Carrots - Blog Posts
Shepherd's Pie
“Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” is what I was saying a little over a week ago as I purchased all of the fresh ingredients to make my very first shepherd’s pie, from scratch. I was so proud to come up with this idea for my second recipe and adventure in the kitchen. What a fun idea for St. Patrick’s day, and it was something I definitely have never tried to cook on my own before. This year instead of staying out late, decked in green from head to toe with giant light up shamrocks on my head, I chose to spend a quiet night in listening to music preparing a lovely meal.
I have to admit I got a little caught up and a little busy this past week and haven't been able to post until now, but hey BETTER LATE THAN NEVER :)
I have only tried Shepherd’s Pie before a couple times in my life and each time it was only because someone I was with ordered it at a restaurant as their meal and I had a few bites. Or when I worked at a Preschool a few years back they served it there for lunch, pretty fancy lunch huh? Although it was just instant mashed potatoes, teeny tiny frozen peas and carrots, and some mini meat balls mixed all together in a bowl with some shredded cheese on top. Either way, whipped up in a restaurant or served buffet style in the preschool I always thought it was delicious, and I couldn't wait to try to make my own from scratch!
Many recipes I found for Shepherd’s Pie called for ground beef, but I decided to go with chuck roast to make it more of a hearty stew to enjoy on this cold, windy, night in.
I followed the recipe step by step, I started by browning the meat in batches just as it said but my favorite part was chopping up the delicious fresh veggies. Adding more veggies into my diet is definitely a must, and I was proud of myself for not going the easy route and buying them already chopped and frozen. :)
The celery was the easy part, I felt like I was on a roll! Then it was time to chop the carrots, and this ordeal set me back about 45 min. ;)
I’m not a big fan of cooked carrots mostly because of the texture, so my bright idea was to grate them instead. I love the taste and I didn’t want to leave anything out of the recipe (except the onions of course) ;) I still haven't been able to develop a liking for onions....just yet. Plus I did a little research and one of my favorite chefs Gordon Ramsay grates his carrots in his recipe. NICE!
Trying to budget my money a bit better I bought the most.....lets say inexpensive grater from the grocery store, that was my first mistake! It took me close to 10 minutes to grate ONE SINGLE CARROT. With an EXTREMELY sore arm and 5 more carrots to go I came up with another bright idea. Why don’t I put them in the blender! Quick, easy, and I should have nicely shredded carrots in just a couple pushes of a button. No...No...and NO! this did not work. All that happened was big chunks of carrots banging around the blades making a horrible noise. At the risk of breaking my roomates blender it was back to the grater because I was not giving up on those grated carrots. Over 30 minutes later I fully grated 6 LARGE carrots! I even alternated hands and got a killer arm workout in the process. Do you want to see what 40 minutes of hard work grating carrots looks like?
NOTHING SPECIAL! And this is what took the most effort of this whole recipe. The important thing is I was DETERMINED and I did not give up! ;)
Next up was the chopping of the garlic, which I was looking forward to after the carrot fiasco. I set aside 6 cloves of Garlic and after trying to peel one of the cloves, that TOO was taking FOREVER. So at this point I turned to google for a quick trick to peel the skin off garlic. I found one. I was a little skeptical at first, it said to place the cloves of garlic into a hard container with a lid and SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE for a couple minutes. At this point I was glad I had the house to myself that night because i’m sure this looked absolutely ridiculous. After shaking that container as if there was no tomorrow, I was surprised to find this actually worked! WOW! All of the skin came right off.
Google was again my best friend because I needed a substitute for the cup of red wine. I used beef stock, but other choices included: vinegar, ginger ale, grape juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, liquid from canned mushrooms, tomato juice, or even just water.
I followed the recipe and combined all of the ingredients and allowed them to simmer, and let me just tell you my house smelled ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! As all of the flavors combined together I couldn't help but taste test this, over and over again. SO incredibly flavorful I could have just stopped there and eaten it just like that! But I moved on to the mashed potatoes. And for the record I have not made mashed potatoes from scratch many times in my life, if at all and they are so SIMPLE and WAY better than instant potatoes. I could have eaten a giant bowl of those alone too!
Now it was time to transfer the ingredients to a casserole dish and bake!
I really wanted to pipe the potatoes on with a pastry bag to make it look pretty, but the one problem I had with this recipe is there was not enough mashed potatoes AT ALL. Or else I just went a little overboard with the taste testing ;) There is supposed to be a thick layer covering the top of the stew and I barley could spread them into a thin layer to cover it. OH WELL, into the oven it went. I knew it would still be delicious!
I’m KICKING myself now, but I did not take an after photo :(
While trying to plate this for a perfect after photo it came out UGLY UGLY UGLY! I did not want anyone to see it. But let me tell you it was one of the most DELICIOUS things I have EVER tasted. It was full of flavor and came out tasting perfect!
