Ellen Marie Bennett and her #ApronSquad Family Meal

On this episode of Family Meal, I sat down with Ellen Marie Bennet, founder of Hedley and Bennett, an incredible work wear brand outfitting chefs in restaurants and kitchens around the world. But what Ellen created is much more than functional and quality aprons- it's a global community of like-minded makers, who are in fact making a difference. Ellen for example, completely pivoted her apron operations mid-March and their warehouses started to produce face masks. Their buy-one, give-one program has donate over 200,000 masks and counting!  We talked how Ellen started her business, taking leaps of faith, how to save veggies on the brink of heading out *hint it involves pickling*, and why taking action will never steer you in the wrong direction. 

Follow along @family_meal_podcast on Instagram or your host Natalie @irishfrecklegirl 

Shepherd’s Pie

FOR THE MASHED POTATOES

-Russet Potatoes

-1/2 and 1/2

-creme fraiche

-butter

salt

fresh cracked pepper!

FOR THE PIE FILLING

Grapeseed oil (or cooking oil)

Onions or Shallots

Carrots

Garlic

Ground Beef

Tomato Paste

Ketchup

Fresh rosemary + thyme (if available)

Cornstarch mixed in a Tablespoon of warm water 

Chicken or Bone Broth

Crumbled Parm

Optional Veggies: Peas, Corn, Celery, Mushrooms

First make the mashed potatoes-I don’t even peel them, boil with salted water, cut up and cook for 10-15 min. Combine a little 1/2 & 1/2, some butter, salt and pepper and mash. Then fold the creme fraiche in once butter is mixed in. 

While the oven is preheating to 400 degrees F, in a large cast iron skillet heat some oil and cook down your onions/shallots or a combination of both. Once those have become a bit translucent, add a generous amount of chopped carrots. Carrots make the pie sweet and delicious, so when in doubt add more. Once carrots are a bit soft, go heavy on the garlic and add some smashed cloves to the mix. Next, add ground beef and season with salt and pepper. When it's just about browned, add some tomato paste, about a teaspoon of ketchup, and the fresh chopped herbs if they are available. The trick here is to keep tasting the meat and veggie mixture and seasoning it to you taste! To thicken up the mixture pour in your cornstarch+water mixture. Next it's time to really make it stewy with chicken or bone broth- you want it to be stewy and juicy at this point because there's nothing worse than a dry Shepherd's Pie. At the point, add any extra veg (peas, mushrooms, celery etc.) and taste again. If it's not sweet enough, add some more ketchup, add a splash of wine (make it your own!). Crack a generous amount of black pepper! Now, take the mashed potatoes and frost the top of the pie (yes it's all still in the cast iron pan). Sprinkle potatoes with some crumbled parm if you desire and pop into the oven for 30 minutes, until it's bubbling nicely. To give the potatoes a little more color, broil for the last few minutes. Bottom line is- this isn't precious food at all, use what's available to you in your fridge and make sure there's enough liquid so it's not dry!