IMPOSSIBLE Shepard’s Pie with Puff Pastry Lattice - Chef's Roll Challenge

Make it POSSIBLE with IMPOSSIBLE Burger - Chef's Roll Challenge

Shepard’s Pie with Puff Pastry Lattice

“Chef's Roll teamed up with Impossible Foods to give its members an opportunity to be [a part of] cutting-edge culinary progress. [One hundred] chefs were shipped Impossible Food’s groundbreaking plant-based meat in order to show off its limitless possibilities.”

I was lucky enough to be one of the one-hundred chefs chosen to try out the Impossible Burger. I made a delicious Shepard’s Pie with Puff Pastry Lattice, which unfortunately wasn't chosen as a winner.

As a competitive food sport enthusiast, it's easy to second guess everything when your dish isn't a winner. I begin to wonder “did I style the recipe well enough,” or “did I showcase the sponsors product clearly?” I always ask myself, "what could I have done differently to have my recipe chosen as a finalist or winner of this challenge?" This recipe was no different, and I honestly don’t think I showcased the product well enough this time. Regardless I'm happy that even though my recipe wasn’t picked, I had the honor of testing this crazy-good product. It actually looks and tastes like “real” beef.

Making a Better Burger
A core part of our mission is to make delicious meat sustainably — bypassing animals and making it directly from plants. We’ve spent more than six years studying animal meat at the molecular level to discover how it “works”–-how it handles and cooks, and especially how it produces the flavors and textures people love.
Our first product, the Impossible Burger, uses 75% less water, generates 87% less greenhouse gases, requires 95% less land and 100% fewer cows. It delivers the same protein and iron as a burger made from a cow — but its protein comes entirely from plants, and it’s produced without the use of hormones or antibiotics, does not create a reservoir for dangerous pathogens, and contains no cholesterol or slaughterhouse contaminants. If everyone who eats beef burgers today chose Impossible Burgers instead, the positive impact on our planet and global health would be profound.
But some people have asked us if the Impossible Burger is too similar to a burger from cows. They wonder whether people who regularly eat our burger might experience the same long-term health risks associated with a diet rich in red meat from mammals.
We are confident the answer is no. And here’s why...Click HERE for the rest of the article

I opened my package of Impossible Burger and gave it a thorough inspection. I was skeptical about its "meat like" appearance. The product smelled less like beef and more like plants; which is expected since its 100% plant-based product. I wondered how a carnivore like me could stomach cooking the stuff, and what I found surprised me.

At first touch I was skeptical of the texture of Impossible Burger, but then I thought to myself: raw meat is really no different than this stuff." It's funny how our minds trick us when we are trying something new.

Since this was my first time using the Impossible Heme Plant-Based Burger, I wanted to make an everyday meal to see how closely the product mimics real burger. I decided on one of my family’s favorites meals - Shepard’s Pie with Puff Pastry Lattice. It's very rare for this carnivore to find a meat substitute that's worth eating, but after tasting the product that changed. I was blown away by the consistency and flavor of the Impossible Burger; not to mention the beautiful caramelization during the browning process. My mind was blown by the authentic flavor of the Impossible Burger.