Pub Lover's Shepherd's Pie

It's been a very exciting two or three months or so. I recently took a job in an Irish pub to gain experience at making food that warms the cockles and I also wanted to begin to experiment with Gastro-pub fare. My favourite in this style is Sheperd's Pie.
Sheperd's pie finds its roots in the late 19th century when Great Britain began to accept potatoes as a viable food. The dish found itself quickly gaining popularity on the english countryside and was adopted by inkeepers and farmers for its ease and great taste. Therefore, shepherd's pie should always be made with farm fresh seasonal ingredients. I have my own recipe that I think elevates this dish from peasant to gourmand.

You will Need:

2 cups cream
1/2 lb butter (diced)
Potatoes (2 to 3 lbs, I like Yukon Gold for its buttery texture, but any-type will do)
Basic classic Mirepoix (carrots, onions, and celery cubed as small as possible)
White wine (the white Masi is awesome)
3 cups Corn (or one of your favourite autumn vegetables)
1/2 cup Diced Roasted red peppers
2 cups Mushrooms
3 lbs. Medium ground Beef (can easily be replaced with bison or horse)

Recipe:

Mashed Potatoes: Cut all of the potatoes in half and boil them (with skins) until softened and starchy. (Make sure you season the potatoes with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper).

Drain water.

Add 1/2 lb of butter and cream and mash by hand until you achieve fluffy peaks with no chunks.

Meat: Cook the basic mirepoix at a medium high heat in a frying pan. Once the mirepoix is softened and browned, throw in the meat. Stir the meat constantly until it is all browned.
Transfer the the meat and mirepoix into a pot on low heat.
Add the mushrooms to the pan and brown (...season!). Throw the mushrooms into the the meat mixture.
Deglaze the frying pan with the white wine and throw it into the meat mixture.
Let it simmer until almost all of the liquid is gone.

Vegetables: Simply mix the corn and the diced roasted red pepper into a mixing bowl (once again, make sure it is beautifully seasoned).

The Finale: Layer the Meat (Bottom), the vegies (middle) and mash using a piping bag (top layer ) into a pan.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place your Shepherd's Pie into the oven and let it cook for about 20 minutes. You can finish it off with a high heat broil to get a nice caramel colour on the to layer of potatoes.

Once it is done, pull it out of the oven and let it settle for about twenty minutes before serving.

My cockles already feel warmed.

Party Starter Jello Shots

I have a hard time with foodies that take themselves too seriously. While I do definitely share their passions for food, I often feel that they are lost in snoby restos and miss out on the simple cheap and easy delights.

You would not believe how many parties go from "pretty alright" to "take your clothes off, and start a conga line into the neighbour's back yard!" with these fantastically deadly little shots. I truly believe that the bar scene could actually do pretty well with these things; if they are done properly.

Here is the basic recipe:

1 pack Jello
1 cup Boiling Water
1/2 cup of alcoholic beverage
1/2 cup of cold water

Mix ingredients. one at a time in a juice jug. Stir until mixed and pour out mixture into plastic shot glasses.

Now here are three takes on the above recipe that will blow you, and your party guests away:

Jello Mojito Shooter:

1 pack of Lime Jello
1 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of Brown Rum (aged, if you want to be a little posh)
1/2 cup of 7-up
a handful of mint leaves

Make sure that when you are pouring the mixture into the shot glasses, that you pass it through a cheese cloth or some sort of other filter.

Ameretto Cherry delight:

You guessed it, Amaretto for the alcohol and cherry jello.

Tequila bandidos!:

In this recipe, you will use lemon jello as well as 7-up in place of the cold water.

Remember to encourage your guests to drink responsibly. The only thing left to say is, "Here's to a sweetheart, a bottle, and a friend.
The first beautiful, the second full, the last ever faithful."

Have fun, and CHEERS!

BBQ Blue Cheese stuffed, Roasted Pepper burgers

It's pretty hard to get through summer without eating bbq at least once. Actually, the truth is we end eating so much of it that we become more and more discerning over the quality of the meal. Maybe we don't judge every bite like a foodie writer who is reviewing a chef's hard work for a posh magazine, but we can definitely tell the difference in quality between say... someone who took the time to prepare their meal using fresh ingredients rather than the frozen, mass produced , boxed variety.