I’m bummed I was so worried about what people might think of my after photo. This was a dish I was truly proud of, and worked hard on (lets not forget the carrots) Even though it didn’t look perfect on the outside doesn’t mean it wasn’t absolutely amazing!
SUCH IS LIFE, things may not always be perfect but life sure can be amazing when you take the time to enjoy the things you love to do. It’s as simple as PIE ;)
Ingredients
2 pound beef chuck roast
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, sliced
6 carrots, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup high-quality red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups frozen green peas
Salt and pepper
2 pounds gold Yukon potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup half and half
Chopped chives (for garnish)
Instructions
1. Cut chuck roast into 3/4 inch cubes and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the flour and toss to coat each piece.
2. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick or iron skillet. Brown meat in batches. Do not overcrowd skillet and add oil as needed. Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. Add onion, celery, carrots and garlic to skillet and saute for six or seven minutes. Add three tablespoons of flour, mix well, and cook for two to three more minutes. Deglaze skillet with wine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Return beef to skillet and stir to combine.
4. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover skillet, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until vegetables and meat are tender. Add frozen peas and mix to combine. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
5. While stew is cooking, place potatoes in a medium large pot and cover with cold water. Add two tablespoons salt to water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pot, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife pierces potato.
6. Drain potatoes in a colander. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or push them through a ricer. Add butter, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir until butter is melted. Add half and half and stir to combine.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. Transfer beef filling to a casserole dish or finish the pie in the skillet as long as it is oven safe. Spread potatoes evenly over beef mixture with a icing spatula or large knife. Or, pipe the potatoes with a pastry bag.
9. Bake the pie for 30 to 40 minutes until bubbling and potato topping is slightly browning. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.
When i grow up, if i ever go bald, I'm gonna get a bunch of vaguely threatening tattoos and become one of those actors who play the bad guy from the mafia in every single action movie.
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The ultimate mix and match qucik bread recipe:
if something is beautiful it should be shared and cherished, and this banana bread recipe is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It’s a formula for making quick breads/muffins from a Food Network Magazine from like 2012 and it works miracles. It’s so flexible and delicious. Also ignore the part where it says to only use 1 fruit or vegetable type, I’ve mixed and matched to get to 1 cup. My all time favorite is banana zucchini bread. And it’s scalable!! I love using it to use up produce thats about to go bad. Its a very flexible and adaptible recipe/ recipe framework. Recipe in text form:
Choose a Flavor: Prepare one cup of fruit or vegetable (1 kind) such as pear(shredded and squezzed dry), apple(shredded and squezzed dry), banana(mashed), carrot(shredded), or zucchini(shredded and squezzed dry) *Note from me: I have used mixtures of multiple of these fruits/veggies adding up to one cup like a mix of zucchini and banana with great results. I have also had sucess using 1/4 cup cut up dried fruit (such as raisins) mixed with 3/4 cup warmed up applesauce*
Pick Your Mix-Ins: Choose up to 1 3/4 cups total of the following ingredients (use no more than 3/4 cup nuts). Toast and chop any nuts; chop any large dried fruit: walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, dried cherries, dried cranberries, dried currants, raisins, dried figs, dried apricots, pitted dried dates, rolled oats, chocolate chips, shredded coconut. *Note from me: I never add oats, but if you do add a lot of them you may have to decrease the amount of flour you use slightly*
Prepare the Pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or three 6-by-3-inch mini pans. *Note from me: you can also use muffin or mini muffin tins*
Make the Batter: Mix 1 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon each baking powder and salt, and 1/2 teaspoon each baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl; add your dry mix-ins (from step 2). In a medium bowl, whisk 2 eggs, 1/2 cup cooled melted butter or vegetable oil, 1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon citrus zest (optional). Stir your fruit or vegetables (from step 1) into the egg mixture, then fold into the dry mixture until just combined. *Note from me: you can use any mix of white & brown sugar, and you can use AP flour or a mix of AP and whole wheat flour, also playing around with differnt seasonings and flavorings is fun*
Bake the Loaf: Spread the batter in the prepared pan/pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a standard loaf, 35 to 40 minutes for mini loaves. Cool 30 minutes in the pan(s) on a rack, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely. *Note from me: check at like 15-20 minutes for muffins*
Make a Glaze: Prepare a glaze, pour on the cooled bread and let set, 15 to 20 minutes. Chocolate: Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Vanilla Bean: Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and the seeds from 1 vanilla bean. Brown Butter: Brown 3 tablespoons butter over low heat; cool slightly. Whisk with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Use immediately. Citrus: Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon each milk and citrus juice, and 1 teaspoon citrus zest. Cream Cheese: Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Happy baking and enjoy!!!