Busting Out the Winter Guns

All of this rainy cold weather is forcing me to bust out some hearty winter recipes. Rather than being outdoors grilling up some kabobs and burgers, I was tucked inside my kitchen blasting my oven conjuring up some Shepherds Pie. Growing up, Shepherds Pie was one of my dad's "go to" meals he fed to my brother and I when my mom didn't have time to prepare dinner. Due to his bland taste buds (he hates garlic!!!) his Shepherds Pie consisted of a layer of ground beef and onion, layer of canned creamed corn, topped off with some mashed potatoes. His seasonings simple: salt and pepper.
Out of nostalgia I still find comfort in this dish (my brother still refuses to touch it), but to make my own I would definitely stray from my Dad's recipe. Borrowing from an earlier Crow post, "Not Your Momma's Casserole" I have dubbed my creation "Not My Daddy's Shepherds Pie".


Not My Daddy's Shepherds Pie
1 lb ground beef (available at Harvest, JP)
1/4 onion, chopped
5 to 10 mushrooms, chopped
large bunch chard, chopped
stove top creamed corn (recipe below)
3 large yukon gold potatoes
1 large sweet potato
fresh parsley
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
butter, cream and stock (optional)
1/2 a beer (whatever the chef happens to be enjoying at the time)
olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

• Stove Top Creamed Corn: Pour a packet of frozen corn kernels into a sauce pan, add a mixture of cream and vegetable stock* to cover the corn half way, a couple dollops of butter and some salt and pepper. Simmer this mixture for 20-30 minutes, near the end start breaking up the corn kernels with the back of a spoon.
• Peel potatoes, cut into chunks and bring to a simmer in salted water. Once fork tender mash together with desired amount of butter, cream or stock, salt pepper and fresh chopped parsley.
• Saute onions and mushrooms in a large pan, once onions are translucent add beef and break up into small chunks. When beef is almost cooked through add half a beer and let simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
• Saute garlic in a saucepan with some olive oil, add chard, salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes, simmer until just wilted.
• Coat a casserole dish with olive oil spray, add beef mixture, then creamed corn, chard, and top off with mashed potatoes
• Bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, then let rest 10-15 minutes before digging in.

* If you want to cut back on using cream or milk, substitute with vegetable stock or use a mixture of the two.

Hopefully I won't have to bust this meal out until October but who knows with New England Weather.

Put This in Your Back Pocket for Soup Season

After those two 90 degree days I'm sure that soup is that last thing on everyone's mind, but honestly I can not wait until Fall to post my favorite soup recipe. Plus who knows- living in New England we could always get another freak snow storm before summer (this better not happen).

Spicy Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
1 medium onion-diced
2 medium carrots-diced
2 celery ribs-diced
1 red bell pepper-diced
5 medium sized mushrooms sliced (optional)
1/2 bunch of kale- rinsed and chopped
2 medium garlic cloves- minced
1 can diced tomatoes (preferably Muir Glen Fire Roasted-a favorite amongst most crows)
1 quart vegetable broth plus 1-2 cups water (depending on how thick you like your soups)
1 1/3 cup dried red lentils- rinsed
1 Bay Leaf
1 1/2 tsp cumin, turmeric & cayenne pepper
olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

• Heat olive oil in stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat- add onions, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and bay leaf
• Cook until onions become translucent but not browned- add red pepper, mushrooms, garlic and remaining spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes
• Add broth, lentils, tomatoes and water and bring to a simmer
• Once soup is simmering add the chopped kale and an extra dash of salt
• Let soup simmer for 40 minutes (if using a dutch oven this will only take 30 minutes, turn heat off and cover-let sit for an additional 10 minutes)
• Serve with crusty bread

This recipe box was made and given to me by fellow Crow Riane Welch last Christmas. I keep all of my favorite recipes inside which saves time flipping through cook books and scouring the internet. This red lentil soup came to me when I had left over red lentils after attempting to make some cakes out of them- not so successful. I just followed a basic soup recipe, tweaked it a couple of times and voila- Spicy Tomato & Red Lentil Soup!