Not Your Average Sheppard

Hello Sweets,

Are y'all having a wonderful weekend?  Mine is pretty quiet and that's only because I'm dealing with a lot of pain, surprise surprise :(  But none the less I am alive and smiling (most of the time), so I really can't complain right?  I know it's been forEVER since I have written a post and for that I apologize, but I have still been creating in the kitchen so I think once this post is done it will really get the ball rolling again!  So I know I gave you guys fair warning of cookie overload due to my little sisters upcoming wedding, but I thought today I'd step away from the sweets (only for a moment though lol) and get back to where my love of cooking really came to head :)

Like most little girls, my kitchen adventures started by helping mom and grandma with baking. One of my favorite things to help with when I was little was, and yes it is silly, sifting flour.  I don't know what it was but I loved the noise the sifter made with each click of the handle and I ALWAYS had to do it lol.  But it wasn't until I was about twelve years old that I cooked a meal for my family all on my own, yup no help at all :)  First I'd like to give you a little background on my family so you can understand why this was my first dish that I made :)  My grandmother in English, her grandparents immigrated here after world war one so we had typical dishes such as fish and chips, now don't get me wrong I love my grandma but she doesn't use a whole lot of spices lol I don't know if that's part of her upbringing or what but my grandfather hates that.  My grandfather is Maltese (Italy kicked Sicily and pushed Malta, seriously that's what it looks like lol), he immigrated here when he was nineteen years old, he comes from a lot of pasta dishes....obvious huh.  So naturally my mother stuck more to the English side of the cooking, but thank the Lord she used spices lol she's the one the taught me no measurements just the nose ;)  So I made a dish that she had made my entire life, Sheppard pie :), except for one little thing that I don't think she even realized.  Sheppard's look after sheep/lambs so naturally the meat in the dish is corresponding with the association, well not quite at our house because we used beef.  No big deal right?  Well funny thing happened today, it's no secret I'm a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey so I watch a lot of Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen, and by a lot I mean all lol.  So while relaxing early I decided to watch some reruns and what happens?  He orders Sheppard's pie from this restaurant and it's made with beef, he looks at the waitress with one of his priceless looks and says "it's not Sheppard's pie, it's a cottage pie when it has beef in it".  Well you know the saying 'you learn something new every day', well I just learned something new and I'm glad I did because I wouldn't want to misinform my lovely readers :)  And I was surprised when they served it with gravy  and thought to myself jeez I think my mom invented a whole different dish, but then he pointed out it shouldn't have it lol.  Any-who here is my "updated" version of Sheppard's, I mean Cottage Pie, and I say updated because I've added some new things :)

Cottage Pie

Ingredients

1lb extra lean ground beef

2 large russet potatoes, cubed

1/2 onion, diced

1 can of corn, drained

2Tbs butter

couple dashes of milk

1/2Tbs garlic powder

1Tsp cayenne powder

1/2Tsp black pepper

pinch of salt

Directions:

1)  Wash the potatoes and cut into smaller cubes to boil, I left the skins on but you can peel them if preferred.  Place in a pot of water and boil until they become soft, or until a fork pierces them easily. 

 

2)  While the potatoes are boiling, place the onions into a frying pan and sweat them off (soften).  Add the ground beef cooking thoroughly with a little of each of the spices added and then drain the excess grease from the pan.  Place the meat and onions in the bottom of a casserole dish.

 

3)  Next you want to mash your potatoes; drain the water from the pot and add the salt, some pepper, garlic, and a pinch of  cayenne.  Add the butter and milk and mash away!

 

4)  Place the corn in a layer over the beef, and then finally the mashed potatoes.  Finish it off in the oven at 400F until the potatoes have slight color and crispiness to them.

