Subtle House's Cookbook

Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes (russet are best but any will do), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided into 4 and 2
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped fine
1 ½ pounds 93 percent lean ground beef, ground lamb, or ground turkey
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
¼ cup glutinous rice flour
1.5 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup frozen peas

Equipment

10-inch cast iron skillet with lid
Large saucepan
Oven
Stove (two burners)
Measuring cups and spoons
Small bowls

Instructions

0) If you don't have a broiler or torch, preheat the oven to 350F.

1) Mise en place. Gather your ingredients and tools. Peel the potatoes and roughly chop them into one-inch pieces. Put them in the saucepan, cover with water, and bring to simmer. (They'll cook for 8–10 minutes while you do other things.) Chop onions and carrots and sprinkle ½ tsp salt over them. Measure out other ingredients. (The Worcestershire, broth, and thyme can all go in one two-cup pitcher together.)

2) Cook the meat and veg. In the cast-iron skillet on the stove, over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter. Cook the onion and carrots until softened, about 5 minutes. Make a space in the middle, put in the tomato paste and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the meat, using a wooden spoon to break up chunks, and cook until just browned.

3) Make the mash. At some point while the meat and veg are cooking, the potatoes will be done. Drain them, return them to the saucepan, and mash them thoroughly with the milk and the remaining 4 Tbsp butter butter. They should be very smooth. Leave the mashed potatoes in the pot for now.

4) Finish the filling. Now the meat and veg should be done. Sprinkle the flour over everything, stir in, and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stir in broth, Worcestershire, and thyme. Scrape up browned bits and smooth out any lumps. Increase heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the gravy has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the peas.

5) Top the pie. If you feel fancy, put the mashed potatoes in a pancake batter dispenser, pastry bag, or corner-snipped Ziploc bag and pipe them over the filling, covering it completely. Otherwise, dollop the potatoes over the pie. Smooth them out with a silicone spatula. Draw lines with a fork to make lots of little sticking-up potato bits that will get brown and crispy.

6) Brown the pie.

If baking in an oven: Place in rimmed baking sheet to catch any spills. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until top has browned.

If broiling or torching: Carefully broil or torch the top of the pie until it's evenly browned.

7) Serve and store. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. Portion out and eat immediately. Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to five days and can be reheated in the microwave.

Sources:
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/9886-cast-iron-shepherds-pie
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/5476-skillet-shepherds-pie

Note: To make challah, add 2–3 Tbsp honey.

Note: If shaping challah into a round loaf, line a springform pan with parchment paper and heat oven to 170F. After dough has risen 30 minutes, stir it with a spoon and spoon it into the pan, smoothing the top in a spiral pattern. Turn the oven off and let the dough rise in the warm oven another 30 minutes. Remove the pan and heat the oven to 350F. While it's heating, whisk an egg and very delicately use a silicone pastry brush to brush the top of the loaf with egg. Once oven is hot, bake 35 minutes or to an internal temperature of 200–210F.

Ingredients

2 oz (by weight) Earth Balance, or 0.25 cup (by volume) canola oil or olive oil
3 eggs
1.75 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 box KAF GF bread mix
1 tsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)

Equipment

Bowl
Pyrex pitcher
Fork or whisk
Microwave
Scale (if using Earth Balance) or measuring cup (if using oil)
Measuring spoons
Zojirushi bread machine, preprogrammed
Spatula
Wire rack
Oven mitts

Instructions

0) Mise en place. Gather your ingredients and tools. Make sure the mixing paddles are correctly seated in the bread machine pan, long side down. Measure out the oil or Earth Balance. Fill the bowl with very warm water, put the eggs in the bowl, and let sit five minutes. Pour the soy milk into the pitcher; if using Earth Balance, add it to the pitcher. Microwave at 70% power for 1.5 minutes or until the Earth Balance is melted and the liquid is body temperature. Remove the yeast packet from the mix box, and open the mix packet. Mix the baking powder into the mix (it doesn't have to be well incorporated).

1) Layer ingredients. Remove the loaf pan from the bread machine. Pour the soy milk into the pan. If using oil, pour that in too. Crack the eggs into the measuring pitcher, whisk briefly, and pour them in. Gently shake in the bread mix in an even layer, completely covering the wet ingredients. Make a little dent in the center of the mix and pour in the yeast. Put the pan back into the machine.

