Shepherd's Pie

This is really easy if you have an oven-safe saute pan.

Ingredients

• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground lamb (or whatever)
• 1 tsp fresh or dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1c chicken stock
• 1c peas
• 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks of roughly the same size
• 1/2c or so milk
• 2 tbsp butter

Set the potatoes boiling in a pot. In a separate saute pan, add the carrot, celery, onion, and meat. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender and the meat browned. Then add the herbs, tomato paste, and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the peas. Toward the end of the cooking, preheat the oven to 375. When the potatoes are done, drain the water and add the milk and butter and mash. Salt to taste. Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat and vegetables in the saute pan and spread to create a layer of mashed potatoes. Use the tines of a fork to texture the surface (optional, as far as I can tell). Throw the whole thing in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until lightly golden or you can't stand it anymore (what happened for us). Serve.

Thoughts: This was really easy, if a little time consuming. I think the lamb was really good. If I weren't using lamb, I would go with a mixture of pork and beef, probably. I can't think of much I would change about this, although I might consider upping the rosemary or adding some thyme or something.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Parsnip and Leek Soup with Crab

Seems like it's been too long since we posted something here. This was too interesting to pass up, though.

Ingredients

• scant 1 lb of parsnips, peeled and chopped into rough 1-2" pieces
• 2 small leeks or, I don't know, one large one? Chopped and rinsed thoroughly to remove the sand. (We like to float the cut leeks in a bowl of water, and the sand sinks to the bottom)
• about 1 or 1.5tsp dried thyme
• splash of white wine (or vermouth)
• olive oil
• 3c chicken stock
• 1/4c whipping cream
• lump crab meat (we got a 6oz package of "blue star" crab meat, and it wasn't too expensive - like $6).
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2tbsp butter

So toss the parsnips in some olive oil and put in a glass baking dish. Cover with foil and pop in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the leeks, thyme, and wine and stir to coat. Cover back up with the foil and put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

When that's done, put everything in a soup pot with 3c of chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. When the veg are soft, blend until relatively smooth (we used an immersion blender, which worked great, but you can use a stand blender if you want a really silky texture). Return to the pot (if you took it out?) and add the whipping cream. Adjust salt and the texture - if you use low-sodium broth, I can see you needing some more salt. And if you weren't generous with the stock or if you had a few more parsnips than I did, you MAY need a little more water.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter with the lemon juice. When it's melted, add the crab to the bowl and stir. Probably won't actually cook the crab, but I don't think you really need to, either (our crab meat was pasteurized and, therefore, ready to eat). Anyway, serve the soup in a bowl (or shooter, or whatever) and top with a little bit of crab.... or a lot of crab.

Thoughts: Pretty great. The flavors complemented each other really nicely. I would say my only gripe is that I felt like there is a better way to do this. Roasting the parsnips should bring out the natural sweetness, but when you leave them covered, it kind of defeats the purpose. And why roast the leeks? Maybe next time, we throw the parsnips in the oven (covered for 15, uncovered for 25?) and while they're roasting, we could saute the leeks with the thyme and olive oil in the stock pot. That makes more sense to me. EVEN SO, this was really good. Also quite easy.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Straightforward cream of mushroom soup has deep flavor and none of that paste-y consistency that comes when you add thickeners.

Ingredients

• 3tbsp butter (ish)
• 1/2 a red onion, chopped
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 20oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1.5c water
• 2c chicken stock (you could probably substitute for veg)
• 1/2oz dried mushrooms - we used oyster mushrooms, though porcinis would be good.
• 1/6c dry sherry (we actually used Marsala, which worked very well.)
• 1/2c heavy cream
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• salt to taste

Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook until translucent, then add the garlic and nutmeg. Cook for another 30 seconds (until fragrant) and add the creminis. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, then set heat to low and cover. Let them cook 15-20 minutes, stirring (again) occasionally. Add the stock, water, and dried mushrooms and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes (probably don't have to stir at all). Then, working in batches (or however you want to do it), blend the soup in a blender. You might be able to get away with an immersion blender here, but I'm not sure. Anyway, return to the pot and add the sherry, cream, and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.

