Shepherd's Pie

In honor of the recent California crazy weather, apparently the weather gods think it's February and not June, I'm putting up a hearty and cozy dinner that is always a crowd pleaser.  I've made it my goal in life to taste as many different shepherd's pies in as many restaurants as I can and this is about as good as it gets - which is wonderful!

 

Serves: 4-6 depending on what you serve with it, if anything.

Ingredients:

  - 1/4 cup butter

  - 1 pound chopped beef or lamb

  - 1 cup chopped yellow onions

  - 2 carrots chopped

  - 1 1/2 tsp salt

  - 1 tsp pepper

  - 4 oz button mushrooms, sliced

  - 1 bay leaf

  - 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

  - 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste

  - 1 1/4 cup beef stock (preferably homemade - I plan on putting my beef stock recipe up sometime and if you wish it b/f hand just message me)

  - 1 tsp worcestshire
  - 1 lb potatoes, peeled and big chopped
  - 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  - 1/2 cup heavy cream
  - 1/2 cup freshly grated cheddar

  Lightly grease a 6 cup baking dish.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in very large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add meat and cook until starting to brown - about 3 min.  Add onions, carrots, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Cook stirring for 2 minutes.  Add mushrooms, bay leaf and cook until liquid is almost gone - about 4 minutes.  Add tomato paste, cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add flour and cook for 1 minute.  Gradually add stock and worcestshire - bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until thickened - about 20-25 minutes (if mixture still seems a bit runny add a little more flour).  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Meanwhile place potatoes in a medium pot and cover with salted water by 1 inch.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender - about 10 minutes.  Drain the potatoes and return to the pot.  Over low heat, mash the potatoes and add the remaining butter, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and nutmeg.  Add the heavy cream and mix well.  Remove from heat.  Remove the bay leaf from the meat mixture and spoon the mixture into the baking dish.  Top with the mashed potatoes (use a light hand here or the potatoes will get pushed below the meat mixture and it should act as the crust on-top).  Sprinkle the potatoes with cheese and bake until browned and bubbly.  About 10 - 15 minutes.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes or more and then spoon onto individual plates.

For a more unique and fun way to serve the pie place the meat and potatoes into individual coquettes and bake for about 10 minutes.  Everyone will then get their own individual coquette.

Ingredients side-note:  I like to add peas into the pie as well, about a 1/2 to whole cup, this should be added when the mushrooms are added for best results.

The chicken that lays the egg. . .

Since it seems that a lot of my recent recipes involve eggs I thought it a great time to discuss eggs in particular.  You have probably heard that pasture raised eggs are more nutritious for you and that is true.  Eggs have gotten a bad rap and that can be blamed on the industrial egg laying process.  Industrial eggs are produced by feeding chickens all that horrible stuff I've discussed before - anti-biotic feed, animal waste, ground up dead animals, corn, etc.  This process produces an egg that is watery, colorless with bad cholesterol.  Pasture raised eggs have "1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 less saturated fat, 2/3 more Vitamin A, 2 times more Omega-3, 3 times more Vitamin E, 7 times more beta carotene and 4 to 6 times more the Vitamin D."  If that's not reason enough to purchase the slightly more expensive pastured eggs I don't know what is.
  James and I spent several days last week helping our friend build his own chicken coop which will house 24 free-range chickens that lay eggs for his own use and extras to sell to the local bakery (as well as having fresh chicken meat when the layers don't produce as much anymore, about 2 years).  Our friend has been working towards becoming more self-sustainable on his 11 acre lot in Amador county.  He lives in a very rural area and isn't capable of becoming a member of a CSA nor does he like the idea of paying the higher prices for local well-raised food.  It is an added bonus that he will be eating better and getting exercise through raising and tending his own food production.  It is not only the people who live in the city and have access to more amenities that can eat better.  Growing your own food takes less work than most people think.
  With enough room, chickens can forage for up to 70% of their own food - grubs, bugs, plants and worms.  If chickens are raised with other live stock its an even better deal because the chickens act as the clean-up crew after the other animals have come through and left their droppings behind.  Chickens spread the manure, eat the larvae (gaining protein in their diet) and help fertilize the plants.  The only work needed by a person raising chickens is to make sure they have the added feed they need once a day, a supply of water and to harvest the eggs for a few minutes every day.  Raising chickens has become overwhelmingly popular in the last couple years.
  James and I have done our own research into egg nutrition and have been ordering our dozen pasture raised eggs from our CSA in Dixon.  I was amazed with the bright orange colors of the pastured eggs and how much stiffer and less runny they were than the store-bought eggs.  It was my impression that we were probably buying the best and most nutritional eggs we could through our CSA but just a few weeks ago I was proved wrong.  My brother-in-law has started staying with us a few days a week for his work and brings us a dozen eggs from a farm near his house.  This farm is not out to make money they just sell what extra eggs they have that they don't consume themselves.  As soon as I cracked one of those eggs I was even more surprised to find the yolks were almost a neon orange! I devised a taste test and color comparison with our CSA eggs and these eggs.  I made two batches of scrambled eggs - one with our CSA eggs and one with the farmers eggs.  The color difference is pretty astounding but James and I found that the farmers eggs are almost too grassy tasting!

