Venison Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie has become my default recipe for getting rid of meat and produce mustgoes. I prefer to cook with steaks and roasts, but all our meat tends to be gotten in bulk - as in whole or half pigs and cows, processed then thrown into a corner of my mom's freezer for the upcoming zombie apocalypse. We love getting meat from the Amish (or from our own hunting prowess), but it means that we have to finish off every cut of meat possible before getting more. I tend to end up with a lot of hamburger and, since R and I both got bucks last year, a lot of venison steaks.

With rifle season just a month away, I've been trying to clear some of the venison from our freezer. I've also been taking advantage of the last few weeks of in-season fresh produce from the farmer's market, so I routinely have a fridge full of random veggies.

Shepherd's Pie can really be made with just about any combination of ground meat and diced veggies; beef tends to go well with green beans, sweet corn and stewed tomatoes, but venison usually requires veggies with more potent flavor to offset the gameiness. Even the best cuts of venison are always a little gamey, which is why shepherd's pie is perfect for venison - it mixes a lot of flavors and textures, which takes care of the the wild-creature-of-the-forest taste.

On this occasion, I had a lot of fresh sweet carrots, fingerling eggplant , heirloom tomatoes and onions. I also had some purple potatoes I'd been saving, and a pile of fresh basil from my herb box.

Dishes like this require a LOT of chopping and dicing, and if I were Julia Child, I wouldn't mind. But since I'm not, and since my mommy has furnished my kitchen with matching pink Kitchen Aid appliances, I shaved off about an hour of prep time with my food processor.

Here's the recipe:

filling:

2 lbs venison steaks or ground venison

1 large sweet onion

5 medium sized sweet carrots, or 10 small

large handful fresh green beans or string beans

3 fingerling eggplant, or 2 small eggplant

1 tsp paprika

3 Tblsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp ginger

dash cinnamon

2 Tblsp fresh chopped basil

2 Tblsp flour

topping:

1 large heirloom tomato, or 2 medium

~8-10 medium purple or German butterball potatoes

3 Tblsp butter

1 Tblsp kosher salt

3 Tblsp cream

2 cups shredded mozzarella

First of all, chop the potatoes into small cubes and throw them in a pot on the stove with salt to boil. Since I usually cook with small, sweet organic potatoes, I never peel them; the skin is good for you, adds texture and it cuts down on prep time. If you're substituting with large russets, you'll probably want to peel them. Keep an eye on the potatoes and boil them until they're tender while you're working on the rest. When they're done, drain them and set them aside covered.

If you're using venison steaks, chop them finely (or put them in the food processor for a few pulses). Finely chop or food process all the veggies for the filling. If you're food processing, be sure to do the veggies one at a time in small batches to get a uniform consistency. Sift the spices all together, then add and stir into the veggie/venison mixture.

Set this mixture aside and prepare the mashed potatoes. Put the boiled, drained potatoes in a mixer or mixing bowl and mash on low with the salt, butter and cream until smooth. Press the veggie/venison mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish, then spread the mashed potatoes evenly over top.

Slice the tomatoes into large, medium thickness slices and place evenly spaced over the mashed potatoes.

Then sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese.

Cover in tinfoil and bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes, or until bubbling and browned. Take the foil off for the last 10 minutes of cooking.