2) Bake. Plug the machine in and press the HOME MADE button until the screen displays MEMORY 1 with a baking cycle length of 3 hours. Press START. The machine will preheat for 15 minutes and knead for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the end of the kneading cycle, it will beep to remind you to add any add-ins; if you don't have any, lift the lid until it beeps once, then close the lid. After the kneading cycle is complete, it will beep to encourage you to shape the loaf. Use a silicone spatula to stir in any unincorporated flour and smooth the top of the dough. Close the lid and press START. The machine will let the dough rise for 65 minutes and bake for 70 minutes.

3) Serve and store. Carefully remove the pan and gently shake the bread out onto a wire rack. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in a sealed plastic bag at room temp, slicing as needed, for up to three days; or freeze individual slices.

Source:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/mixes/gluten-free-bread-mix.html

Note: To make a crustless pumpkin pie, begin with step 3, grease the pie plate well with coconut oil or margarine, and add 0.25 c GF all-purpose flour to the spiced sugar mixture.

Note: If using a Pyrex pie plate, reduce all oven temperatures given in this recipe by 25 degrees.

Note: If you don't feel like mixing white and dark brown sugar, use 0.67 c of light brown sugar instead.

Ingredients

Crust
2 c almond flour/meal
0.25 tsp salt
1 + 1 egg
2 Tbsp coconut oil

Filling
0.33 c white sugar
0.33 c dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
0.5 tsp ginger
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp nutmeg
0.25 tsp cloves
2 eggs
1.25 c almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz organic pumpkin (boxed, NOT tinned) or homemade roasted pumpkin

Equipment
Oven (NOT toaster oven)
Food processor (optional)
Stand mixer with whisk attachment (optional)
Rolling pin (optional)
Wax paper (optional)
9.5" pie plate
Measuring cups and spoons
Mixing bowl
Fork or whisk
Crust protector (optional)
Baking sheet
Aluminum foil

Instructions

0) Mise en place. Gather your ingredients and tools. Measure out the coconut oil and almond meal for the dough and put them in the freezer for a few minutes to chill; the coconut oil should be opaque, firm, and cold but not frozen.

1) Make the crust.
Food processor method: Put the almond meal and salt in the food processor and whir briefly to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk 1 egg. Pour the egg into the food processor and pulse until mixed. Break the chilled coconut oil into pieces with a knife, add to processor, and pulse until the dough forms a ball with little specks of coconut oil throughout. If it stays crumbly, add the second egg.
Hand method: Whisk together the almond meal and salt. Whisk 1 egg and add it. Break the chilled coconut oil into pieces with a knife, add it to the almond meal, toss it a bit to coat the pieces of oil with flour, and then cut in the oil until you have a ball of dough with little specks of coconut oil throughout. If it stays crumbly, add the second egg.

Form the dough into a disc.

Optional: wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate (for up to 24 hours) or freeze it. Thaw frozen dough in the fridge overnight. Let refrigerated or thawed dough sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before using.

2) Pre-bake the pie crust. Preheat the oven to 350F. Do not grease the pie plate. Place the disc of dough into the pie plate and use your fingers to press it out until it evenly covers the plate; or place it on a piece of wax paper, put another piece of wax paper over it, roll it out into a circle 12" across (about the width of the wax paper), and carefully transfer it to the pie plate. Use dough scraps from around the edge to patch up any breaks in the dough. Neaten the edge of the pie. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and put it on the middle rack of the oven. Place the pie crust on top of it. Bake 15 minutes, then remove crust from oven.

3) Make the pie. Set the oven to 450F for a pie with a crust or 350F for a crustless pie. Mix the sugars with a fork or by hand, breaking up any clumps. Add the spices and mix well, again breaking up any clumps. By hand or in the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together eggs and milk until frothy. Then mix in vanilla extract, spiced sugars, and pumpkin. The filling will be very liquid; this is fine. Pour the filling into the pie plate.

4) Bake. For a pie with a crust, bake 15 minutes at 450F, then reduce heat to 350F; for a crustless pie, bake at 350F throughout. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. If the crust starts to darken before the filling has cooked, cover it with a crust protector or aluminum foil.

5) Serve and store. Let the pie cool and set for 5 minutes before serving. It will keep for about a week in the fridge and is very good cold. Do not freeze. Microwave heating is doable but not really recommended.

Sources:
http://elanaspantry.com/paleo-pie-crust/ (including comments)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/killer-pumpkin-pie/
http://silk.com/recipes/pumpkin-spice-pie
http://whatscookingamerica.net/piecrsthint.htm
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/pie-tips.html
http://www.thekitchn.com/two-ways-to-transfer-pie-dough-65895