Shepherd's Pie

Rolling back in from vacation I didn't have a lot of food in the house but I did have most of the ingredients to put together a shepherd's pie casserole type dish. This is both hearty and healthy as well as yummy. The peas, carrots, onions, green pepper, and mushrooms give it a lot of pretty color and flavor and the ground turkey with gravy holds everything together. Of course the mashed potatoes on top really help to fill you up too. I added in cheese and horseradish to them for a little extra zing. This is kind of time consuming to put together because of all the chopping but if you do that in advance you can have this on the table in about an hour. 

Shepherd's Pie

10 oz or more Frozen Peas

6-7 Carrots sliced thin

1 1/2 Onions diced

2-3 tablespoons minced Garlic divided

1 Green Bell Pepper diced

8 oz. fresh Portabella Mushrooms diced 

1 Gravy packet or 2 tablespoons Flour
1 1/2 cups (about) Beef Broth
1 lb Ground Turkey

7 red Potatoes diced

2 teaspoons Horseradish

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1/2 - 3/4 cup Milk

2 tablespoons Butter

Salt

lots of fresh ground Pepper

Oil

In a large pot of salted water bring potatoes to boil and cook until just tender.

Right before mixing

Drain and mash the potatoes with the butter, sour cream, horseradish, and milk until creamy then add in the cheese and one tablespoon garlic and mix. Set aside.

In a large skillet in some olive oil saute onions, mushrooms, two tablespoons garlic, and bell pepper until onions start to become translucent and caramelize - season with salt and pepper.

Onions and peppers before they have been cooked

Add in the ground turkey and cook until browned then sprinkle on the gravy packet or the flour and mix around until everything is coated then slowly pour in the beef broth and bring to a slow boil to thicken.

Gravy, yum!

Mix in the peas and carrots.

Pour into a 13x9 inch pan and top with the mashed potatoes.

Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes or so before eating.

Serves 8 or more.

Moroccan Chicken Pie (B'stilla)

This is the best food you will ever eat. I have never made or tasted anything better than this chicken pie. I first had a version of B'stilla at a Moroccan restaurant in Chicago and was obsessed with finding a recipe for it, and one day while stumbling recipe blogs I happened upon Turntable Kitchen's adaptation of a Bon Appetit recipe for B'stilla (also known as Moroccan Chicken Pie). I made it and the result was heavenly. The filling is chicken that has been stewed in a variety of spices, including cinnamon, with golden raisins and onions - the result is a wonderfully rich and complete flavor that is to die for.

Then this tasty filling is sandwiched between several layers of phyllo that have been buttered and sprinkled with a cinnamon/almond/sugar mixture. The blend of savory and sweet is like nothing I have ever tasted. I could, without any trouble, eat an entire pie plate of this in one sitting. And in fact when I made it for my boyfriend and a colleague he had invited over we polished off the whole pan in one sitting.

This recipe is, without a doubt, time consuming; mostly due to the phyllo sheets, which are notoriously difficult to handle. They dry out easily and also tear easily because they are so thin and delicate. Make sure to handle with care and cover the stack of phyllo sheets with a slightly dampened paper towel when you are working with it. One way to cut down on the time factor is to make the filling in advance the day before or you could even freeze the filling for a few weeks.

However, it is well worth the effort to make this recipe and the special someone(s) you make it for will be in your debt for a long time. :)

Enjoy!


Moroccan Chicken Pie (From Turntable Kitchen)

Filling
1 onion diced
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 tablespoon Flour
2 cups Chicken Broth
3-4 Chicken Breasts chopped into large pieces
1/3 cup Golden Raisins
1 tablespoon Parsley
Olive Oil

Phyllo Layers
1/2 cup Almonds finely crushed
3 tablespoons Powdered Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
10 sheets defrosted Phyllo (get the thin greek stuff not puff pastry)
1/2 cup Butter melted
Saute onions in oil in a large skillet over medium heat until transparent then add in the spices and stir. Sprinkle in the flour and stir in well, then add in the chicken broth. Gently place the chicken pieces into the broth as well as the raisins and reduce heat to medium low - cook for about 20-30 minutes or until chicken is done and shreds easily (broth should also be cooked down).

partway through cooking

Once chicken has cooked down add in the parsley and remove skillet from heat. Once the filling has cooled down shred the chicken with your fingers and mix it all together. Set aside.

filling after chicken has been shredded

In a small dish mix together the almonds, powdered sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Unroll the phyllo sheets and grab about 10 of them (take more than 10 because they tear easily so you will have to throw out a few) and lay them out on the counter in a stack. Take a 9 inch pie plate and put over the phyllo and cut around the phyllo with a knife or scissors to make the sheets the correct size (they can be a little larger than the pie plate).