The CSA eggs are on the left and the farmer's eggs are on the right.

Eggs in a Basket

This is a recipe I figured out for myself after watching one of my favorite movies.  This breakfast item is featured prominently in V for Vendetta and it looked delicious.  It cuts down on your carbs and combines the runny egg yolk with the crisp toast you were going to use to sop it up anyways.  This meal is my typical weekend breakfast with a cup of hot tea, a large glass of water, fruit on the side and my daily vitamin - it's perfect.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:
  - 1 slice of bread with a 2" diameter hole cut out of it (you can save the hole and toast it in the pan after you cook the egg and spread some jam or preserves on top)
  - 1 pasture raised egg
  - 1/2 tbsp butter
  - salt and pepper

Bring a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and place half the butter in the pan.  When the butter is melted place the bread in the pan and swirl it around to evenly coat with butter.  Crack the egg into the hole, sprinkle with salt and pepper and let cook for 2-3 minutes until the white is set on the bottom.  Check the bottom of the toast to make sure it is brown and the egg white is cooked  The egg white on top will still be clear and uncooked. Place the remaining butter in the pan around the toast and flip the egg and toast into the butter and cook for another minute until the egg white on top is cooked.  Flip onto a plate and enjoy!

Tip:  Pasture raised eggs are higher in protein and therefore much stiffer and stronger than factory eggs.  When flipping the toast and egg it is very easy to break the yolk with factory eggs but pasture raised eggs are much more forgiving.

Argument for a multi-vitamin . . .

Continuing in the discussion of nutrition I wanted to take a moment to declare my new found love for multi-vitamins.  When researching the depletion of good nutrients in supermarket food I started to track mine and James' nutrient intake on a do-it-yourself website - http://nutritiondata.self.com/ .  The tracking allows you to input your own recipes and even different name brand cereals and food and calculates your daily caloric and nutritional intake.  What the tracking showed me is that even though James and I eat very well with lots of vegetables and almost all homemade food we were still severely lacking in most categories of vitamins and minerals.  After a few weeks of tracking I decided it was time to try out a multi-vitamin with Omega-3's and vitamin D specifically.  I did a great deal of research online to find the best multi-vitamin with no artificial colorings or ingredients.  The best product I found was the GNC Be-wholesome line of vitamins for me and the Mega Men Heart with Co Q-10 for James.  The daily package includes Omega-3's, calcium, a multi-vitamin, a Vitamin D pill and an herb pill for skin and nail health.  After a few days use of it we were hooked.

 James and I both had a great deal more energy and I was waking up in the morning feeling much better rested and wasn't fighting the snooze button to stay in bed.  The reason I wanted a pill with Omega-3's is for two reasons:  we don't eat enough fish, especially in the winter and I have started to have heart palpitations over the last 2 years or so.  The heart skips and starts have required me to cut out almost all caffeine from my diet and I wanted an Omega-3 pill to help strengthen my heart.  Since starting the vitamin regimen I have not noticed one time that my heart has skipped (about 3 months time).  Vitamin D is also essential for me because I'm so light skinned.  I almost always wear sunscreen when I go out and this blocks my body from making its own Vitamin D which is essential for calcium absorption.

  A bigger and even better benefit to our daily multi-vitamin regimen has been an extreme turnaround in my digestive system.  Without getting too graphic, suffice it to say that my digestive system has been out of whack since birth and has caused me a lot of headache and hassle most of my adult life.  I've taken every "good bacteria" in the health food store, I've taken prescription medication that has now been taken off the market due to fatal side-effects and I've been through more than one experimental medication trial - all to no great effect.  My doctors would always end my many appointments with a "there's not much we can do for you just try to eat better."  Eating better in my mind always meant salads, lay off the junk food and sodas and use everything in moderation, none of which seemed to help (now I know what "eat better" means).  The vitamins, however, seem to have eliminated all my problems.

  Not only was it tracking our diet that pushed me towards trying a multi-vitamin but the documentary "Foodmatters" really made me think differently about taking medication.  The human body is designed to heal itself and with proper nutrition and the right "fuel" for your body it is very possible that we can greatly reduce our trips to the doctor and save money in the long run.

  My only tips on picking and taking a multi-vitamin is beware of synthetic ingredients and artificial coloring and additives and always take it with food so your body digests it and absorbs it the same as food.  Never replace a meal with vitamins - this will lead to your body not utilizing the pills as they should and potentially smelly B.O.  Always drink lots of water as well.  When you become better rested and your body doesn't have to work so hard to acquire the nutrients it needs it's much easier to stop the caffeine cravings and drink water instead.

