Recipe Box: Shepherd's Pie

 
This Shepherd's Pie is one of my easy go-to recipes. It makes plenty of food and reheats very well as leftovers. I adapted it from a recipe I found on simplyrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground round
1 chopped yellow onion
2 cups mixed vegetables such as corn, chopped carrots, peas
3 large russet potatoes (about 1.5-2 lbs)
8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth or stock
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup milk (optional for mashed potatoes)
Salt and pepper
Other seasonings as desired (I recommend thyme, paprika, and parsley)

Method:
Bring salted water to a boil. Peel and quarter the potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

While the potatoes cook, brown the beef in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Once browned, drain the beef to get rid of the excess fat and set the beef aside in a bowl.

Note on ground beef: I have recently started grinding my own beef. Apparently, store-bought ground beef frequently contains a material nicknamed "pink slime." It is literally the discarded bits of cartilage and bone, ground to a pink paste and used as filler in the meat. Pink slime is treated with ammonia (!) because it is highly likely to be contaminated with E.coli or Salmonella. If you can grind your own beef, I HIGHLY recommend doing so. I use a grinding attachment to my KitchenAid stand mixer.  Purchase Top Round or Sirloin for grinding.

In the same pan, melt 4 Tbsp butter. Saute the onions over medium heat until tender and beginning to look translucent (about 10 minutes). Add any vegetables according to cooking time. Carrots should go in at the same time as the onions. Peas or corn can wait until the beef goes back into the pan. If you are using a frozen veggie mix, defrost first and drop in when the beef goes back in.

Once the onions are done, add the ground beef back in. Season it with salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, parsley, and any other seasonings. Add Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes. Add more beef broth if the mixture starts to dry out. Taste this as you go.

When the potatoes are done, drain them and mash in a bowl with 4 Tbsp butter, salt, and some milk if you have it. Taste this as you go! You are basically making delicious mashed potatoes. If one of your dish's components doesn't taste good, why would the rest of it? Season these well and try not to eat them all before putting them in the pie.

Place beef mixture in a large baking dish.

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top as best as you can. Use a fork to fluff some spots up so that you can get peaks that will brown in the oven.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. The Shepherd's Pie should be bubbling and browned over the top. Broil for a few minutes if necessary to get some browning. It will enhance the flavors!

This makes for an attractive presentation. It's best served family style (mostly because it is really hard to get a pretty slice down on a plate without much mess).

Delicious! This recipe is easy to alter based on your seasoning and vegetable preferences. This recipe serves 6 decently sized portions.

Happy cooking!

Instructional: Knives and Knife Safety

I once had a friend who said she hated cooking because of all the prep work involved. After asking a few more questions, I came to realize that she was prepping all of her meats and vegetables with a steak knife. No wonder she hated chopping and slicing! It is nearly impossible to get into cooking on a regular basis if half of your time is wasted by a sub-par knife. What people don't realize is that you don't need a fancy, expensive knife set with a 10-slot block to hold it all together. In fact you only need ONE knife, and that is a chef's knife. If you put your money into one good chef's knife, it will pay you back in the time you save and the ease of cooking it creates. Good chef's knives last for years. Here is a summary of our knife setup here at Brave New Kitchen and a very brief introduction to using a chef's knife.

We own 1 chef's knife (bottom of the picture above) and 1 santoku knife (top of the picture above). The only reason we have 2 knives is because we have 2 cooks, so it speeds up prep time when each person can chop and dice simultaneously. All you really need is one of these. These are expensive knifes, but worth every penny. You can buy yourself a cheaper chef's knife at a home goods store, but prepare yourself to replace it frequently. Regardless if you go the expensive route, make sure to purchase a handheld knife sharpener and teach yourself to use it. This will extend the life of your blade, but be sure to use the right sharpener for the right knife. For example, if I use the sharpener purchased for the chef's knife on the santoku knife, it would ruin the blade completely. This is because Japanese blades are made in a different way.

Our chef's knife is Wusthof brand and our santoku knife is from Shun. You can easily see the difference in the shape of the blade edge. The Shun has stayed sharper for longer, but the Wusthof's shape makes it easier to use a rocking motion when you chop.

If you can purchase a little more than a chef's knife, here is the Brave New Kitchen spread. I believe any more than this is not necessary for the home cook.

From left to right we have the chef's knife, the santoku knife (basically our 2nd chef's knife), a boning knife, a paring knife, a bread knife, and kitchen shears. The paring knife would be my second purchase after a chef's knife. It is small and can handle precise jobs such as working with fruit. A boning knife is useful for filleting fish and removing the skin. Removing skin from fish or thin layers of fat/gristle from meat benefits from a more delicate knife than a chef's knife. We have a bread knife because other knives would most likely squish your loaf of bread. The kitchen shears (NOT scissors) are versatile enough to trim parsley or cilantro into your dishes and then cut through chicken bones.

