Author: Veronica Mahara

Good Monday Morning All!

So winter has hit here in the Pacific Northwest. We were lulled into thinking we’d get by with just some rain but the snow has hit us hard in the past week and there is more on the way.

Growing up in Massachusetts my mom had some good winter comfort recipes. Here is the one I recently made:

I call it three layer casserole.

It’s a delicious combo of seasoned ground turkey, (she used ground beef) corn and mashed potatoes with just the right seasonings and spices. Simple.

You’ll need:

4 med. baking potatoes – washed then baked until soft inside -1-2 hours. Let cool slightly.

1 medium onion chopped

clove of garlic

1 pound ground turkey meat. I used ground turkey breast.

Tablespoon of oil – use whatever oil you like. The turkey is so lean you may even need a bit more.

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

One small bag of frozen corn or one can of corn drained. I use one bag of organic frozen corn. Set aside until layering.

Mix together: 1 teaspoon of salt,  1/2  teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon adobo dry spice.

I like to use more or less of the spices above- use your own taste meter.

Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent. Add ground turkey, breaking the turkey up as much as you can. I like small pieces.

Add spice mix and Worcestershire sauce to meat and combine thoroughly. Set aside and prepare potatoes.

Empty potato out of skins and mash adding  salt and pepper to taste along with  1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, 2 Tablespoons of milk, 2 Tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of water. The water sounds weird but since these are baked and not boiled they will be dryer. They taste richer than boiled and easier to prepare. You can also use more milk and butter- I was trying to make this waistband friendly. Just make sure they are nice and creamy.

In a greased baking dish spread corn on bottom-no need to cook before hand. Then spread the meat mixture and top with mashed potatoes. Dot the top with butter. Or if you want you can add sharp cheddar cheese to the top! Yum!! Then  sprinkle with a little dried parsley and  Bake!

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until the crust of the potato topping is nice and brown.

This will serve about six hardy portions or eight medium portions. We ate it for three nights in a row. It was so good! Comfort food for sure 🙂

Stay warm!  (and for all of you in Australia – stay cool!!)

Until next time,

Peace and Love,

Veronica