Sheppard's Pie

Today I'm making a Sheppard's Pie. It's a Rachael Ray recipe, can use ground turkey, but I use ground sirloin, 96% fat free.Brown the meat with minced garlic and diced onions (just as many as you like). Add salt and pepper to taste. When the meat is almost done, add a some Worcestershire Sauce, as much or as little as you like. Remove the beef, deglaze the pan with red wine, beef broth or just add a little olive oil and sauté mushrooms. When the mushrooms are nearly done, salt and pepper them and add some more Worcestershire sauce. Then add beef broth, and some flour to make a thick mushroom gravy.Add the browned meat to the bottom of a round, deep casserole dish, top with the mushroom gravy.

Meanwhile in a deep pot, add Yukon gold (any potato you like) that's been cubed into cold water. Bring to boil, boil until fork tender. (Once the water boils, add salt to the pot.) Mash the potatoes, add skim milk (or milk or cream) 1 tbs butter, and add as much or as little 'gorgonzola cheese as you like to the potatoes. Top the meat and gravy with the potatoes. (Optional to add some more mozzarella, or any kind of cheese you like to the top of the potatoes) and bake off at 350 for about 20 minutes, until there is a crust on top and the cheese on top is melted.

Recent pictures taken with the pups

ENJOY!

Traditional 'Mild' Red Bean Chili

All of the spices really should be measured per your own tastes, but I'll give you suggestions. This is a "MILD" chili. Chili-powder is optional. (Use as little are as much as you prefer)

Ingredients:
1 lb leanest ground sirloin (Can use white meat turkey breast)
3 cans of red kidney beans (strained and rinsed)
1 small white onion, finely diced
2 cans plain tomato sauce (low sodium or no salt added is preferred)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder (optional)

(Serve topped with shredded 'Mexican cheese', cheddar, or any yellow cheese)

Instructions:
I start by dicing the onion. You can use a cheese grater to get it very fine. Add to a frying pan with some olive oil and a pinch of Kosher salt. Next, add the lean ground beef. Add half of all of the seasonings to the beef and onion mixture. When the meat is browned, move the meat and onion mixture to a soup pot. Add the rinsed red kidney beans and the rest of the seasonings. Add 1 can of tomato sauce for a dryer chili and two for a soupier chili. (If you like, add more of the above seasonings to the sauce. It's good to season each layer).

Cover and let simmer for one hour. This tastes better the next day.

Top the chili with some cheese and serve plain, or over brown rice. Another option is to bake a potato and serve the chili with cheese on the potato.

Adventures from the dog park, part IV

Today the weather was nice. Even though we were tired, it was time for the dog's to have some fun, so we ventured to the dog park.

Another schnauzer we've grown to admire, Tanner, was there as always. He makes Pippin look like a mute! Tanner is VERY barky and loud. He's also the welcome wagon, along with Brady and Pip, to other dogs who enter his realm. After all, Tanner is a terrier, ergo the entire park is HIS. Brady was loving up on Tanner's parents, Tanner protested with a slew of barks. I'd assume if I had a translator, I'd come to find he said "Pump the breaks kid! Get away from my people!"

Next Pippin decided he was interviewing new owners and started to love on Tanner's people too, to which Tanner protested with "There's only room for ONE schnauzer in my house and you ain't it!"

Then Tanner said things to Brady that I can not repeat here, let's just say, Tanner has a bit of a potty mouth, so his people scooped him up and left.

All was fine at the park, which then defaulted to being Pippin's park as he was the lone terrier...until a somewhat large woman, wearing too tight of clothes and LOW-RIDE jeans decided to bend over to air out her butt crack.

Brady is a fan of butt-er...yes, like most dogs, he's addicted to butt and was in the mood for a snack. Yes, he feasted on her butt. There I said it, but it's the truth. The owner of the crack was mortified when Brady licked her crack and squealed as Chris just stood nearby and laughed. I've had to feed Brady many breath bones since we got home but she got what she deserved! For once it wasn't Brady being butt-handled at the park by other mean dogs, but the other way around!

;-)

Matzo ball soup and homemade chicken stock

My stock pot is not too big, be sure never to peel the yellow onion, it gives the stock color


Duh... :-)


Ice cream scoop makes for a much easier process and ensures they are all the same size


They swell after they boil

Homemade Stock

Ingredients
(Depending on the size of your pot) 3 to 5, five pound chicken carcasses (yeah, no other way to say it) bones and a bit of meat, no skin.

2 large yellow onions, SKINS ON

4 large carrots

4 stalks of celery

1 cup of fresh parsley

3 bay leaves

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

*Enough water to fill all of the pot

Instructions

Bring to a boil, remove lid, let simmer for FOUR hours. Stir occasionally, skim fat off the top every hour. Pour contents into a strainer. Remove any bits of the chicken meat and add back to the stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Matzo Ball Soup

Ingredients

Eggs (8)
Matzo Meal (2 cups)
Kosher Salt (1-2 tbs, to taste)
Canola Oil (2 tbs)
Dill (1 tsp)
Fresh chicken stock (4 tbs)

Honestly the instructions are on the box. I always quadruple the recipe to make 30 or so matzo balls. I also always add LESS salt than the recipe calls for. Add 1 tsp dill to the quadrupled recipe. Add some dill to the stock as well for better flavor. Instead of refrigerating, I put my matzo meal in the freezer for 30 minutes after I blend it. I always add 'stock' not water to the meal, per the instructions.

Now this is a matter of taste: I prefer my matzo balls a little on the firm side. I also boil mine in water, not stock. The matzo meal really absorbs the stock. If you make a lot of stock you can boil them in stock but remove them from the stock after they are boiled so they don't absorb all the stock. Since I prefer them a bit firm, I only boil mine for 15-20 minutes. Also to make life easier, instead of forming balls in my hands, (messy) I use a smallish ice-cream scooper. Not only is this easier and cleaner, but all the matzo balls will be the same size and cook at the same time. Also they will swell to at least three times their size so use a small melon-baller or small ice cream scoop.

Add matzo balls to a bowl and then top with stock and chicken pieces. Always store the balls alone, not in the stock. They actually do taste good reheated the next day. This is how I've been making them for years. GOOD LUCK!