FFWD: Hachis Parmentier

Hachis Parmentier - For One.

So I missed last week's French Friday's with Dorie (FFWD). Long story short, it was hot, I didn't feel like making soup. I apologize. But now that the temperatures are below 90 degrees, I'm feeling a little more in the comfort food mode. This week's dish is Hachis Parmentier - the French equivalent of Shepherd's Pie. Leave it to the French to make something simple like Shepherd's pie sound like something gourmet. "Hachis" refers to a dish in which the ingredients are chopped or minced (my French language friends can correct me if I'm wrong). And indeed this meal consists of chopped meat and veggies. I should note that traditional hachis parmentier does not have vegetables, but I enjoyed the added flavors from the mirepoix. Look at me using fancy french terms (mirepoix means carrots, celery, and onion)!

Filling ingredients - ground (grass-fed) beef, chicken sausage, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, tomato paste.

This dish is rather simple and comes together fairly quickly. I ended up making this dish for one. Don't look at me with those sad eyes, it was actually rather fun enjoying this meal by myself with a glass of merlot. That's right I had a glass of wine - by myself. No, I don't think that makes me an alcoholic. I think it makes me rather French! But back to the Hachis Parmentier! It essentially entails sauteeing ground beef, vegetables, and some tomato paste and topping it with mashed potatoes and cheese. Does that sound delicious? That's because it is delicious.

Sauteeing the mirepoix and tomato paste with the ground beef.

Now, I'm not usually a huge beef person. I think this is actually the first time I've made red meat at home since I moved to California. Don't get me wrong, I love a good hamburger. I had a burger a couple of weeks ago. But in an attempt to decrease my carbon footprint (ya da ya da ya da) I don't usually cook meat at home. I found this dish easy to make, especially because I went for the ground beef instead of the cube steak. The cube steak may be super amazing, but I didn't use it.

The filling goes into a casserole dish.

Once, the filling is done you start on the mashed potatoes. I boiled one potato (as this dish was for one person). You make the mashed potato and add it on top of the filling. Then you add some grated gruyere on top and bake. The flavors were rather wonderful, I think the herb and garlic sausage I used was a great addition. The mashed potatoes are nice and creamy and work well with the ground beef filling. I recommend eating this with a glass of merlot. As Julia Child would say, a little sherry for the soup, a little sherry for me! Replace with merlot and repeat.

"A little sherry for the soup, a little sherry for me!" - Julia Child

Mashed potatoes.

Top with gruyere.

Golden out of the oven.

Enjoy!