Secret ingredient, a can of cream of chicken.

Bison Shepherd's Pie

2014-06-21 15:19:02

Serves 8

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Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

1 hr 5 min

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

1 hr 5 min

Filling

1. 1 lb ground bison
2. 1 medium carrot diced
3. 1 small onion diced
4. 1/2 cup of frozen peas
5. 1 tbsp butter
6. 1 tbsp olive oil
7. 1 tsp dried thyme
8. 3 cloves of garlic
9. 4 tsp tomato paste
10. 1 can of cream of chicken
11. salt and pepper

Potato Topping

1. 4 medium potatoes
2. 1 green onion
3. 2 cloves of garlic
4. 2 tbsp butter
5. 1/3 cup of milk
6. 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
7. salt and pepper

Filling

1. Dice the vegetables, add salt and pepper to the ground bison and mix.
2. Heat up pan with half the butter and brown the bison until cooked then set aside. At this point you can drain the meat, I didn't because our bison was very lean.
3. With the remaining butter and olive oil, cook the carrots and onions for about 10 minutes. Add in the thyme and garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add the cooked ground bison back into the pan along with the can of cream of chicken. At this point the filling will be very thick, add in up to 1/2 can of water as needed.
5. Stir in the tomato paste and frozen peas.
6. Pour the filling into your baking pan and set aside.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Potato Topping

1. Cut the potatoes into smaller cubes or slices and boil until soft.
2. Start mashing and add in the chopped garlic, parmesan cheese, butter and milk as you continue to mash. Once the potatoes are creamy, stir in the green onions.
3. Gently place scoops of the mashed potatoes onto the filling and spread into an even layer.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.

Adapted from Slice of Feist

Adapted from Slice of Feist

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Step by Step Photos – Filling

Assemble the ingredients

Dice carrots

Dice onions

Mix the salt and pepper into the ground bison

Brown the bison with 1/2 the butter and set aside

With the rest of the butter and olive oil, cook the carrots and onions until translucent, add the bison back in, stir in the rest of your filling ingredients and add water as needed

Pour filling into a baking pan and set aside

Assemble the potato topping ingredients

Cut the potatoes into smaller pieces

Chop the garlic and green onions

Once the potatoes are soft, begin to mash

Add garlic, grated parmesan and green onions to the potatoes and continue to mash

Add in milk and mash until creamy

Gently scoop the potatoes onto the filling and spread

Cover the entire surface with an even layer of potatoes

Bake in oven at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes

Keriwa Cafe had been on my list of restaurants to try for over a year now, however when they switched from a la carte to a tasting  menu format in October, the price range was a little high for a non special occasion dinner. So when I heard that they were switching back to a la carte options, I made a reservation with the first excuse I had.

Atmosphere: The interior of the restaurant was very spacious, there is a lot of wood texture and the space is well-lit. I liked the large pieces of art on the wall, with an industrial feel using metal and dark colours. Much of the serving ware was also natural wooden pieces and clay pottery.

Service:I had originally made a reservation for 2 at 6:30. It had begun to snow pretty heavily that evening and both my friend and I were running late. I called Keriwa at 6:00 to advise them of this and they said, not a problem, but to be aware that our table was to be re-seated at 8:00. That was fine and we made it through the door at 7:00 sharp. I have no issue with our table having to be re-seated, and the hostess did let us know that when 8:00 came around, we had the option to move to the bar but that we could “figure it out when the time came”. She advised us to order only one course because of our limited time. We were a little disappointed there but it was understandable.

Coincidentally, the table next to us were 2 friends that we knew. We were able to push our tables together and try a lot more dishes, however we were again reminded that we had to leave at 8:00, and that the tables would be billed separately, again totally understandable. Except, 8:00 came and went, people came, were seated and no one needed our table, yet we were still rushed with the bill, we weren’t even offered the dessert menu but waited long enough to pay that our friends’ dessert order arrived. Our server rarely checked in on us and didn’t refill wine or water glasses. All in all, I felt like I had to scarf down my food unnecessarily, and then when it came time to pay, we sat and waited, when we could’ve been enjoying our own apply crumble. The servers seemed spread thin and the service wasn’t all that I expected.

Food: My table ordered the Duck Confit Dumplings, Pork Confit Belly (served on rye flat bread) and Bison Jowl. In addition we were able to sample from our friend’s table, the Smoked Trout, Brussel Sprouts, Whitefish, Smoked Hen and the Apple Crumble for dessert.

The stand out dishes for me were the dumplings, bison jowl, brussel sprouts and apple crumble. The broth the dumplings came in was very flavourful and the dumpling wrap was thin and chewy. The presentation of the bison jowl was unexpected, it came almost like a giant ravioli and was very creamy. The white cream sauce on this dish was amazing, we were ready to lick it off the plate, it was so creamy and buttery. This was my first time having brussel sprouts, and if they always taste like this I’ll need to have it more often. The sprouts were crunchy, fully cooked and buttery (that’s probably what made it), with candied walnuts and pear.

All of the dishes we had were great and the bottle of rose went well with everything. I loved the apple crumble dessert with toasted marshmallow topping and buried berries. The balance of sweet and sour was perfect.

I definitely need a re-visit, one that will allow me to savour and enjoy the meal at a more even pace.