 

There you have it, the very first meal I ever made on my own when I was young :)  I know some people like to add gravy to theirs, but if you season everything correctly you won't need it ;)  

Just so y'all are aware the cookie overload commences again tomorrow, so be prepared to see something sweet, besides me that is lol just kidding.  Until next time................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

A Dinner Built By Two

Hello Sweets,

Only one more day to the weekend, for me that means absolutely nothing as I have been off work for some time, but I do realize to the rest of the world it is something we all count down to.  I was so excited to have my hair cut (much needed too) today, but our dang alarm didn't go off and thankfully the salon was very understanding and was able to reschedule me for tomorrow.  We are setting multiple alarms tonight to ensure this does not happen again, not to mention Nathan is going to use the time to get his haircut too!

So as I mentioned yesterday, Nathan was grilling steaks for dinner tonight and it would be the topic of tonight's post, but then we decided to make it a joint meal.  Now I'm not crazy which means he was still in charge of the meat but I wanted to make some killer mash potatoes, and since they taught me how to make sweet corn, I decided that would also be part of the meal.  I was even daring enough to whip up a new dessert while cooking everything (now maybe that's a little crazy), but you'll have to come back tomorrow for that one since I'm giving you three tonight (spoiled) lol.  Now tonight's recipes are the kind that don't have precise measurements, they're the type of recipes that use all of your senses and force you to taste as you create, making the appropriate adjustments as needed.  Since there are so many recipes going on here tonight I'll keep the chatter short and get to the "meat and potatoes" of the post ;), do you see what I did there lol?

Nathan's Amazing Steaks

Ingredients

3 rib eye's

1 btl steak and chop marinade

coarse black pepper

garlic, minced

meat tenderizer

Worcestershire sauce

seasoning salt

Directions:

1)  Start by piercing the meat with a fork evenly and then seasoning the meat with the tenderizer, lightly coating each side of the steak.   Apply a coat of seasoning salt, then pepper, then place the steaks in a large freezer bag.  In between each steak and the side of the bag place a dollop of the minced garlic and add a little more coarse pepper, then pour an entire bottle of the steak and chop marinade into the bag (add a small amount of water to the empty bottle, shake and empty into the zip lock bag).  Finally add a few dashes of the Worcestershire sauce and place in the fridge overnight (flipping once when you get up).

2)  Grill them on medium low, while they are on the grill apply the remaining marinade over top of the steaks as needed and reapply the same seasonings as the night before as preferred.  Grill to your preference (medium rare takes about 12 minutes).

Canuckette's Crazy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

3 large potatoes

milk

fresh chives, chopped

roasted garlic, minced

 butter

sea salt

coarse black pepper

red pepper flakes

sorry potatoes were already in the pot :/

Directions:

1)  Boil your potatoes until a fork can pierce them with ease, the smaller you cut them up the faster it will happen.  Once they're soft drain all the water from the pot, add all remaining ingredients and mash away! (I always hold back on the milk, it's easier to add than remove right)

 

Sweet Corn

Ingredients

1 can corn

1 Tbs (approx) sugar

salt

pepper

butter

Directions:

1)  Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe dish, and microwave for 5 minutes.  Stir once done (careful as it will be very hot), and serve.

And here is what your dinner will look like if you choose to make it :)

Nathan and I are both super stuffed, but at the same time wanted to go back for more because it was just so dang good lol.  You can play with different spices and make the boring into something exciting, I bet if you serve these mashed potatoes people will be asking what your secrets are.

Well I think three recipes is enough for you to read and me to write in one night, but make sure you come back tomorrow to see what new dessert I made.  I'll give you a hint, it's a cleverly modified chocolate treat you can buy at any convenience store.  Until next time...........................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

The quickest way to a mans heart, is through his stomach!

Hello Sweets,

One of my favorite times to bake or cook is for those that mean the most to me.  Nathan is my absolute favorite person to cook for, and cooking for his family is very important to me, or better yet that they like what I make.  At the risk of sounding old fashion or dated, I really do want to be that wife and mother who cooks and bakes on a regular basis.  Some of my fondest memories as a child were being in the kitchen with my grandmother baking (my favorite part was the flour sifter lol), and watching my mother in the kitchen cooking dinner, but not following a recipe but using her sense to determine the right flavors.

