Shepherds Pie

This is my first one of these. I never had this growing up, except for maybe in restaurants. I have always wanted to make one, so I thought why not tonight. I used the recipe from America's Test Kitchen because I wanted to make sure I was making a tried and tested recipe.

I make a few variations like adding a package of fresh, sliced white mushrooms, and a chopped celery stalk That I sauteed with the onions. I also used a lb. ground turkey instead of 2 lbs. of ground beef, just to make it a bit lighter(and really because I only had a lb. of ground beef available).

Mine didn't come out as pretty as I envisioned it would but that is my fault. I was a little shy on the potatoes (which were yukon gold's and not the recommended russets, btw), but it still came out looking decent (despite the bubble over on the left in the pic above) and tasting out of this world.

Shepherd's Pie

(ATK recipe)

Filling:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion , chopped fine
2 medium carrots , peeled and chopped fine
2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
Table salt and ground black pepper

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup beer (I used Amstel Light)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1 cup frozen peas

*note* I used half a bag of frozen peas and carrots. I added them when the recipe said to add the peas at the end. Oh, and I also added 3 cloves of garlic that I threw in there when I began to brown the meat.

Topping
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes . peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
Table salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
1/3 cup heavy cream , warmed
Ground black pepper
1 large egg , beaten

1. For the filling: Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat until foaming. Add onion and carrots and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add meat, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up meat into small pieces with wooden spoon, until browned, about 12 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste and cook until paste begins to darken, about 1 minute.

2. Add cream and cook until it spatters, about 1 minute. Add broth, beer, soy sauce, and thyme and simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is thick but still saucy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in peas, adjust seasonings, and transfer to broiler safe 2-quart casserole dish.

3. For the topping: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and water to cover to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain potatoes, return to saucepan, and mash potatoes with butter and cream until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Spread potatoes over filling, using spatula to smooth top (see photo at left). Brush with egg and drag fork across top to make ridges. Bake until filling is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Turn on broiler and cook until top is golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Serve.

Make Ahead
Make the filling through step 2, but do not add the peas. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. When ready to proceed, reheat the filling in a large saucepan, stir in the peas, and transfer to a broiler safe 2-quart casserole. Proceed with the recipe from step 3.

Hearty Chicken and Dumplings

After a little too much partying for Chad's surprise (no he wasn't surprised, he knew something was up) birthday party last night we were in need of a hearty home style meal. The only thing I had in the fridge were chicken legs that I bought on sale so our dinner had to incorporated those. I thought about just roasting them and making some rice and veggies as our sides but instead I decided to make chicken and dumplings (I like to say "dumplins").

I have to admit, I looked online for recipes but the only one I wanted to make was the Cooking Light version. But it was pretty complicated, and I just didn't have the energy. So I totally threw this thing together remembering bits and pieces from the recipes I viewed online. It came out so well, and I am thankful I made a huge batch that we can take to work for lunches later in the week.

Chicken and Dumplings

6 chicken legs roasted(I basted them with a butter, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper mixture before roasting), meat removed and roughly chopped (or 3 cups cooked chicken)

1 medium onion chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

1/2 bag of peas and carrots combo

3 garlic cloves finely chopped

3 Tbs. dripping from roasted chicken or 3 Tbs. butter

1 1/2 Tbs. flour

1/4 cup white wine

10 cups good quality chicken stock(warmed)

2 bay leaves

1 Tbs. fresh sage chopped

1 Tbs. fresh flat leafed parsley chopped

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried marjoram

Salt and pepper to taste

Dumpling ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

3/4 cups half and half

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. butter

In a large heavy pot heat drippings or butter over medium heat. Add onions,celery, bay leaves, thyme, sage and marjoram and saute for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add flour and stir constantly for about 3 minutes so the roux doesn't burn. Add wine and deglaze the pot scraping any bits from the bottom. Add chicken stock a couple cups at a time whisking constantly. Add the cooked chicken and the parsley and bring to a gentle boil.

Add the dumplings and cook for about 10-15 minutes longer. Add peas and carrots take off heat and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and serve.

Dumplings:

Sift all dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Combine half and half and butter and heat in a microwave until butter has melted. Add to flour mixture and mix together with a fork until well combined. Knead a couple of times on a floured surface until smooth (a couple of times, don't over do it). Pinch off about a Tbs. size (you can make the dumplings as big as you want them but if they are larger they may have to cook longer) and add to soup.