Phyllo after it has been cut to size

Once that is done cover the cut sheets of phyllo with a damp cloth so that they don't dry out too much and become hard to handle.

Place one phyllo sheet into the pie plate and brush gently with melted butter then sprinkle on a little of the almond mixture. Repeat this 4 times to get the five layers of phyllo.

Pour the filling over the layers. Put a sheet of phyllo on top of the filling; brush with butter and sprinkle with the almond mixture. do this three more times and then put the final sheet of phyllo down without any butter or almond mixture.

phyllo with butter brushed on top

Cut an X into the center and bake at 375 for 40 minutes (make sure the top phyllo sheet is browned and crispy) then remove from oven. Cool for about 10 minutes then serve.

Corn Cakes

I made these to go with slow cooked pork roast and they turned out great; they are a hybrid of a few different recipes. I used yogurt instead of just buttermilk because I had some greek yogurt left over than needed using up but you could probably use all buttermilk if you wanted or even sour cream. Also, cheese would probably taste really good in these too.

These cakes are addictive and I kept nibbling on them as they were frying!

Corn Cakes
1/2 cup Yogurt
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/3 cup Oil
2 Eggs
1 cup Cornmeal
1/3 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Sugar
2-3 Chili Peppers chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
1 cup frozen Corn
Butter for frying
In a large sized bowl mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar and then add in the buttermilk, yogurt, oil and eggs. Mix just until everything is moistened then put in the corn, onions, and peppers.

Everything in the bowl

Heat a large skillet to about medium high heat and put a little butter in the pan (I just take a stick of butter and rub it around on the skillet until there is a light coating of butter).

Mixed up batter

Using a large serving spoon scoop out a spoonful of the batter and put it in the pan. (my pan fits two scoops) fry for a little over a minute and then flip over and fry for about 45 seconds.

Both sides of the corn cakes should be light brown. Continue until all of the batter is used up. Makes about 12.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic Cheese Sauce

While engaging in one of my favorite activities, stumbling food websites, I came across this recipe for sweet potato gnocchi on The Noshery, an excellent food blog. I had never made gnocchi before so I decided to try my hand at it. These are truly little bites of heaven. Using sweet potato instead of regular potatoes was a genius move, it makes the gnocchi even richer and gives it a slight sweetness which the garlicky cheese sauce offsets perfectly. Making gnocchi is a time consuming endeavor, I think it took me about two hours to make the dough, cut it up, and boil it. Not to mention the sauce. Definitely a weekend project for a meal that you want to make special, or if you are bored and want to tackle a new kitchen project (that would be me).

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic Cheese Sauce (adapted from this recipe)

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
1 1/2 cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes (about 3 sweet potatoes)
6 oz Low Fat Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
2 1/2 cups (about) Flour
Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork and roast at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until soft. Mash up sweet potatoes and then let cool. Once they have cooled put them in a large mixing bowl and mix in the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and nutmeg.

Sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese

Gradually add in the flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is only slightly sticky and stays together enough to handle. Take dough out and knead on a floured surface, adding more flour as needed until dough is smooth. Divide dough into three sections.

Divided dough

Roll one section into a rope, one inch in diameter.

Rope of dough

Cut the rope into four equal parts and then slice the four parts into about one inch pieces.

The four pieced

Uncooked pieces of gnocchi

Repeat with other sections. Bring a large pot of water to boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water in about three batches (you don't want too many gnocchi in the water). Boil the gnocchi for 6 minutes - once gnocchi are starting to get done they will rise to the top of the pot. The Noshery suggested frying the cooked gnocchi to crisp them up a little and I tried that, it was an excellent idea. Just put a little butter in the frying pan, turn onto medium heat and throw in a few handfuls of gnocchi at a time cooking on each side for a minute or two until lightly browned. The exterior crunch makes the chewy gnocchi center even better.

Garlic Cheese Sauce
2 cups Milk
3 tablespoons Butter
3 tablespoons Flour
1 cup Gouda Cheese
1 tablespoon Garlic minced
1 Onion chopped fine
Salt
Pepper
In a large frying pan on medium heat saute onion and garlic in one tablespoon of the butter until onions become translucent and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn burner down to low, then add in the rest of the butter and melt. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter, onions, and garlic and stir in. Slowly add in the milk, stirring constantly or the mixture will clump. If it starts to clump pull off heat and stir in more milk until mixture is smooth again. Once milk is incorporated continue to cook on low heat until boiling, continue boiling for about 2 minutes (should be slightly thick). Add in the gouda and stir until melted. Pour over the gnocchi and serve. Gnocchi and sauce serve about 3-4 depending on if you have sides and how hungry everyone is.