Needless to say, today's post is about not one, not two, and but three recipes!  I made Nathan and his father a yummy chuck roast dinner last night with all the fixings.  I went out immediately after to spend some quality with Nathan's aunt, so I only got the "thanks for dinner Canuckette, that was good".  So of course when I returned later that evening, I asked Nathan what his dad really thought, and this is the direct quote from his father,"girl can cook".  This makes me very happy because I love knowing how much his family likes me, family is very important to me, and when you date someone, you connect two families together, and that is precisely what I want.  So for dinner last night I made a chuck roast with roasted potatoes, onions, carrots, corn, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding (a little bit of English to our country dinner).  Everything is relatively simple to make, but remember as with anything you make, make it from the heart ;)

Okay on to the recipes!!

Chuck Roast

Ingredients

coarse black pepper

 garlic powder

some fresh roasted garlic

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce

 Lowry's Steak and Chop marinade

sea salt, Lowry's seasoning salt

 Adolph's meat tenderizer

5 medium sized potatoes, chopped

5 whole carrots, chopped

1/2 a large yellow onion, chopped

1C beef broth or 1 bullion cube, dissolved

My roast soaking in its bath lol

Directions:

1)  Go to the butcher and ask for a chuck roast or seven bone roast (the bone in the center is shaped as the number seven), the more marbling, the better the flavor.  Now I cannot give you the weight of the one I made last night as they bought a whole cow and just had the butcher package their meat for them, but we fed about 6 people.  Now, if you have time you should season or marinade the beef overnight, this way the meat really soaks up all the flavor and will fall apart.  Also, pierce the meat with a fork to allow that much more absorption.  Choose what ever seasonings/marinade you would use of a steak, I do not use BBQ sauce on a roast but that is my preference.  Apply any liquids you chose to use first as to not wash away the seasonings.  Your marinade mixture doesn't necessarily have to submerge the meat, about half full will do, just be sure to flip the roast over at least once (preferably about halfway from prep to cook), then place in the fridge overnight. If you don't have time for overnight, try and get a least a couple of hours. Be sure not to dispose of the mixture the roast is in, as it will contribute to cooking in the flavor, moisten, and will serve as the main ingredient in the gravy 

2)  Preheat your over to 375F. While the oven is preheating, cut up your potatoes, onions, and carrots.  I like a rustic type of meal with my roast, so I tend to cut bigger and not uniformed.  Place the veggies around and on the roast, top with a little bit of beef broth or bullion, cover with tin foil.  Place into the oven for 2 hours, checking after one to ensure the veggies are not drying out, if they are, add a little more of the broth to moisten the veggies.

standing room only!

While that was cooking, I moved on to prepare the Yorkshire puddings!  I start this one hour into the roast cooking to allow the batter to sit for 30 minutes, and then cook in the oven with the roast for the last 30 minutes.

Easy Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

3 eggs

1C milk

1C all-purpose flour

2tbs butter

Directions:

1)  In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk.  Stir in flour and set aside. 

2)  Divide butter evenly into the 12 cups of a muffin tin, about 1/2 tsp per cup.  Place empty tin into the oven to melt the butter for 2-5 minutes.  Remove tin from oven, and distribute batter evenly among buttery cups.

Completed batter and butter divided 

notice the brown on the edges?  That's the melted butter

 3)  Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350F, and bake for 25 minutes more or until puffed and golden.  It is okay to drop the heat while the roast is still cooking as it is only for the last 30 minutes.

All done, YUM!

Next up is the gravy!

Simple Gravy

Ingredients

1 1/2C of the roast drippings

flour

Directions:

1)  Transfer 1C of the drippings into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Slowly add flour to thicken the consistency.  If lumps form, add a little more of the drippings.  Depending on your preference of thickness, continue adding flour until you've reached your desired consistency.

2)Enjoy!

Completed feast in all its glory, boys couldn't wait to dig in obviously lol

Needless to say, no one went hungry last night, and we even enjoyed some for lunch today :)  Now tonight I am going to make the famous pumpkin spice cupcakes and will be posting that little gem tomorrow!  Until then....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo