Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie

I first heard of a Shepherd's pie when I was visiting London and I liked it.  Later, when I was watching Gordon Ramsay on T.V.  he was making one.  So I decided to try making it myself since I have no British Pub near my home and no money to travel to London whenever I want to eat one.  

The Filling:

• Olive Oil (2 Tbsp)
• Ground Lamb or Beef (about 1.5 lbs)
• 1 Large Carrot (grated)
• 1 Large Onion (grated)
• Fresh Rosemary
• Fresh Thyme
• Minced Garlic (4 cloves)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Worcestershire Sauce (several splashes)
• Tomato Puree or Paste (no more than a small can)

The Mash:

• Golden Potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)
• Heavy Cream ( 1/4 cup)
• Butter (3 1/2 Tbsp)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Egg Yolks (2)
• Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup, minimum)

To cook the potatoes, peel them, dice then add to boiling pot of water with salt to taste. Cook for about 20 minutes, drain and then mashed them well.

Cooking the Filling:

Pour Olive Oil into a hot, rather large pan, then add meat. Stir meat as if your life depends on it for a few minutes so it’s nice and brown, and broken into very small pieces. Add your Rosemary, Thyme, and Garlic, then stir some more. Quickly add your Carrot, and Onion, stir a little longer. The idea at this point is to get everything to a minced consistency.

Add Worcestershire Sauce, stir, add Tomato Puree, stir, and sweat down for a minute or two.

Scoop your meat mixture into a deep casserole or other oven safe dish and then spoon the mash over the top. Spread the mash over the top of the mix with the bottom of the spoon and then sprinkle a generous portion of Parmesan cheese over the top. Poke the top with a fork several times to give it a peaked look and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes and set the pie. Serve.

Finished Product.

Using Gordon Ramsay's recipe above I made my own Shepherd's pie, which tastes almost as good as the original. Often I add in zucchini, summer squash or mushrooms to the meet filling for it to be healthier and tastier.

 

Singapore Mei Fun

Singapore Mai/Mei Fun

I really love Singapore Mei/Mai Fun (depending) because it's light with small noodles, vegetables, a little spiciness, color and seafood.  This recipe I learned to make while I was in Hong Kong with my mom but I think you can find something similar all over the Internet.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pk or 6 oz dry rice noodle (mei fun)
• 1.5 tbsp curry powder
• 2 egg
• 1/2 large onion
• 2 celery rib
• ½ large green pepper
• ½ large yellow pepper
• ½ large orange pepper
• 6 oz napa or cabbage
• 1 cup scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 Scallion, cut to 2 inch pieces
• ½lb of shrimp
• Soak the rice noodle in cold water until softened . About 30 minutes
• In the meantime, sliced the onion, celery, pepper, and napa
• Add 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or frying pan, Add egg and scramble until set. Remove and set aside
• Drizzle another 2 tbsp of oil in a wok, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add sliced onion, pepper, celery, and napa. Stir fry over high heat for 2 minutes
• Add blanched noodles and stir to mix
• Add curry powder. Continue to stir until the curry powder is well incorporated , about 30 sec
• Add egg and scallion and stir fry for another minute. Transfer to a plate and serve hot.
  
  
  
  

  

  My finished product

  
  This recipe is quite easy, quick and I love it. I always tell myself that it is also healthy due to the vegetables and only being stir fried.
  
  
  

Paris Brest

Paris Brest

I first got introduced with a Paris Brest through the Japanese bakery chain, Beard Papa.  It was really delicious that I sort of became addicted to having a least one everyday. But because I didn't have a lot of money, I could not continue buying Paris Brest everyday.  so I wanted to try making them at least once. So I pinned a recipe from cake duchess , which had a lot of nice pictures to follow along with. 

Her recipe also had raspberry filling which I like.  

Recipe:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup water

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, room temperature

Raspberry Whipped Cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup whipped cream

1 cup fresh raspberries

Raspberry Whipped Cream Directions:

Puree the raspberries in a mixer. Strain the raspberries through a fine sieve and set aside (you need to remove the seeds from raspberries).

If you like your cream sweeter, add a little more powdered sugar. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the raspberry coulis and beat on low speed until combined. Set in refrigerator to chill while you prepare the dough.

To make the Pâte a Choux-Cream Puff Dough:

In a heavy sauce pan, combine the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil. Add the flour and stir until smooth with a heavy wooden spoon.

Turn the heat up to high and cook the flour mixture stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. The flour will be cooked when a thin film forms on on the bottom. You are essentially drying out the dough and the process should take about 4-5 minutes.

Transfer the dough to the bowl of a mixer (I used a stand mixer) and let the dough rest a minute or two. Add the eggs to the dough one at at time on medium speed until the dough is thick and smooth.

The dough needs to be used as soon as it’s made. It can’t be put in the refrigerator to use later, so make sure you are ready to go when it’s done.)

*You could draw with a  pencil 8 circles on your parchment paper lining your baking pans to help you follow the design and make them evenly shaped. Place the dough in a pastry bag using a star tip (or plain round) 1/2 –inch tip and pipe onto parchment lined baking sheets forming 8 circles.

Bake at 375 F for about 22-26 minutes (omit the almonds if you need to. still will be wonderful!). If you open the door, the puffs may deflate. The dough should be golden colored. Allow the puffs to rest on the baking sheet.

Assembling the Paris Brest:

After the dough has cooled, carefully slice in half the pastry rings. Pipe the chilled whipped cream on the bottom layer of the rings. Top with the other halves and dust with powdered sugar.

My Paris Brest turned out well, though somewhat misshapen and thin due to the pastry tip I used. Also I still need to practice my technique with the pastry bag.

Because of the size I needed up eating 3 Paris Brest each time. 

Galette des Rois

Galette des Rois

I have a love for Galette des Rois especially when you get the fèves inside.  Fèves are little charms, usually one is placed inside a galette and whoever gets the piece of galette with the charm gets to wear the crown and be king or queen for the day.  They also get a wish.  

I used recipes from youtube in order to make mine using the ingredients above.     

Almond Filling

• 1 cup (200g) almond flour
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
• pinch salt
• 3 1/2 ounces (100g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound (450g) puff pastry, divided in two pieces, chilled

A fève, or  whole almond or piece of candied fruit.

Glaze

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon milk

1. To make the almond filling, in a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the almond flour, sugar, salt, and orange zest. Mash in the butter until it’s completely incorporated. Stir in the eggs one at a time, along with the rum and almond extract. (The mixture may not look completely smooth, which is normal.) Cover and chill.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, roll one piece of puff pastry into a circle about 9 1/2-inches (23cm) round. Using a pot lid, plate, or bottom of springform pan as a template, trim the dough into neat circle. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

3. Cover it with a sheet of parchment paper or plastic film, then roll the other piece of dough into a circle, trim it, and lay it on top. Chill the dough for thirty minutes.

4. Remove the dough and almond filling from the refrigerator. Slide the second circle of dough and parchment or plastic from pan so that there is only one circle of dough on the parchment lined baking sheet. Spread the almond filling over the center of the dough, leaving a 1-inch (3cm) exposed border. Place an almond or piece of candied fruit to act as the fève (prize) somewhere in the almond filling, if you wish.

5. Brush water generously around the exposed perimeter of the dough then place the other circle of dough on top of the galette and press down to seal the edges very well. (At this point, you may wish to chill the galette since it’ll be a bit easier to finish and decorate, although it’s not necessary. It can be refrigerated overnight at this point, if you wish.)

6. To bake the galette, preheat the oven to 375ºF (180ºC.) Flute the sides of the dough (as shown in the photo) and use a paring knife to create a design on top. Stir together the egg yolk with the milk and brush it evenly over the top – avoid getting the glaze on the sides, which will inhibit the pastry from rising at the edges. Use a paring knife to poke 5 holes in the top, to allow steam escape while baking.

7. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the galette is browned on top and up the sides. (During baking, if the galette puffs up too dramatically in the oven, you may want to poke it once or twice again with a paring knife to release the steam.) Remove from the oven and slide the galette off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. The galette will deflate as it cools, which is normal. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Galette before baking

Before I baked my galette as I was trying to make the designs, the fillings started to spill out on one side.

Galette all baked

Above was my Galette after it finished baking. It continued to spill on one side as it baked.  However, the Galette was delicious.  I could not even wait to take a picture, I had to have a piece.

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

Bake Cheesecake

This beautiful cheesecake is by Gordon Ramsay. I wanted to try it but did not have any raspberries, so I tried to use the small wild strawberries I had. 

Ignore the milk there is no end for. 

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing
• 550g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 160g caster sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 200g raspberries or Strawberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Butter a 23cm springform cake tin.
2. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the beaten eggs bit by bit until combined. Add the flour and lemon zest, then fold through the raspberries.
3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, tapping it against the work surface to remove any bubbles and help the raspberries rise up from the bottom. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes until set on the edges but wobbling slightly in the middle.
4. Once cooled, remove from the tin, running a knife around the edges to loosen if necessary, and serve.

I decided to used muffin tins for mine, because one, I didn't have a cake tin and two it was a nice serving size.  Below is my outcome. It tasted great, not too sweet with a little sourness from the berries.  My oven is a bit testy, so the top did not brown as much as I wanted but that did not take away from the taste in anyway.

Seafood Bouillabaisse

Seafood Bouillabaisse 

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provencal fish stew dish originated from Marseille, France.  I really like seafood bouillabaisse, it has this warm and hearty taste chuck full of great stuff.  it has been a staple dish for me this wintery January 2014. Especially on days when it has been below 20 degrees and I just want to be warm and inside.  

A lot of the recipes for the bouillabaisse I found online usually included fennel, however I was not able to get fennel when my made my recipe.  I also used fish sauce instead of a seafood stock or cube because I could not get any at the time.  However, despite these two changes the seafood bouillabaisse tasted great.  

Ingredients:

2 pound of fish

1-2 pound of clams or mussels

1 pound of shrimp

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced onion

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 can diced tomato

4 sprigs of thyme 

2 bay leaf 

pinch of saffron

1/2  cup fish sauce 

1- Saute. Saute leek, garlic and onion in olive oil for a few minutes until soft.
2- Herbs. Add in your thyme, bay leaves and saffron.
3- Stir. Add the diced tomatoes, water, fish sauce, potatoes and stir well. Once the potatoes are almost cook about 15-20 minutes.
4- Seafood.  Add all your seafood. Once the fish and shrimp are cooked and the clams have pooped opened.
5- Serve.  Serve the bouillabaisse with some baguette and enjoy. 

Seafood Bouillabaisse

Kimchi (김치)

Kimchi

Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean dish made from vegetables and a variety of seasoning.  Traditional Kimchi is allow to ferment underground in clay pots for periods of months.  There are hundreds of variety of Kimchi but most being made with either Napa cabbage, radish, cucumber or scallions as a main ingredient.  

I like Kimchi very much and have been eating it for a while now.  Mainly as a side dish or made into fried rice.  The first think I even thought that an individual could make Kimchi in a small apartment was in the Fall of 2011 at the Korean Festival in New Jersey.  I attended a Kimchi making demonstration and made some to take home.  However, even then I thought the preparation and making of the sauce was difficult.  That is until I was roaming the Internet for more Korean recipes.     I found that making Kimchi was relatively easy.  One just needed some time and the proper ingredients.  

So this June, I set out to make some Kimchi.  The recipe I used did not involve any anchovy or fish ( I was afraid to poison someone).  

Ingredients:

- 2 whole Napa Cabbage
- 1 Cup of Salt
-10 Cups of Water
- 7 Tbsp of Fish Sauce
- 1 1/4 Cup of Crushed Red Pepper
- 8 Pieces of Green Onion
- 1/2 of a Radish
- 1 Whole Garlic
- 1 Piece of Ginger
- 1/2 of an Onion
- 1/2 of an Apple
- 4 Tbsp of Sugar

First you will clean all the ingredients like the Napa and radish well.  Then, peal the radish, ginger, onion, garlic and apple.  Then cut the Napa into sections or bite sizes, depends on what you want. Also cut the radish into julienne.  Then slice the onion and green onion thinly.  Submerge the Napa in a bath of water and salt mixture. Allow that to seat for 2 hours.  

In a blender, puree the ginger, garlic, apple and onion. in a bowl combine the puree, red pepper, fish sauce and sugar.    

After the 2 hours, rinse the Napa and radish about 3 times.  Now completely cover the Napa leaves and radish in your red pepper mixture.  (Gloves and apron are recommended.  The red pepper mixture will stain your hands and cloths).  Put your Kimchi in a nice jar and store it in your kitchen in a dark cool corner for 1-3 nights depending on how sour you want then store in the fridge.  (I stored mine for 3 nights, shaking it every night because of the natural sediments that settles). 