The Chopping Motion:
There are 2 primary ways to move your knife while chopping. Heck, I don't know if you'll find some amazing third way to hold your knife, but do whatever works for you! One method is to place the tip of the blade on your cutting board and move the handle up and down to chop. The tip of the blade never leaves the cutting board, resulting in a rocking motion. This is the way I find most comfortable, as seen below.

Place two fingers or the palm of your free hand over the tip of the knife to create some weight if necessary. This is the main method for mincing or dicing. While chopping, you wouldn't do this because your free hand will be holding the food. (More on mincing vs. chopping vs. dicing later.)

The second method is to keep your hand and the heel of the knife (the part of the blade closest to the handle) down close to the cutting board and move the tip of the knife up and down to chop. A lot of the pros with lightning fast knife-work chop this way. Example:

You can see in the image that the blade is up in the air and the heel of the knife is almost touching the cutting board. This looks more like a "hacking" motion. It's best for larger cuts of food (not like the garlic I'm holding in the photo). You will also spend a lot of time holding the knife completely horizontal to cut through food, which is a variation of this method. The point is, your hand is the fulcrum instead of the tip of the blade.

Knife Safety:
These are a few good rules to keep in mind that will help you and your family stay safe around sharp, professional blades, which is what your kitchen knives are.

Your knife and your cutting board are soul mates. Whenever they aren't in their respective "homes," do not separate them. There is no reason to walk around your home with your knife in hand. Put your knife on the cutting board, lift it for use, put it back down. Lift the cutting board with the knife on it (and your hand holding the knife down) to move everything to the sink. Wash the knife immediately, dry it, and put it back where it goes. It's a bad idea to let your knife clink around with other metal items in a drying rack anyway because it may become dull or damaged.

If, for whatever reason, you decide to move around the kitchen while holding your knife, hold it by your side with the blade pointing down. No stabbing! Keep a firm grip or you may drop it on your foot (or another person's foot, or your cat, or your dog... this is serious business).

When using the knife, keep your fingers out of the way! Curl your fingers in, as in the picture below. You don't want to accidentally chop off a fingertip.

When cutting parallel to a surface, cut away from yourself if possible. If that won't work, use the palm of your hand to keep food steady and reach your fingertips into the air like you're doing jazzhands on that shallot!

Now that you have a basic introduction to knives and their safe use, you can go out and get a good one or supplement your current selection with one or two more choice blades. If you're interested in our Wusthof or Shun blades, here are a couple of links for easy purchase.


 Shun Classic 7-Inch Santoku Knife

This Wusthof blade is made to be more comfortable in women's hands. The handle of our blade is made mainly for men's hands. While I did prefer the blade made for my gender, it was a negligible difference. At the time of blogging, this blade is at an amazing price.

Wusthof Gourmet 8-Inch Cook's Knife

Happy cooking!

Recipe Box: Braised Short Ribs, Slow-Cooker Style

Braised short ribs is actually a very easy dish to make. You just need to have patience since there are a lot of steps, but each one is worth it. This recipe is a slightly adapted version from Chef Tom Colicchio. The end result is a tender, flavorful dish that melts in your mouth. Make sure to start this recipe a day ahead of time!

Ingredients (serves 2):
4 bone-in short ribs, cut about 2 inches thick (They look like this:)
Canola or vegetable oil
Salt & Pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 750-ml bottle of dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3 cups chicken stock

Method:
In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of canola oil over medium heat. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and add them to the hot pan. You want to hear that searing sound so they get a nice brown crust. Don't move them around too much, just turn them 3 times to get all sides. You don't want to actually cook the short ribs, so only brown them for about 4-5 minutes a side.

In the meantime, prep your veggies.

Once browned, transfer the short ribs to a shallow baking dish. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the same skillet (don't clean it out). Cook these over very low heat, stirring occasionally until they are very soft. This will take about 20 minutes.

Now, pour in that whole bottle of wine! Also add the thyme sprigs and bring the whole thing to a boil. This is the marinade.

Pour this hot marinade over the ribs and let it cool on the counter for a couple of hours. Food is usually safe for about 4 hours while not refrigerated or heated. Any longer and it will enter the "danger zone" where bacteria can breed. To be safe, you can put the meat in the fridge immediately, but that will raise the temperature inside your fridge, thus putting the rest of your food at risk. It's best to let the meat cool for about 2 hours, then let the fridge do the work. This is why you need to use a shallow dish, which will dissipate the heat faster. Leave the food in the fridge overnight (or up to 2 days), turning it once at some point.

End of day one! See, that was easy.

