Shepherd's Pie

Ever since I got my food processor, which enabled me to make good cauliflower mash, I have been thinking of making a Shepherd's Pie.  Sunday night I made a quick and simple skillet meal of ground beef, vegetables, and seasonings.  Monday night I used the leftover ground beef concoction to form the base of my Shepherd's Pie. Then I steamed a head of cauliflower.  Cauliflower mash is simple to make if you have a food processor.  When I tried making it without a food processor, I was never happy with the results.  Just toss crisp-tender steamed cauliflower into the food processor along with ~2 tablespoons of butter, a splash of half and half, sea salt, and cracked black pepper.  Process to your desired consistency.  Spoon over the ground beef mixture and bake at 375 until heated through and starting to brown on top.

Note: One small head of cauliflower was enough for an 8x8 casserole.

Chicken Fingers

Oven Baked Pecan-Crusted Chicken Fingers

This recipe is from Emeril Lagasse with modifications to make it more paleo-friendly. I made these on Friday night for dinner. I think they are even better left over and eaten cold. Melvin likes them too.

Oven Baked Pecan-Crusted Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups pecan pieces
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Emeril's Essence, available in the spice section.  It contains paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme.   Or you could season to your own taste.
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into strips 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the pecan pieces and 1 tablespoon Essence (reserve 2 tsp for egg mixture).  Pulse for 1 minute to combine. Pour into a shallow dish. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, olive oil and remaining 2 teaspoons of Essence. One at a time, dip the chicken into the egg mixture then dredge in the pecan mixture, shaking to remove any excess. Transfer to the baking sheet and bake, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through and the crust is golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

You can make a sauce for dipping if you like. I like them without a sauce.  Emeril's recipe included instructions for making a Honey Mustard Sauce, but I passed on that.