Here is a simple, delicious recipe for some burgers that will knock your friends off their lawnchairs.

Here is what you need.

1 1/2 Pounds of minced meat (medium... A little bit of fat is good...)
6 tbsp Blue Cheese
2 Roasted marinated peppers
2 Cloves of garlic
1/2 Red Onion
1 Egg (large)
salt and pepper to taste
6 fresh egg buns
6 thin capicollo slices

Finely chop the onion and the peppers; mince the garlic and mix it into the bowl with the meat and the egg. Get dirty, use your hands, but be gentle. Separate the meat into 6 equal portions, place blue cheese into the center of each patty and close the meat over it. Place the patties on a plate and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

When you are ready for the burgers, get your BBQ good and hot. Cook the patties for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes per side to ensure that the finish is medium done. Make sure not to press down on the burger (you want to preserve the juices and make sure that the cheese stays in your burger and not all over the bbq).

During the last 2 minutes of cooking, place the buns on the grill to brown. Place the burgers in the buns and top with hot capicollo slice and serve. Watch your guests melt with each bite.

A Cheesecake to kill for.

It's sometimes tough to get through those rainy summer days without allowing the melancholy take you over a little. So, you can guess what it is that I do to avoid those rainy day blues. In fact, it is pretty hard to feel even mildly depressed when you are eating a sinfully delicious cheesecake with a passito reduction glaze on the plate for a little bit of fun.

For specialized equipment you will need 2 same size springform cake pans and a brule torch.

Now, run down to the closest farmers market and pick up:

16 oz cream cheese

1 cup raw sugar

3 eggs 1 tbsp (15 mL)

1 ounce passito desert wine

1 vanilla bean (halved and scrapped)

Pinch salt

750 mL (3 cups) sour cream

In large bowl, beat the cream cheese until softened. Gradually beat in sugar and beat for 3 minutes or until smooth and light, scraping down bowl twice. beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl often. Blend in Passito, vanilla and salt, then sour cream

Place rounded parchment sheets at the bottom of each springform pan, pour batter, 1/2 in each pan. Set both spring form pans in a larger hotel pan; pour enough hot water into larger pan to come 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the side of each springform pan.

Bake in centre of 325°F (160°C) oven for 1-1/4 hours or until shine disappears and edge is set yet centre still jiggles slightly. Turn off oven. Quickly run knife around edge of cake. Let cool in oven for 1 hour. Remove from water and transfer to rack; remove foil and let cool completely.

Once completely chilled, spread a full layer of sugar over each cake and use brule torch to caramelize. Remove parchment paper from one of the cakes and place one layer on top of the other.

To make the reduction glaze, pour 2 cups of Passito desert wine into a saucepan and reduce it by 2/3.

Serve cake on a chilled plate and decorate with the reduction. Goodbye rainy day blues... hello gourmet treat.

Fresh fire raviolli in brodo.

Summertime… Most of us begin to think of BBQ’s and little umbrella drinks in the backyard; I think of freshness. I think of gardens blooming with fresh herbs and tomatoes. So, I will share with you my fresh pasta.

Pasta is the one of the most versatile mediums to convey different seasonal flavours. One of my favourite things to do is take a ride to Montreal’s Jean-Talon market, walk around the different vendors and choose the freshest produce and ingredients and put together a tasty and colourful sauce for some fresh pasta.

Today, we will be making some fresh, pepper and ricotta stuffed ravioli with a chicken Brodo and spinach.

Here are the ingredients:

For the Pasta:

2 ½ cups all-purpose Flour
1 Cup semolina flour
3 Extra Large Eggs
1 Egg yolk
1Tsp. Olive oil
Salt to taste

For the filing:

1 chilli pepper (stripped and diced)
1 Cup of ricotta
1 Red bell pepper (Stripped and diced)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Topping:

3 Cups chicken stock
1 pack of baby spinach


(Make this first) For the stuffing:

Strip the pepper down until you are only left with the flesh and dice it as small as possible; do the same with the red bell pepper. Mix the peppers and ricotta in a medium bowl and use salt and black pepper to taste.