Caramelized Carrots

These carrots are from the 2007 America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, created by the fine people behind the fabulous cooking magazine Cook's Illustrated. Aside from the recipes, which are always the best, they go through and analyze how they perfected the recipe and what makes it good, what mistakes were made, everything. It is like having a window into a cook's mind - great for someone who is just starting out cooking and wants to understand the mechanics behind what happens in the kitchen. Also, their product reviews are the best - they go through and rank different products by overall best product and best product by price. They always give good reasons for why a product is picked and it isn't always the higher end stuff that ends up being ranked the best.

Anyway, these carrots are super yummy, the sweet glaze caramelizes perfectly in the oven, and the carrots have a nice crunch before the softness inside.

A lovely accompaniment to any dinner. Enjoy!

Caramelized Carrots
1 1/2 lb Carrots cut in 2-3 inch pieces and quartered
1 1/2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Butter melted
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 -1 teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper
Cut ends off of carrots. Cut into 2-3 inch pieces then quarter those pieces (the carrot pieces should be small so that they are crisper and caramelize better). Put carrots into a medium mixing bowl and toss with all of the other ingredients. Spread in a single layer onto a large cookie sheet.

Carrots about to go into the oven

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 475 degrees, stirring once or twice while baking.

Gooey Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the Cookbook "Baking: From My Home to Yours"by Dorie Greenspan, but I actually found the recipe at Kait's Plate. These cookies are exactly what I was looking for, they are thin, chewy, and slightly gooey - exactly the way I like them. They aren't cakey or dry at all, which is something I have been cursed with when making most chocolate chip cookie recipes. I think this one may now be my go-to recipe.

Happy Baking!

Gooey Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Original recipe here)
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) Butter softened
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
2 cups (or about 12 oz) Chocolate Chips (I use Ghiradelli brand, I like the shape and taste better than Nestle)
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat soft butter for a minute or two then add in the sugars and beat for two minutes.

adding in the sugar

Add eggs one at a time beating for one minute after each egg.

After beating the eggs in

Stir in the vanilla. Add in the flour gradually, in three batches, mixing well after each addition, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Raw dough, tasty!

Bake at 375 for about 9 minutes (check after 8 minutes). The cookies will look a little underdone when you pull them out but that is ok, if you don't take them out when they are just starting to brown on the sides they will get over-done and crispy. Made 36 cookies (but it varies a little).

Rows of cookies!

Creamed Broccoli Curry Casserole

Just Out of the Oven

I had a lot of broccoli I needed to use up last night and, fortuitously, I remembered having a really delicious casserole at a party a couple of days ago that contained said ingredient. I called the woman who made it and got the recipe: this casserole is based on that recipe, with modifications based on what I had available. I substituted potatoes for cauliflower, sour cream for mayo, and cream of chicken soup for mushroom. My point being that you can generally substitute or leave out quite a few things, if you put a little thought into it, without sacrificing flavor.

The casserole turned out great! Very rich and creamy. Enjoy.

Creamed Broccoli Curry Casserole
2-3 Bunches Fresh Broccoli (or one 12 oz. Frozen Broccoli) chopped
4-6 Carrots cut into sticks
2-3 Potatoes cubed
1 10 oz can Cream of Mushroom Soup (or other cream soup)
4-6 oz. Parmesan Cheese (or italian cheese blend)
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Sour Cream (Mayonnaise)
2 tablespoons Curry Powder
Salt
Pepper
Croutons
Briefly steam broccoli, carrots, and potatoes (for about 5 minutes); drain any excess water. Put vegetables and potatoes in a baking dish and mix in the soup, cheese, butter, sour cream, curry powder, salt, and pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes at 350 then put croutons on top and sprinkle with more cheese if desired and bake for another 15 minutes.

Feather-Light Muffins

Warm and cinnamony!

These muffins are so yummy. They are lightly spiced, and after you bake them they are dipped into melted butter and swirled in cinnamon sugar! I found this recipe in an issue of Reminisce, I believe, it's hard to remember because it was so long ago.

I don't have muffin tins so I just plopped the dough onto a cookie sheet and it still baked up fine, they just looked more like scones than muffins.

Definitely serve these warm! Enjoy!

Feather-Light Muffins
1/3 cups Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Milk
Topping
1/2 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 Butter melted
Cream butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl, then add egg and mix in well. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. If you have a muffin tin put the batter into the greased muffin tin (make 8-10 muffins). If you don't have a muffin tin, grease a cookie sheet and drop the batter into eight blobs. Bake at 325 for approximately 20 minutes or until the center is done.

While the muffins are cooking place the melted butter in a shallow bowl and place the cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl as well (mix the cinnamon and sugar together).

Once the muffins have baked dip them (while still hot) in to the melted butter then into the cinnamon sugar to coat. Serve while warm for best result or reheat for later.