Thoughts: This was actually kind of time-consuming, but only because it was the first time we made it, I think, and we wanted to watch it all the time. Otherwise, the flavor was fantastic. I think we did something really smart here. Only complaint I think could be legitimately raised is that there isn't a lot of textural variety. I'm not sure what I would want to fix that. Probably some crusty bread would do the trick, or something equivalent. Not sure. Anyway, definitely make this soup.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Cinnamon Rolls

It's shameful that I have not blogged this yet, since I've been making variations on it for years. We made these again today, and Claire remembered not liking the recipe. I told her she was creating false memories, and what she didn't like was our variations (particularly when we tried to add raisins). Turns out: I was right. Still an awesome recipe. It's basically from this recipe, though we have our own version of frosting and some minor edits.

Ingredients

• Rolls
• 4.5c all purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2c granulated sugar
• 2.25tsp yeast
• 4tbsp butter (half a stick), melted
• 1c milk, warmed in the microwave
• 1tsp salt (we didn't add this the last go-round, and it wasn't as good as it could be. Next time I think we'll do this, though).
• Filling
• 4tbsp butter (the other half of that stick), melted
• 3/4c (packed) brown sugar
• 2tbsp cinnamon
• Frosting
• 4tbsp butter
• 4oz cream cheese
• 1.33c powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Make the rolls. Basically, combine all the ingredients and knead into a dough. Turn out onto a floured counter and knead until smooth. Return to the (now liberally greased) bowl and cover to rise for two hours. THE FULL two hours. Don't skimp.

Now make the filling. Melt the butter. Mix in the other things. DONE.

After two hours have elapsed, take the dough out of the bowl and put on the counter. DON'T PUNCH IT DOWN. Just roll the dough out into a huge rectangle, like 18" wide and maybe 14" deep? As big as you can manage, keeping the dough about 1cm thick. Spread the filling across the whole dough using a spatula. Or your hands, or whatever. Now starting at the wide end, roll the dough up. Cut into 12 pieces (cut into fourths, then each fourth into thirds). Stand these up in a 9x13 casserole pan.

Now preheat the oven to 400 and cover the cinnamon rolls (loosely) to rise for another 30 minutes. When they've risen and the oven has preheated, bake for 15-20 minutes. We did exactly 15 this last time, and they were a LITTLE doughy, but who's complaining? Next time, 18-20, though.

While those go, you can make the frosting. Bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature. Using an electric mixer of some kind, cream together the butter and cream cheese, then add the powdered sugar by 1/3 cups until you've got it all mixed. Then add the vanilla.

We recommend not frosting the cinnamon rolls until you're ready to eat them. Although this recipe has a lot of steps, it's actually not harder than making a loaf of bread. Once you do it the first time, it'll be easy from then on.

Thoughts: Just what I needed: diabetes.

Disaster Index: 1/10

B'Stilla

We went off the beaten path for this one, I guess. B'stilla is a chicken almond filo (or phyllo) pie from Morocco. Some recipes incorporate apricots. When I saw the recipe, I was reminded of a dish they serve at Medcaf in Madison, WI, that they call "chicken apricot pie". I think theirs is the same IDEA, but maybe different execution. Nevertheless, this was really delicious. We have some tweaks for next time, though.

This recipe makes TWO small pie-sized dishes.

Ingredients

• Ras El Hanout
• 1/2 tsp aniseed
• 1 tsp fennel
• 8 allspice berries (or, I guess, like 1/2 tsp)
• seeds from 8 cardamom pods
• 8 whole cloves
• 15 black peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried ground ginger
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• Almond Sugar (seriously)
• 1/2c almonds
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Apricot Compote
• 8oz dried apricots
• water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Filling
• Filo dough
• 2 smallish onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 tsp grated ginger (fresh)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
• 2 tsp Ras El Hanout
• 2c chicken stock
• 1.5-2 lbs chicken thighs
• 1c bulgur (Could maybe use rice in place of it? Or maybe even oatmeal?)
• olive oil
• salt

So first grind together that huge list of spices to make the Ras El Hanout. You'll be left with quite a lot. If you can figure out how to get the right mixture but with less extra left over, by all means. But it's REALLY interesting, so I'm sure we'll use it in other stuff. It might be good in a bechamel.

Now, do the compote. This takes forever, so you can do it ahead of time. Chop the apricots finely and throw them in a sauce pan with water to cover (generously) and the lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until they're really soft and you basically have jam. It takes like 30-45 minutes. You will probably have to add water part way through a couple times.

