Comfort Food

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Shepherd's Pie in Lakeview

Comfort food is one of my favorite things to cook. Mac and cheese. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Chicken soup. All of these meals give me that warm, happy feeling; all of these meals also usually leave me stuffed.

This week, we decided to get back into the swing of cooking game. Later this week, we're having venison chops and venison burgers. Last night, though, we had shepherd's pie with venison. The meal was inspired by our friend Juliet's blog. I've been craving that meal ever since.

We made our shepherd pie with ground venison instead of beef, and more peas than the recipe called for. The mashed potato topping was also loaded with cheddar cheese. I thought it turned out well, but if I were to make it again, I think I'd thicken up the gravy (ours was a little loose), and I might broil it for a few minutes to get a better, more golden crust on top.

Fish Tacos, and Mac and Cheese

This past weekend was not good. Horrible, in fact. Katey and I were in a car accident while driving to Rapid City. We hit an icy patch outside of Wall, SD, and spun around, crashing into a rock-hard snow bank before flipping over. We were so lucky not to be injured. The car, however, didn't fare so well. Katey's beloved C-RV was totaled.

So what do you do after a traumatic event of that magnitude? You eat comfort food. That meant Belgian waffles for breakfast, a burger with onion rings and fried pickle spears on it, fish and chips for dinner. Ah, the joys of eating out in a city.

When we got home, I made a big batch of mac and cheese from scratch. It had a custardy filling, not as cheesy as I like it, but still good. Tonight, we had fish tacos. Flounder fillets seasoned with Old Bay, baked with broccoli. Fresh salsa from the Bullet, and corn tortillas softened in a skillet. Topped with shredded lettuce and sour cream--yum!

No idea what to make tomorrow--we might be in Sioux Falls picking up our new car!

Fish

I've always liked fish. It's good for you, it (usually) tastes good, and it's quick to cook. Living in South Dakota, it's tough to get good fresh fish unless you catch it yourself. Seeing as I have no ice fishing equipment, that's not likely to happen right now. Usually, we buy our fish frozen from Sam's Club. On our last trip to Rapid, we picked up a bag of tilapia, and a bag of flounder. I would have loved to get some salmon, but it has really increased in price lately. Oh well, maybe next time.

This week, we've had fish three times. On Monday, it was baked tilapia with lemon, dill, and garlic. Tuesday, we had a spicy flounder, sauteed with spinach and garlic. Last night, parmesan crusted tilapia baked in the oven, and roasted broccoli (roasted broccoli is one of our favorite sides). Katey's favorite was the flounder.

While I'm glad we're eating more fish (again, it's healthy, tastes good, and quick), I tend to get into culinary ruts. I think next week, we'll limit the consumption of any one type of protein to twice a week. And that should go for our sides, too. We probably need to diversify our vegetable intake, although that is admittedly harder to do in the winter.

One little note. I said at the beginning of this post that I've always loved fish. That isn't really true. When I was little, maybe five years old, I went fishing with my dad at Portage Point Inn in Michigan, near Lake Michigan. I managed to catch a sunfish using canned corn kernels as bait. The hotel had a deal where they would clean and cook your fish for you.

When they brought that fish out to me, I started balling. My dad enjoyed that particular fish. I think it took me a little while to accept that our food was, at one point, alive. I'm glad I still have that respect for the animals I eat now that I hunt them myself. I think I'll enjoy tonight's venison meatballs that much more.