Calling All Sheep!

Lately, I have been craving comfort food.  Never mind that temperatures are astronomical here in Texas.  I want down home, hot, filling.  It's the weirdest thing.

Despite my love of meat and potatoes, I never had Shepherd's Pie until I went to Ireland in 2009.  (I mean, if you're gonna do it, go all out, right?)  Oh, it was such a revelation.  Meat and vegetables in a thick gravy smothered in mashed potatoes.  Um, yes.  YES, PLEASE!!  I don't know if traditional versions of this dish were actually cooked in pie shells (Can you imagine adding a flaky crust to this?!?  Drool!!!) but the “pie” I had in Ireland was more like a casserole.  That particular serving came in its own single serving ceramic baking dish.  The mashed potatoes were crispy on the top but creamy underneath and the meat filling was meaty and juicy and FANTASTIC!

I made a trial run of this for my boyfriend a few weeks ago, and we both liked it so much, I decided it deserved a repeat performance and blog post.  My parents were the happy recipients of this go-round.  Everyone had two servings.  This is really easy and so hearty and delicious.

Shepherd's Pie
For the potato topping:

1.5-2 pounds russet potatoes

1/4 cup half-and-half

4 T butter

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I had a three-cheese blend on hand)

1 egg yolk

Salt and pepper to taste

For the meat and veg:

2 T extra virgin olive or coconut oil

1 cup diced onion

3 carrots, peeled and diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced or 2 t minced jarred garlic

1.5-2 pounds red meat of choice (I used 1lb lamb and 1/2lb venison)

2 T all-purpose flour

2 t tomato paste

1 cup chicken broth

1 t Worcestershire sauce

2 t fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

1 t fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch dice.  Place in a pot and cover with cold water, lightly salted.  Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  (Start meat and veg prep now!)  Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to medium and cook until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the pot.  Place the half-and-half and butter in a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until butter is mostly melted, about 35 seconds.  Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until you've reached desired creaminess and then add the half and half and butter and stir to combine.

Taste for seasoning, and then add salt and pepper, Parmesan cheese and egg yolk stirring to combine.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the meat and veg.  In a large sauté pan, heat your oil of choice over medium high heat.

When the oil is hot (drop a piece of veg in it... it should sizzle), add the onion and carrots and sauté just until they begin to wilt and take on color, approximately 3-5 minutes.  Add the garlic and stir to combine.

Add the meat, salt and pepper to taste and cook until mostly browned and cooked through, approximately 3-5 minutes.  (The meat will have further opportunity to cook so if there's still some pink left, it's OK.)

Sprinkle the meat with the flour and stir to coat, continuing to cook for another minute or so.  Make sure all of the flour is absorbed.

Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is slightly thickened.  Remove meat and veg mix from the heat and add the corn and peas.  Stir to combine.

Spread meat and veg evenly into an 11x7-inch glass (or stoneware) baking dish (or slightly bigger if you have it).

Dollop mashed potatoes on top.

Using the back of a spoon, start smooshing the potatoes around the edges of the baking dish to create a seal to prevent the meat/veg from bubbling over and then smooth out the remainder.

Just for cleanliness' sake, place the baking dish on a baking sheet (foil or parchment lined if you like) and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown.  Let your casserole cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

When you do dig in to this dish, might I ask for a moment of silence?  Breaking through the potato crust makes such a fantastic sound.  It deserves to be observed.  :o)

Cevich-eh?

Per a Facebook request, this week's blog is both light and summery and, well... ceviche.  Ceviche (suh-vee-chey) is a Spanish dish of raw seafood marinated in lime/lemon juice.  Hold up... RAW?!?    Don't fret.  The acid in the citrus lends to a process called denaturing.  In essence, the acid "cooks" the seafood so that it's no longer raw.

My Aunt Debie first introduced me to ceviche.  To this day, her recipe is still my favorite.  I've had many variations but hers is very straight forward, simple and delicious.  It's a great base recipe that's completely modifiable.  The original recipe calls for shrimp only but for this post, I made a combination of shrimp and bay scallops.  We've also made this with halibut and I've had it with octopus as well.  You can also add different vegetables or fruit.  Ceviche with mango is FANTASTIC!

What's also great is there are so many serving options.  You can eat this with Tostitos or Fritos Scoops, crackers or pita chips, or you can toss it with some lettuce and eat it as a salad or just grab a fork and eat it straight.

Debie's Ceviche
5 or 6 lemons
6 or 7 limes
2 pounds raw seafood (1lb shrimp, 1lb bay scallops, for example)
1 red or orange bell pepper, diced, seeds and ribs removed
1 or 2 jalapenos, diced, seeds and ribs removed (to desired heat level)
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced or 1t of minced jarred garlic
1 whole bunch cilantro, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Juice lemons and limes and put juice in a medium sized bowl.  I prefer to add 1-2 more limes than lemons b/c I like having a decidedly lime flavor.  This much fruit will yield approximately 1.5-2 cups of juice depending on how big/juicy your limes/lemons are.