NEXT, throw the onions and garlic in a stock pot with some olive oil. Cook until onions are translucent, then add the ginger, pepper, ras el hanout, stock, and chicken thighs. Bring to a boil, stirring, and then reduce to a simmer and cover until the chicken is very tender. Remove the chicken and shred using two forks (or whatever you want, I guess), then return to the pot with the bulgur. (Now would be a good time to set the Filo out to thaw!) Bring BACK to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off and leave covered for another 10 minutes or so. Use your judgement on this one.

While that's sitting, preheat the oven to 425. Grind the almonds with the sugar and cinnamon. Take about three sheets of filo and lay them across a pie tin. Brush the bottom with olive oil, then sprinkle with 1/4 of the almond mixture. On top of it, add 1/2 the chicken mixture. Then another 1/4 the almond mixture. Top with 1/2 the apricot compote, then fold the filo over to form a top crust. Or just use more sheets of filo. Brush those with olive oil (generously). Repeat the process with a SECOND pie tin. You could probably actually do this whole thing in a 9x13 casserole pan and do a couple layers of filo, etc. ANYWAY, bake the suckers for 20 minutes, until the filo is browned. Enjoy! IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH.

Thoughts: This was really delicious, but incredibly time consuming. Or I'm just grumpy because I'm cutting back on my caffeine this week. But next time we thought maybe more layers of filo and stuff. Claire thought a little more salt in the chicken. What else? Parsley. Probably a lot of that could go in here. Claire thought maybe incorporate pieces of dried apricot when you do the chicken, rather than doing apricot jam like we did. I think that is probably wise.

Disaster Index: 1/10 - despite our minor complaints, this really killed it. We accidentally AN ENTIRE PIE IN ONE SITTING. So.

Ginger Beer (syrup)

I told you that story so I could tell you this one.

Ingredients

• about 1/2c of ginger, minced. Don't bother peeling it.
• 1 small lime, sliced thin
• 1/2c brown sugar*
• water to cover, plus a little

For ginger, I used about $1 worth of fresh ginger. I don't know how to measure this. It must have been about a 6" long piece with two branches? I don't know. The more ginger the better for this.

Toss the ginger and lime into a saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Pour through a cheesecloth, then (here's the important part) squeeze out the ginger and lime that's in the cheesecloth. There is a LOT of liquid in there.

Add 1/2c brown sugar for each cup of liquid. Or, if you're like me, add 1/2c at a time until it tastes about right. Mix with soda water in a ratio of 1:3.

Thoughts: This is slightly different from brewing ginger beer, but much faster and much easier. I discovered that the secret to a good syrup for mixing with carbonated water is to filter out as much of the particulate matter as you can from the syrup so the bubbles don't all come out of solution at once. Anyway, I think this recipe worked pretty well. Ginger beer can never be ginger-y enough to be satisfying to me, so I wonder how I could improve that. Maybe if you cook ginger less, it's more punchy? To test this theory, next time I will use less water. I will grate the ginger FINELY, then cook for 2 minutes and (again) wring the ginger dry afterward. We'll see what that does? HOWEVER, this WAS fairly potent. One good option would be to use less sugar and then just use more ginger syrup to water.

Disaster Index: 1/10, good show.

Cola

Or, "Dan gets bored of studying insurance accounting."

Ingredients

• 2c water
• 1 tbsp dried lemon zest
• 2 tbsp dried clementine zest
• 1 fairly dry vanilla bean pod, snapped into five pieces
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 star anise pod thing
• 1/2 tsp lavender flowers
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 1 cardamom pod
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek
• 1/4 tsp citric acid
• 1tsp instant coffee
• about 1/2c sugar

Add all the aromatics to the water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth, then a coffee filter. Then add the citric acid, coffee, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then refrigerate. Mix in a ratio of 1:4 with soda water. Drink while watching Portlandia. Cry about what a hipster you've become. Cry your ironic hipster tears.

Thoughts: This is VERY CLOSE. We're not quite there yet - in the future, we may switch to dark brown sugar instead of granulated. Maybe a splash of dark rum would do the trick? Another idea I had was to throw a half teaspoon of Russian Caravan or Lapsang Souchong tea in with the water. This reminds me very much of "china cola" that we used to get at woodman's. Do they still sell that stuff? Apparently.

Disaster Index: 1/10