For the pasta:

Mix and sift the dry ingredients into a mound. Make hole in the centre of the mound (this should make the mound sort of look like a volcano. Place the eggs and egg yolk into the mound. Use a fork to beat the eggs, once the eggs are beaten, slowly mix the walls of the volcano into the egg mixture. Eventually, the dough will be too thick for the fork, once this happens use your hands. Continue to roll and knead the dough into a mound and use flour to avoid sticking.

Once you have the dough roll, you can begin to slice it up and run the pieces through a pasta machine until it is close to a 3/16 thickness or so.

Spoon little balls of filling at every 1.5 inches. Fold the pasta over the spoonfuls and gently press the edges down to stick. Cut each of the pieces into triangles.

Broth:

Heat 3 cups of chicken stock over low-medium heat until just before boil. Place in the pack of baby spinach inside and salt to taste.

Once a nice simmer is achieved, place the pasta gently into the broth; once cooked (approx. 3 minutes or so) spoon out into a bowl with a little bit of broth and spinach.

Spread some thin slices of Romano cheese over the dish and serve.

Brother and Sister Salad

With every new season comes a sense of cleansing. The new smells in the air combine a sense of familiarity with excitement for something new coming into our lives. I think today’s recipe is going to be about the new season, familiarity and that cleansing; it will be a brother and sister salad.

The basic inspiration for this dish comes from all of my favourite salad ingredients and will be coated by Andrea’s (my sister’s) famous dressing.

Here are the fruits and veggies you will need for the brother portion of the salad:

Prep time approximately 20 mins. (depending on your chopping skills)


1/2 head of Escarole (separated and washed)
1 full head of Frisée (separated and washed)
4 Leaves of Fresh basil
5 chive stalks (chopped)
2 Green Apples (cored and cut into 16ths)
5 Tomatillos (halved)
1/2 Cucumber (Sliced and quartered)

Here are the ingredients for the sister dressing:

4 tbsp Cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh Lemon juice
1/3 cup of Olive oil
1garlic cube or 2 crushed and finely chopped cloves
1 Tsp. Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Make sure that all the fruits and veggies are cleaned and patted dry; throw it all into a mixing bowl. Take all the sister ingredients and pop them into a dressing shaker (or even a small drink shaker if you want), shake it all up and pour over the salad in the mixing bowl. Toss the salad, serve it, and that’s it, simple easy, fresh and very, very tasty.

Comfortably Coddled Eggs

Today’s recipe is all about the comfort foods; curling up in a warm place and just allowing the smell, taste and warmth to heal the soul (goodness knows I needed some of that this week). My personal favourite time to enjoy comfort food is in the morning. There is something to be said about the healing power of waking up to the scent of fresh coffee brewing, bacon frying and flapjacks being flipped. In today’s recipe, we are going to use inspiration from “Restaurant Makeover’s” Jeremiah Bullfrog episode. I saw David Adjey make this dish and it blew me away. So, I woke up the next morning whipped together some of the ingredients, and had a wonderful morning breakfast while basking in some spring sunshine.


Prep Time: @10mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Total time: 30 mins.

You will need (per serving):

1/3 cup cream
1 egg
2 Tbsp cognac pâté
1 bococinni cheese
2 slices Brie
½ tomato sliced
2 strands of saffron
1 sliced Panini bread
fresh parsley, kosher salt, pepper (to taste)

Pre heat oven to 375˚

This one is pretty easy. Take a deep ramekin and fill it with the cream and crack the egg into it. Throw in the saffron strands, fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Place the ramekin into the oven for about 10 minutes. Slice your Panini into thin slices and place it onto an aluminium-baking sheet and pop them into the oven beside the ramekin(s) until golden brown. Serve the ramekin with the toastettes, bococini, sliced tomato, pâté and the Brie.

On top of being comforting and wholesome, this dish is also lots of fun to eat; dip the toastettes in the egg and cream mixture with or without the pâté or Brie. Enjoy!!!