Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Kendra left me with a sticky note of the four recipes she would like to have, and the first one that I'm going to tackle is Shepherd's Pie.  There are a lot of variations to this recipe. It is something pretty simple and you can't go wrong as long as you have the four layers: meat, vegetable, potato and cheese.

This recipe makes one pie plate of Shepherd's pie - you can double it if you would like to make it in a 13x9 baking dish.  Start by preheating the oven to 400° and lightly greasing a pie plate.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small can tomato paste

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

4-6 potatoes, peeled and cubed *

1/2 - 1 c milk

1/2 stick (1/4 c) butter

salt

pepper

frozen peas OR peas and carrots OR corn

1-2 c shredded cheddar cheese ** (optional)

*A note about potatoes - choose these depending on size. If they are pretty large you can probably use 4-5, but if they are small you could use as many as 8. You'll need enough mashed potatoes to cover the top of your Shepherd's Pie in a pie plate.  A good potato that has body and doesn't get too mushy is an Idaho russet potatoes. 

**A note about shredded cheese - it is more economical to buy and shred your own cheese. It is also more flavorful. However, for convenience sake, you can buy the pre-shredded cheese. One reason to avoid pre-shredded cheese is that it is covered with cellulose so that it won't clump together. 

Do all the prep work - dice onions, mince garlic, peel and cut potatoes into medium sized cubes.  (Do potatoes last so they won't get brownish gray while they sit - and if you have to pre-peel them, you can put them in cold water with a little salt to keep them nicely.)

Put on a large pot of water to boil for the potatoes. This will require some multi-tasking - but once the water is boiling, add the potatoes and cook until tender. 

In the meantime in a skillet, brown the ground beef with the diced onion and minced garlic.  Salt and pepper to taste. Drain the grease not into your drain, into a jar or can to save for flavoring beans or throw away or into a bowl to scrape out into the trash once it congeals. (Never, never drain grease into your sink drain.) Stir in the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce over low heat until beef is saucy. Leave beef on low or warm while you prepare the vegetables and potatoes.

Cook vegetables in a small amount of water to warm through in another pot - and drain thoroughly.

Drain the potatoes once they are done and return back to the hot pot they were cooked in with 1/2 stick of butter, salt and pepper and 1/4 c milk and use hand mixer to whip the potatoes.  Add more milk if the potatoes are too stiff, but they should be thicker for this recipe. 

In a lightly greased pie pan, layer the meat mixture on the bottom, then the vegetables.  When adding the mashed potatoes, drop by heaping spoonfuls all over the pie and then gently smooth. You want to try and spread the potatoes without disturbing the layers underneath. 

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are lightly brown and crusty.  If you are adding shredded cheese, sprinkle on the top and put back into the oven for 5 minutes until melted. 

Yum! Yum! Happy cooking - - and eating!

Kitchen Pantry Staples

I am missing my girl and some of our phone calls go like this:
RING.
Me: Hello.
Kendra: Mom, I forgot to thaw the chicken. What do I do?
Me: You can heat it in a skillet with a little oil on medium-high heat.
Kendra: We don't have any oil and the chicken is frozen.
Me: It's fully cooked, right? You can put it on a baking sheet in the oven.
Kendra: Oh, I found some oil. Bye.
*click*

...... must be nice to have a cooking hotline.

So on to the most recent request which is a list of pantry staples. This list is customizable based on the types of things that you like to cook and that the people you are cooking for like to eat.

Here are the bare minimum, must have basics for general cooking:

1. flour - every day run of the mill, unbleached and all-purpose (we don't want to eat something that has been bleached - blech!) There are fancier flours, and eventually I would suggest adding some whole wheat for healthy cooking, bread baking, etc. and others if you want to get real *fancy* - be sure not to get self-rising flour unless that is what a specific recipe calls for - and you can make all-purpose flour into self rising flour by adding 1 1/4 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt for every cup of flour
2. sugar - we use organic sugar that is unrefined, larger crystals and slightly tan in color - but white table sugar is less expensive and works equally as well - in fact it dissolves in a cold drink much more quickly - however, it has a more dramatic impact on your blood sugar - this might be one financial choice you make for health reasons
3. salt - I prefer Celtic sea-salt which has a slightly gray-ish color and is a little bit coarser than table salt - so it doesn't come out of salt shakers very well - but not all brands have iodine - you can find some brands that do.  Regular table salt has been processed and refined and can have a detrimental impact on your blood pressure over time.  
4. baking powder - be sure to buy a brand that is aluminum free
5. baking soda - is used in various recipes, can be used for cleaning, brushing your teeth, deodorizing your refrigerator (once you use it in this way - don't cook with it because it absorbs the odors into the baking soda - yuck!)
6. butter - not margarine - buy in sticks for ease of measuring for cooking or in 1 lb blocks to put in a crock for spreading on toast, etc. 
7. oil - olive oil is the most heart healthy - extra virgin olive oil, first cold-pressed is the healthiest because it is processed without heat - this one is light green in color, but for a lighter flavor use light olive oil which is light gold in color - a cheaper substitute is canola oil
8. garlic - fresh cloves of garlic are relatively inexpensive - for maximum flavor and freshness, don't overbuy - so go for a clove a week versus buying a big bag - you can also use *sigh* garlic powder - if you must - as a cheaper, more convenient alternative - but the flavor is not the same. I have both in my kitchen and use them for different purposes. 
9. onion - I prefer sweet onions, sometimes Vidalias in season - but there are other types of sweet onions - they are less harsh when you cut them.  You can use dried, minced onions or onion powder as a substitute - but again you will sacrifice flavor. 

More pantry basics: dried pasta, dried beans, chicken stock or broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, canned tuna and chicken, peanut butter, vinegar (red wine and white), hot sauce (you are married to Jacob!), bread, cereal, oatmeal, etc. 

For the fridge: jelly, salad dressing, eggs, mayonnaise (for Jacob!), mustard, yogurt, milk, produce, shredded cheese, sliced cheese, lunch meat, etc. 

Once you have some of the basics, cooking becomes so much easier. You have to remember to stock up and look for coupons for these items when you can because these are things you always need. 

Bird in a Nest with a Twist

One of the quick and easy meals that my mom would make when I was growing up was called a Bird in a Nest. You used a milk glass to cut a hole in the middle of a piece of bread, put the bread in a skillet with melted butter and crack an egg in the middle, salt and pepper, flip and cook on the other side until done. It's yummy.  It's easy and it's good.  A few weeks ago I saw something that reminded me of this, with a twist.

**This isn't something I anticipate Kendra will ever make. I am just posting it because I cooked it this morning and took pictures.

Baked Egg in an Avocado

Preheat oven to 425°


1. Start by cutting the avocado in half by taking the knife in a circular motion around from top to bottom around the pit.

2. Remove the pit.  If necessary, in order to have more egg in the center, scoop out a little bit of the avocado meat from the center.  Place the halves, still in the skin onto a piece of sturdy foil, and bunch the foil around the avocados so that they won't tilt and spill all of your eggs out. 

3. Scramble one egg and season as desired. I chose a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes - or until egg is completely cooked through.

5. Enjoy!

My New Foodie Blog

Several days ago, my oldest daughter Kendra boarded an airplane bound for her new home with her husband in Texas. Kendra loves to bake and cake decorate, but has taken little interest in learning to cook. Food and family are such a big part of my heart. Food nourishes the body, comforts the soul and extends throughout the world as an expression of creativity and love. One of the saddest parts for me to accept of Kendra living so far away is not having the opportunity to share with her one of my passions - cooking. Now that she has a hungry man to feed, her interest has been piqued. She suggested that I put my recipes up for her on a blog.  This is my attempt at teaching my daughter how to cook, and we're inviting you to join us.  

As a disclaimer, I am no food expert. I am someone that loves to eat and loves good food.  I love to prepare nutritious meals using mostly whole food and healthy ingredients to feed my family well. I do not spend much time watching the Food Network - although I can be caught watching online episodes of The Chew. I love browsing the internet for new recipes and have saved a ton of *new things to try* on Pinterest. 

I welcome your questions, comments, feedback, input, recipe variations and new recipes! Thanks for coming along on our kitchen adventures!