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Tuscan Steak with Egg

With our grass-fed beef purchase came quite a few steaks and with only a small balcony and a ban on open flames I had to figure out how to cook steaks well on the stove.  This recipe is perfect and so delicious.  It comes from Giada De Laurentiis who is probably my second go-to cook when looking for something new and tasty.

 

Serves: 4-6 (actual portions of steak should be smaller than recipe calls for)

Ingredients:

  - 4, 8 oz rib-eye steaks (can substitute other steak cuts)

  - 2 tbsp herbs de provence

  - 2 tbsp and 2 tsp of olive oil

  - 4 eggs

  - 2 oz. goat cheese (can be herbed or plain)

  - 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Place a cast iron pan over medium heat and allow it to get very hot. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle both sides of the steak with the herbs de provence then drizzle the 2 tbsp olive oil over them.  Grill each steak 6-8 minutes on each side for medium rare (longer if preferred) and set aside, cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest, at least 10 minutes.  Place the rest of the olive oil in the grill pan and crack the eggs into the pan and quickly season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the egg whites are just set, about 2-3 minutes.  Place a steak on each plate and place one egg on top.  Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and parsley on top and serve!

You are what your produce eats. . .

Industrial food production cares little about the soil that their food is grown in except as a conduit to supply the plants with all the chemicals that they spray on it.  The pesticides, chemical fertilizers and lack of rotational planting has greatly depleted our soils of all things nutritional.  A good farmer knows that in order to have healthy plants healthy soil is vital. 

The produce we buy at the supermarket is nutritionally depleted for several reasons.  The soil industrial produce is grown in is most likely depleted of nutrients and plants derive their nutrients from the food they eat just like we do.  If a plant is eating a malnourished diet then we in turn are getting that same malnourished diet by eating that fruit or vegetable.  Industrial produce tends to travel very long distances, an average of 1500 miles, and the longer produce is picked before it is consumed the more nutrients it loses.  Produce is most nutritious just after it is picked and because produce travels from so far away farmers must pick it before it is completely ripe.  Ripe fruits and veggies would never survive the jostling of their long journey and would spoil before it reaches the supermarket bins. Produce has the most nutrition at its peak of growing and is vitamin and mineral deficient otherwise.

It has been discussed among nutritionists and scientists that part of the obesity epidemic is caused by this lack of nutritious food.  Our bodies will want to continue to eat more and more of the nutritionally depleted food because our bodies demand that we consume enough vitamins and minerals to be healthy.  Our brains do not turn off the "hungry switch" until we have consumed the desired levels of nutrition that we need.

Most organic farmers spend many years building up their soils with compost and manure in order to bring the land and soil back up to its healthy levels.  This is a big reason why everyone should eat organic - organic produce has been found to be at least three times more nutritious than the same industrially grown produce.  Nutritious eating also backs the argument for buying locally.  Local farmers can pick their produce the night before or the morning of a farmer's market, which means they can pick when fruit is ripest and most nutritious and consequently most flavorful as well.  The ripe fruit will survive the journey to your kitchen because it is only traveling a few miles.

Something you can do on your own to increase the nutritiousness of your own food is through composting.  Household compost is made up of organic material - egg shells, veggies, fruits, coffee grounds, etc - and is broken down by microbes and worms.  Use this compost in your vegetable or herb garden or even your window boxes if that is all you have.  For those of us without a yard composting is still possible and smarter people than myself have invented the electric kitchen composter that I'm currently saving up to purchase!  I tried to compost in boxes on my balcony and transport them to my in-laws on the weekends to add to their compost but unfortunately unsavory bugs moved in as well as a putrid smell.  We quickly ceased all composting at our house until a better system was brought in.

My next big purchase:  http://www.naturemill.com/

Ratatouille with Eggs

This is a recipe I got from Eric Ripert, the world renowned chef at Le Bernadin in NYC.  It's a very satisfying meal and can be changed up in order to add your favorite veggies or whatever is really good in the market that week.

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  - 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

  - 1 large white onion, 1/4" dice

  - 1 red bell pepper, seeded and 1/4" dice

  - 1 banana pepper, seeded and 1/4" dice

  - 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  - 3 tomatoes, seeded and 1/4" dice

  - 2 small zucchini, 1/4" dice

  - 1 tbsp tomato paste

  - 1 medium eggplant, peeled and 1/4" dice

  - 8 eggs

  - 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

  - 1/4 cup julienned basil

  

Special Equipment:  4 - 6" ramekins or coccettes, the pyrex glass dishes for storage work wonderful!

Side Note:  I sometimes take out the eggplant and substitute with zucchini, squash or both.  Eggplant can be an acquired taste to some people.

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, peppers and garlic to the pot and saute until tender 5-7 minutes.  Add the tomato paste and continue to cook 3-5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add water as necessary.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  You can do these steps up to 2 days ahead of time.

Preheat oven to broil.  Spoon 1/2 cup of warm ratatouille into the individual dishes.  Crack 2 eggs on top of each dish.  Place the dishes in the broiler for 5 minutes or until the egg whites are just set.  Serve with parmesan and basil on top!