron that is absorbed from any vegetables that accompany it.  This tasty Shepherds Pie includes both red meat and vegetables and makes a delicious, warming meal for all the family.

Audrey’s Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

  • 500 g lean Lamb or lean Beef Mince
    • Seasoning to taste ( Worcestershire sauce, thyme, sage, parsley, black pepper)
  • 4 large potatoes
  • 4 carrots
  • 1 large onion
  • Celery
  • 2 parsnip
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 250g peas ( fresh frozen peas work really well!)
  • 1 cup of Lamb or Beef Stock
  • a drop of Milk
  • a tablespoon of butter

Mealtimes are an important and fun social time for children and provide 
an opportunity to relax with their friends and catch up on the
day’s events. We encourage children to help out at the table, serve
 themselves at snack times and they love experimenting with real
 cutlery.

Steps:

  1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the potatoes (chopped into quarters)
  2. In another large pot, boil the mince until fully cooked.
  3. Slice and prepare the onion/garlic/carrot/celery/turnip and peas, and saute in a hot frying pan until tender.
  4. Drain the mince, add cooked vegetables, stock and a dash of seasoning. Reduce heat to simmer.
  5. Drain the potatoes, add a splash of milk and tablespoon of butter and mash until smooth.
  6. Pour the shepherds pie mixture into a large oven proof dish, and top with the fluffly mashed potatoes
  7. Bake for 20-25 mins at 180C, or until the topping is golden brown.

Our menu has been carefully curated with guidance from Cow & Gate and our kitchens use only the freshest meat and seasonable vegetables. In keeping with recent legislation,  we don’t add any salt, artificial flavourings or colouring and any potential allergens are carefully detailed in all of our menus. We’re happy to cater for vegetarian diets and any other dietary requirements your child may have.

Our centres have fresh fruit and vegetables delivered each week from Get Fresh and all of our fresh meat comes from Frank Doyle Butchers.


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