Chicken,Tasso and Andouille Jambalaya

Tonight's dinner was inspired again by what needed to be used in the fridge. I had a chicken breast, 1 link andouille and some tasso. It was between a gumbo or this jambalaya. Jambalaya won. Only because I didn't feel like slaving over a stove tending to a roux. There are so many different variations of jambalaya that there really isn't a "right" way or a "wrong" way to make it. I prefer a red jambalaya, while others omit tomato products. I just think it gives it a little more flavor and blends well with the red hot spices I like to add. If you don't have tasso on hand, don't worry you can omit it. I had to buy about 4 lbs. of the stuff last time I was in New Orleans and froze it as soon as I got home. And as far as the andouille sausage, well you can substitute with whatever sausage you like. This is a versatile recipe so feel free to add and omit ingredients.

Chicken Tasso and Andouille Jambalaya

1 chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper and pan fried

1 cup andouille sausage (1 link) cut in half, then in half again and chopped

1/2 cup tasso chopped in small pieces

1/2 Tbs. canola oil

1 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/2 cup of onion finely chopped

1/2 cup green pepper finely chopped

1/2 cup celery finely chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. cajun seasoning (I like Tony Chachere's)

2 tsp. hot sauce (I like Crystal's)

1 1/2 cup long grain rice

1/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

8oz. can No Salt added tomato sauce

Heat a large heavy pot over medium high heat and add canola oil. Add tasso and andouille and saute until rendered, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Add butter and melt. Add the trinity (onions,peppers,celery) and saute until onion starts to brown. Add garlic and rice and saute for a couple minutes more. Add all meat and combine in pot. Add wine to deglaze and scrape up the bottom bits. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. lower heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley and add more hot sauce if desired.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

To go along with the lovely meatloaf below I made mashed potatoes. In my opinion, nothing goes better with meat loaf than mashed potatoes. I love roasting garlic first before adding it to the potatoes, it gives them so much more depth. And using yukon gold's are a must, they make the best mashed potatoes.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3 large garlic cloves

1/2 tsp. olive oil

3 large yukon gold potatoes (about 2lbs.)

1/2 cup half and half (warm)

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fresh gound pepper

Heat oven to 375

Peel skin off garlic put in a small oven safe dish and add oil. mix together, making sure all sides are covered. Cover dish and roast in oven for 30-40 minutes or until browned.

Peel potatoes and cut in large chunks. place in a large pot of salted, boiling water and boil until fork tender. Drain and add them back to pot. Add roasted garlic, and the rest of the ingredients and either mix with electric mixer or mash with you masher.

The Best Meatloaf I've Ever Eaten

Most people are either meatloaf lovers, or haters. I am a meatloaf lover. I always have been. But now, I love it even more with this recipe. This meatloaf recipe has been on my list of things to try for a while now. So when I happened to have a couple lbs. of ground round in the fridge that I bought on sale, I jumped at the opportunity to make it.

I despise a crumbly meatloaf You know the kind, when you try to slice it the meat crumbles all over your fork and plate and you are left to pick up the little pieces. Not this meatloaf. The unflavored gelatin is the key in holding it together, as well as the eggs. So when I sliced a piece with my fork it stayed together all the way up to my mouth. Heaven. The glaze was tangy and delicious and a wonderful compliment. Although I did stray from the original recipe with the type of ground meat (I used 2lbs. ground round) it didn't matter one bit. I forsee this being my go to recipe for meatloaf in the years to come. Maybe next time I'll add a little more spices, but really it didn't need a thing.

All Beef Meatloaf

(cooks illustrated)

3 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated on small holes of box grater (about 1 cup)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)

1 medium rib celery , chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)

1 medium clove garlic , minced (about 1 teaspoon)

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (powdered)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2/3 cup crushed saltines

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pound ground chuck

1 pound ground sirloin

Glaze

1/2 cup ketchup

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 cup cider vinegar

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread cheese on plate and place in freezer until ready to use. Prepare baking sheet--cover a broiler pan or a cookie cooling rack with two layers of foil and punch holes in it so fat can drain. Then put pan or rack in another pan to catch drips and prevent your oven from smoking you out of the house.

2. Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown. Add garlic, and paprika and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to small bowl and set aside to cool.

3. Whisk broth and eggs in large bowl until combined. Sprinkle gelatin over liquid and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, mustard, saltines, parsley, salt, pepper, and onion mixture. Crumble frozen cheese into coarse powder and sprinkle over mixture. Add ground meat; mix gently with hands until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Transfer meat to foil rectangle and shape into 10 by 6-inch oval about 2 inches high. Bake 55 to 65 minutes. Remove meat loaf from oven and turn on broiler.

4. While meat loaf cooks, combine ingredients for glaze in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring, until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Spread half of glaze evenly over cooked meat loaf with rubber spatula; place under broiler and cook until glaze bubbles and begins to brown at edges, about 5 minutes. Remove meat loaf from oven and spread evenly with remaining glaze; place back under broiler and cook until glaze is again bubbling and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes more. Let meat loaf cool about 20 minutes before slicing.