To help your fruit release its juice, roll them on your cutting board giving them a little bit of pressure with your palm.  Rachel Ray also recommends putting your citrus in the microwave for 10 seconds to help soften them.

This is a fantastic juicing tool.

This is a better juicing tool.

Having both in your kitchen is preferred.  The manual tool for juicing just a few pieces of citrus.  The electronic one for making recipes like this.  I first purchased mine a few years ago when I was asked to make 20 pounds of a citrus based shrimp dish for my friend Cathie's wedding.  I got mine at Bed Bath & Beyond for about $30.  Tip: place a slightly damp towel under the juicer to keep it from slipping.  (Also works great under cutting boards!)

Peel, devein and rinse shrimp.  Rinse bay scallops.  Dice the seafood and add to the bowl of juice.  You want to make sure there's enough juice to cover all the seafood.  If not, add a little more juice.  (My mom and aunt like to cut bigger bites of seafood, but the smaller the dice, A) the easier it is to eat with a Tostitos Scoop, B) the better mix of ingredients you get in each scoop, and C) the more surface area you expose to the acid the faster the denaturing process.)

Place your bowl in the fridge for several hours until the seafood is no longer raw.  If using shrimp, the tell tale pink color is a good visual.  I can't tell you an exact time.  I put my mixture into the fridge at 9:30am, and then didn't mess with it until 5:30 that evening but I have no idea when it was actually ready.  If you stir the mixture every so often, that also speeds up the denaturing process.

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir to incorporate.

Put the bowl back into the fridge until chilled (another 30 minutes or so).  Choose your serving method of choice and enjoy.

Faux Pho

(Initially, I thought I would title this post No Pho For You but as I was discussing it with my mom she said, "I think you should title your post Faux Pho."  And then she giggled.  How could I say no to that?  :o))

One day while I was grocery shopping, I was perusing the Asian Food section and some thick, hearty Udon noodles jumped out at me.  I wasn't quite sure what I would use them for, but they were dried, so I figured they'd keep until I could figure it out.  It wasn't that long before I had a massive craving for Pho.  With the nearest Pho place being 20-30 minutes away I just had to make my own.  The only problem being that I have NO idea what's in Pho.  I mean, meat and vegetables with a broth base, but that's about it.  Time to roll up my sleeves and figure things out.

I scoured the fridge for my fresh ingredients.  Chicken, mushrooms, onions.  Check.  Boo!  No bok choy.  Wait, wait, wait... there in the back of the drawer.  What is that?  Celery!  That'll do.  Now to the pantry.  Chicken stock, beef stock.  Lime and Chili stock?  Oh yeah, I got that for free when I purchased... um... something else.  (Thanks HEB and your Combo Loco deals!)

The process to make this soup was very structured and defined.  Psh!  Yeah right!  This was a total fly by the seat of my pants kind of operation.  Fortunately, it worked.  It wasn't exactly like Pho, but it was pretty close.  It fulfilled my craving at the very least.  Plus, it was easy, I only dirtied one pot and I didn't have to drive 30 minutes to get it!

Faux Pho
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) or coconut oil
1 cup celery (2-3 ribs), de-ribbed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion (white or yellow)
2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
32oz chicken broth/stock
32oz lime and chili chicken broth/stock*
26oz beef broth/stock
1 garlic clove, minced or 1t minced jarred garlic
1T Nuoc mam**
1T soy sauce
1 8oz package dried Udon noodles
Salt and pepper

In a large soup pot, heat just under 1T of your oil of choice over medium high heat.  When it's hot, add your celery, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook the celery until it just begins to get soft.  Remove to a plate and set aside.  Repeat this procedure with the mushrooms and onions, cooking each separately until just soft.

 

 

Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot and add your chicken.  Salt and pepper to taste and cook until just brown.  The chicken will continue to cook later on, so you want it to be raw in the center.  Remove chicken to your vegetable plate and set aside.

Turn the heat to high and pour the liquids into your pot, along with the garlic.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape all of the browned veg and chicken bits off the bottom of the pot.

 

Bring the broths to a boil and then add the Udon noodles.  Reduce heat to medium high and cook noodles according to the time on the package directions (10-12 minutes if memory serves).  During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add all the vegetables and the chicken to the pot.  (There is a chance that your broth will get "scuzzy."  It will look like dirty foam.  This is caused by the chicken you sauteed earlier.  It tastes fine, it just looks gross.  It will absorb back into the soup so just ignore it.)

Ladle into individual bowls and serve with Sriracha sauce so everyone can add their own heat.  Enjoy!!

 


*Lime and chili chicken stock is fairly regional, I feel.  If you can't find this in your store you can use regular chicken stock but add some lime juice and red pepper flake.