Day 2:

This is where we deviated from Colicchio's recipe. He calls to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you would pour everything into an enameled cast iron casserole dish, cook for 1.5 hours, and then braise for 45 minutes. Enameled cast iron pans (e.g., Le Creuset, Le Creuset 5 1/2 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Casserole) are extremely expensive! We have a non-enameled cast iron pot, but wine dishes can leach into the iron, thus ruining the pot.

Instead, we used our slow cooker. This very useful kitchen appliance has come through for us in a pinch on several occasions. Pour the meat and marinade into the slow cooker, add the chicken stock, set to high, and forget about it. After 4 hours, remove the meat and place in a pan under the broiler to crisp up a bit for about 10 minutes( turn them once or twice during cooking). Be gentle, because the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone at this point. It's not a big deal if it does, but the bone gives a nice presentation.

Now, strain the sauce/marinade to get rid of the solid bits of vegetable, etc. Skim off as much fat as you can from the top. As the meat broils, pour the liquid into a pan and set to medium heat to thicken up, or reduce.




Place the meat on plates and spoon some sauce over the top. Beautiful!

Delicious, too! The sauce has become nice and meaty at this point, and the wine has given the meat a slightly sweet flavor. The meat falls apart and all that gorgeous fat has given up all the goods!

If you're willing to plan ahead and have a little patience, the payoff for the minimal amount of technical difficulty here is absolutely worth it!

Happy cooking!

Recipe Box: Chocolate-Covered Bacon

There are few flavor combinations better than salty plus sweet. If you add smoky, however, a new taste experience is born. I'm sure you've heard that chocolate goes with everything. Likewise, bacon makes everything better... and so, we have chocolate-covered bacon. It really is as simple as: 1. Bake bacon until crispy. 2. Melt Chocolate. 3. Dip one into the other.

Start with REAL thick-cut bacon, as fresh as you can find. It will come pre-packaged where the breakfast meats are. If you don't see it, ask your grocer's butcher. Get 8 slices for each 12 ounces of chocolate chips you will use.



Bake the bacon at 375 degrees Fahrenheit on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about 25 -30 minutes to get it crispy. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn! Place the bacon on paper towels to drain the grease. You can reserve the bacon grease for later cooking if you wish. It can be used in many dishes, but I won't get into that here.

As the bacon cools, melt the chocolate. Use a double boiler, or make a double boiler if you don't own one.

To make your own double boiler, boil water in a medium pot and lower to a simmer (just small bubbles reaching the surface). Place a slightly smaller bowl in the water and hold it with a potholder so the chocolate melts in it without burning from direct heat. If you tried to melt the chocolate in a pan directly on the stove top, it would almost certainly burn. The chocolate has to remain in constant motion to avoid scorching, so keep stirring.




In Spanish, this is called a Bano de Maria, which literally translates to Maria's Bath.




Once the chocolate is ready, resist the urge to dip the bacon into it. Your crispy bacon will break into pieces under the weight of the chocolate. I ended up "painting" the chocolate onto the bacon with my spatula. In hindsight, it would be a much better idea to drizzle the chocolate over the bacon with a spoon. You won't get complete coverage that way, but you don't need to.

Lay your chocolatey bacon on new parchment and move them into the fridge to cool and harden.





They look like smiley faces of bacony joy. Now, tasting the final product is a mixed experience. At first, eating chocolate covered bacon is like thinking "hmm, why is there hot sauce in my ice cream?" The second bite, however, is pure bliss. It gets quite addictive after that.

Happy Cooking!

Instructional: Setting Up Your Pantry

Welcome to Brave New Kitchen! This blog was built for you, the novice cook and aspiring foodie. There is no need to fear your kitchen or be intimidated by elaborate cooking methods. You can make some amazing meals with just a little patience and some research. Each new recipe is a welcome (and fun) challenge! There is a lot to learn, but this website should become a complete resource for you in time.

Before getting into skill, the first thing you need to set up your kitchen is a good pantry.  Please don't be overwhelmed by this list. You can just buy a few items at a time. I know it seems daunting, but over the course of a few months of cooking you will notice these piling up in your pantry. As long as you keep them stocked, you will find that your shopping trips become less cumbersome. You will eventually get to the point where you will only need to buy 2 or 3 ingredients to make a recipe work, because you can be confident that the rest is already at home.

There are some spices and herbs that will do dried, but there are others that are worth buying fresh as needed. Below is my list of herbs and spices frequently called for in recipes. Info Kernel: Herbs are derived from the leafy part of a plant. Spices come from the root, stalk or seed of a plant.