Kimchi recipes also call for apple pear but i didn't have any so I substituted. 

Zucchini and Summer Squash Kimchi


 I also made a Kimchi from summer squash and zucchini.  The next one I made I would like to add carrots.


     


     

Korean Recipes

Korean Food

I have been trying some food recipes lately and some of them have been Korean food.  Although, I never had the actually one, in Korea or at a Korean restaurant.  I felt that what I made was not that bad.  But I wish to taste the authentic recipes one day.  I have tried three things lately. Kimchi Fried Rice, Heoddok and Pajeon.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi fried rice was the first Korean recipe, I tried.  I found a couple of recipes online and just used the steps that were similar. While online I saw many recipes that included adding an egg.  I have yet to try it but it looks good. One item I did add to my fried rice once was Panbroiled Oden and it was tasty.  My recipe is quite simple.

Ingredients:

4 cups of Kimchi, chopped

4 cups cooked Brown or White rice

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

4 Scallions, chopped.

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium flame.

2. Add chopped kimchi and half scallion and fry until tender.

3. Add rice and mix well. When all is cooked. (I like to cook it well that the bottoms browns a little and becomes crispy)

4. Serve and add scallions for garnish. 

Heoddok

Heoddok, often called Korean sweet pancake.  I first saw Heoddok at a Asian mart, there was package including all the ingredients to make it. So, after about a week I bought it and look online for instructions to follow on how to fry it.  Then, I tried a different stuffing because I did not really like the cinnamon in the packaged mixture.  The next time I made my own.  Below is my own recipe. I have another recipe where I used warm milk instead of water. There just add the warm milk to the mixture of flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Below are two fillings that I tried and liked. You can used one or the other.  

Ingredients:

11g Yeast

2 cups (16oz) All Purpose Flour

2 Tablespoon Raw Sugar

1 Tablespoon Salt

1 cup (8oz) Luke warm water

Canola oil for Frying

Filling:

2/3 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons chopped nuts (Walnut, Pecan, Almond, Peanut etc) or

3 Tablespoons chopped banana

1.5 Tablespoons Creamy Peanut or Almond Butter

Directions:

1. Mix envelope of yeast, sugar and warm water and set aside for about 5-10 minutes.

2. Combine flour and salt to the yeast mixture.  Mix well with a wooden spoon. The dough will be sticky. Let the dough rest in a warm place 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

3. The dough will double in size. Now make the mixture for your filling. Mix chopped nuts with brown sugar (adding cinnamon is optional). Mix chopped banana with creamy nut butter.

4. Oil your hand with some oil. Take a piece of dough (adjust depending on size) stretch it with your hand. Place about a teaspoon of filling (more if desire) at the center. Pinch the edges of the dough towards the center to close making a ball shape.  Repeat.

5. Coat your pan with oil and heat over medium flame.  Place the dough ball in the pan and let cook until brown. Then, your the ball over and with the back of a flat spoon or spatula flatten the ball until round. Look for a nice brown crust.

6. Serve and enjoy. 

Pajeon

I first had Pajeon at a Korean restaurant in Hong Kong.  It was a seafood one, and I loved it. I had it every chance I could, when I got the chance I wanted to see if I could make some. The recipe I first made had only shrimp and squid because that was all that was available to me. Feel free to use other seafood. I did not make a dipping sauce but there are recipes available. I also tried a recipe where you use half all purpose flour and half rice flour. 

Ingredients:

1 bunch of green onion, cut into 4 inch pieces

1 small-medium size Zucchini, thinly sliced

1/4 lb Shrimp, chopped

1/4 lb Squid, chopped

 Batter:

1 cup (8oz)+ 2 tablespoon water

1.5 cup flour

1 egg

1 seafood Bouillon

Vegetable oil for Frying

Directions:

1. In a bowl crush bouillon, add flour.  

2. Add water and egg. Mix until well combined. 

3. Add the seafood, green onion and zucchini and coat everything. 

4. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. 

5. Add a ladle of the batter mixture and spread. 

4. cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Browning well.

5. Repeat until all pancakes are made.