Angel Hair and Sausage with Spinach

Tonight's dinner is also inspired by using the ingredients I have on hand. So out came the sausage from the freezer, the 1/2 box of frozen spinach, pasta and some canned tomato products in the pantry. This was a very simple, but hearty meal that was also pretty quick to make. And cleanup was easy too, only 2 pots. Oh, and one baking sheet lined with foil so no cleanup there!

Angel Hair and Sausage Pasta

1lb. angel hair cooked according to package directions

Sausage:

1 lb. mild Italian sausage (I used my favorite brand: Rinaldi's) Baked in a 350 oven for 25 minutes or until fully cooked. Sliced on a bias when cooled.

For the sauce:

1-2 Tbs. extra virgin oil

1 small onion diced

1/2 green pepper diced

3 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or less if you don't want too much heat)

1/4 cup red wine

2 tsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. fresh pepper

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 box frozen spinach

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

1 14oz. can No Salt diced tomatoes

1 6oz. can tomato paste

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2-3 Tbs. half and half

Add oil to a large sauce pot over med. heat. Saute onions, pepper and bay leaf until onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley, oregano, basil, and saute for a few minutes more. Add wine and cook for 3-5 minutes more. Add the rest of the ingredients except the spinach and half and half. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes until reduced by 1/4-1/2. Add spinach and stir until completely broken up about 3 minutes. Take pot off the heat and add half and half. Pour sauce over pasta, add sausage and serve.

IT'S SNOWING!

I am so excited! We don't see this very often in GA, so when we do we all get giddy! I love that it is actually sticking too! I'm hoping this calls for a snow day tomorrow!

Baked Pork Chops

Another seat-of-my-pants creation, looks like I'm on a roll here! I guess I was feeling guilty for cooking very little last week, or that I was sending Chad out to get ingredients for a recipe I just had to have, but really could do without. I am fully stocked in the pantry folks, and there really is no reason for all this running out kind of business. A lovely woman (TheBridesMom/TBM) on The Nest, a message board I frequent, really got me thinking about this. She had mentioned how this is the type of cook she is, and I admire that. I forgot how fun it was to come up with things last minute. So I vowed to tap back into my creative side and do a little of the same this week.

So I had 2 1/2" thick bone in, center cut pork chops that needed to be used in the fridge. I wanted to keep them healthy so I knew there would be no frying. I basically pan seared them and baked. I kept it really simple, but the flavor was incredible! Chad was happy too, mostly because there was no last minute ingredient request.

Baked Pork Chops
Kosher salt, fresh pepper, and garlic powder for seasoning
Flour for dredging
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs. fresh sage chopped
3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 small onion sliced into large chunks
1 sprig fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat olive oil a medium sized oven proof skillet over medium heat. dredge seasoned chops in flour. Transfer to skillet and sear on both sides, 3 minutes each. Add broth, sage, thyme, onion and garlic. Let come to a simmer, cover and transfer to oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes until chops are tender. Serve with spinach risotto below.

Spinach Risotto W/ Vermecelli and Smoked Gouda

This is what I call a seat-of-my-pants kind of side dish. I've been slacking in the creativity department lately so I decided to raid the fridge, pantry and freezer to see what I could throw together. I found some rice along with a 1/4 box of vermecelli in the pantry, frozen spinach in the freezer, a 1/2 block of smoked gouda and 1/2 bottle of sauvignon blanc in the fridge. Risotto was screaming at me in my mind. So that is what I made. Normally, a risotto doesn't have vermecelli, but this one did. The spinach gave it a great earthy flavor. The smoked gouda, well what can I say...It made it smoky and cheesy, lol!

Spinach Risotto with Vermecelli and Smoked Gouda

1/4 cup onion diced small

2 garlic cloves minced

1 1/2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 cup white rice (I didn't have arborio so I used medium grain)

1/4 cup of vermecilli noodles broken into small pieces

1/4 cup good white wine (I used sauvignon Blanc)

3 1/2 cups chicken broth warmed

1/2 cup frozen spinach

1/2 cup smoked gouda

pinch salt

1 tsp. fresh black pepper

Heat oil over medium low heat in a medium sized skillet. Add onions and saute until browned and almost carmelized. Add rice, vermecelli, and garlic. Let mixture toast stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, about 3-5 minutes. Add white wine and let simmer until it is almost reduced completely. Add 1/2 Cup warmed chicken broth and let asorb, while stirring occasionally. Repeat until all the broth is gone. Add pepper, salt, and spinach. Let cook a couple minutes more and add gouda, stir to combine and serve.