**A.k.a. Vietnamese Fish Sauce.  It's sooooo good y'all.  If you can't find this at your grocery store on the Asian/International food isle, the next time you pass a Vietnamese restaurant, run in and ask if you can buy some from them.  It keeps forever, and it adds such an authentic flavor to Asian dishes.  You can eliminate it if you can't find it at all, but oh, I hope you can!

Vegetable Beef Soup: Another One Pot Wonder!!

In an effort to eat healthier and improve my life, I am trying to eat better.  Cleaner, as they say.  More fresh fruit, veg and meat and less processed food.  I don't know that I will ever be a totally clean eater, for several reasons.  First, I love all of the food stuffs that man has created (bread, pasta, dessert!!!).  Second, convenience.  I'm not about to start making my own tomato juice and I certainly don't eat enough chicken to accommodate the frequency with which I use stock.  Most days I just try to make the best choices I can based on my particular food cravings.  A dark chocolate covered banana bite vs. a Snickers bar, for instance.

This soup recipe is loosely based on the ol' Cabbage Soup Diet.  It's a great base recipe (albeit a terrible diet fad).  The soup is light but filling.  It's especially great in the winter, but it's not too heavy for the warmer months.  It is chock-full of veggies so it's really good for you.  Plus, it's super delicious.  I've beefed it up some (har har) to make it a little heartier.  The added protein means it'll stick with you longer.  And, I love any recipe that only requires me to dirty one pot!!

For my veg friends, please see the notes section below for making this completely vegetarian/vegan.

Vegetable Beef Soup*
Several T extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 pounds ground beef**
1 head green cabbage
1 bunch kale
1 yellow onion
3-4 carrots
3-4 celery sticks (optional - I had some left over, so in they go!!)
1 zucchini
2 64oz containers low-sodium tomato juice
1 48oz container low-sodium chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T dried basil
Sriracha and Tabasco to taste (optional)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes, or 3 medium-large fresh, peeled and diced
1 15oz can garbanzo beans, lightly drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by grabbing the biggest pot you have in your kitchen.  Nope.  Not that one.  THAT one.  The one in the back.  The BIG one.  Put it on the stove.  It's gonna be there a while.  :o)

Place 1-2 T of EVOO (or your healthy fat of choice - coconut oil works great) in the pot and brown the meat over medium-high heat until juuuuust brown.  Salt and pepper to taste.  This will have more opportunity to cook later, so it's OK if there's some pink left.  Remove from heat and drain the meat in a colander.  Set aside.

Clean and dice all your veg:
- Remove the core from the cabbage.  Clean it by getting lots of water into that hole where the core was and thusly, between all those leafy layers.  Drain well.  Quarter the cabbage and then cut each quarter into thirds.  Chop into small bite-sized pieces from there.

- After rinsing, remove the stems from the kale.  You can fold the kale along its edge and cut it out, or you can simply hold the stem in one hand, the leaves in the other and rip them off.  Cut into small bite-sized pieces.

 

- The decision to peel carrots or not is a personal one.  Go with your gut.
- Make sure you de-rib your celery before chopping.  Instructions can be found here.

Without rinsing, return the pot to the stove and add another 2T of EVOO and all of the chopped veg except the zucchini.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and begin stirring/tossing your veg over medium-high heat.  (Carefully... the pot is going to be pretty full.)  As you stir, the veg will start to break down/wilt.  Continue stirring for 5-10 min until the veg has reduced some (my pot went from being about 3/4 full to 1/2 full) and starts to look tender.

Turn the heat to high and add one and a half containers of tomato juice***, the chicken stock, lemon juice and basil.  I added approximately 2t of Sriracha and a couple dashes of Tabasco at this point.  You can eliminate this step and let people individually add their own heat when serving.  Stir and bring soup to a boil.  Then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

Remove lid and add the meat, garbanzo beans, tomatoes and zucchini.  If your soup needs more liquid at this point, add some more tomato juice.  Turn heat to high and bring soup back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for an additional 15 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Serve as its own meal or with a salad or half sandwich.  Enjoy!

If you have enough containers to store leftovers in, great!  If not, I hope you have room in your fridge for a giant pot!  :o)


*This recipe makes a LOT.  You could easily half it, but I like to make a giant pot and eat it all week long.

**You can use any ground meat here, really.  Last time I used ground beef.  This time I used venison. You could also use bison, chicken, turkey or even hot Italian sausage so that it's more like an Italian Wedding Soup (sans noodles).  Or hell, add noodles if you're so inclined!  :o)

***Refrigerate any leftover juice that you don't initially use.  If you find you need more broth later in the week you can add more tomato juice, stock (if you have some on-hand) or water.

For vegetarian options, remove meat completely and substitute chicken stock with veg stock or water.