Even after buying all these, you want to read through a recipe thoroughly before planning to make it in case they throw in any curveballs. As a note of warning, spices are generally expensive. However, each jar will last quite a while. Most dried, ground spices are good for over 1 year. Dried whole spices are good for up to 3 years. Buy whole whenever you can if you have a small coffee grinder (not actually used for coffee) or extra peppermills on hand to grind the spices as needed. When spices are too old, you will know because the flavor will be diminished.

Buy Dried:
Thyme
Cayenne
Red Pepper Flakes
Cumin
Herbes de Provence
Bay Leaves
Ground Ginger
Oregano
Italian Seasoning
Celery Seed, if you dislike the texture of fresh celery
Ground Coriander
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Chili Powder

Buy Fresh As Needed:
Basil
Rosemary
Cilantro
Parsley (Please note that many recipes call for parsley only to have a few leaves stuck on the plate at the last minute for presentation. I follow the school of Chef Gordon Ramsey here - an ingredient should not be on a plate unless it is meant to be eaten.) You will see 2 kinds of parsley in the store; Italian, or flat-leaf, and Curly. I prefer flat-leaf parsley, because I feel the texture of curly parsley interrupts my eating experience. The spiky leaves do not feel good in my mouth. The flavor between the 2 kinds is about the same.

Other Pantry:

Kosher Salt or Sea Salt (see note below)
Whole Peppercorns (Buy a pre-filled peppermill. Pepper that is already ground up for you has lost most of its bite. No need to go for a fancy expensive mill and search for loose peppercorns. Just buy the pre-filled ones at a reasonable price at the grocer. When empty, toss and buy a new one.)
Onions, yellow is the most versatile
Garlic Bulbs (Don't buy the diced or peeled stuff floating in a jar.)
Flour
Sugar
Baking Soda (if you plan on baking)
Baking Powder (if you plan on baking)
Canned Tomatoes (San Marzano is the best, if that's what you're looking for.)
Bouillon Cubes or Powder to make beef, chicken or vegetable broth
Cartons of Beef, Chicken, and Vegetable Stock (once opened, these need to be refrigerated and used within two weeks)
Cans of Beef, Chicken, and Vegetable Broth 
Rice, White or Brown (Brown rice is healthier for you, but it takes 40 minutes to cook as opposed to 20 minutes for white rice. Just keep that in mind when planning a meal.)


A Note on Salt - Salt is, without question, the most important seasoning to your dishes. That being the case, do not waste your time on table salt. Table salt will salt your food. Kosher or sea salt (these look like larger crystals you can grab with your fingers to sprinkle on food) will not only add salt to your food, but bring out every flavor in your dish. In addition, you have better control over the larger granules. It is even used in baking sweets. The contrast of salty with sweet can make the sweet even sweeter, even if you aren't conscious of the salt flavor, if that makes sense. Want to learn more about Kosher salt? Check out this info from the people at WiseGeek.

Hot Sauce. I keep various hot sauces on hand. Even if you aren't a fan of spicy food, there are several cases in which a little spice will bring out a lot of flavors. Chili is one of those dishes, as well as some soups and stews. Eggs are fantastic with some Tabasco on top. My favorite is Cholula brand hot sauce, found in your grocer's ethnic aisle with other Hispanic foods.

Oils:
Olive oil is a must. It is one of the most flavorful oils you can use. Don't use it in recipes that go into an oven 400 degrees Fahrenheit or more. This is olive oil's smoke point, and you will find yourself faced with a cloud of smoke when you open the oven.
Canola or vegetable oil. These are interchangeable. They also come in spray form and it would be useful to get both. The spray can be used on nonstick surfaces that don't need much oiling.
Peanut oil, if you plan on doing any frying. Many Asian dishes call for it in lieu of olive or vegetable oil.

Refrigerated:
Eggs
Unsalted Butter. When most recipes call for butter, they mean the unsalted kind. If you get salted butter, you need to adjust the amount of salt in your recipe. Remember, it is always easier to add salt later into a dish than to take the salty flavor out.
Milk. The percentage in milk refers to the amount of fat in the milk. Any level of fat will be fine. A lot of the recipes I come across ask for skim or 2% milk. I have found that, unless you are baking, the type of milk will alter the flavor of a dish only a small amount, if any. However, if you're making a milk or cheese-heavy dish like mac and cheese, you need to pay attention to the kind of milk it calls for.
Lemons. I use lemon juice or zest in pretty much all of my seafood dishes. It is also great on chicken. You will quickly learn that a little citrus will brighten up many dishes in a surprising way.

This list should be enough to get you started on your culinary adventures. As I said, don't be overwhelmed. Just grab a few items each time you go shopping. The more you collect, the easier recipes will be in the future, and the easier it will be to wing it if you don't have dinner plans!

Feel free to add anything in comments or let me know what else you want to see in this blog; your blog.

Happy cooking!