Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

 

Note: This version of vegetarian Shepherd's Pie is very satisfying, thanks to the meaty portabella mushrooms used for the filling. It saves a tons of fats and calories over the regular version. You can either make smaller individual pies (like what's pictured here) or use a large baking dish to make one big one.

1 recipe garlic mashed potatoes (or any other flavor mashed potatoes you'd like, or even plain mashed potatoes for the purists)
1 onion (I like to use sweet onion, such as Vidalia, but you can use regular)
2 portabella mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cups green peas (fresh or frozen preferred)
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 T butter
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 tsp. basil
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 T balsamic vinegar

Serves 6

Pre-heat oven to 425°F.

Carmelize onions in a large skillet. Lower heat and add garlic and stir for about a minute. Add butter and mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add wine and 1 1/2 cups water (or you can use beef, chicken or vegetable stock). Stir in tomato paste and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in basil and balsamic vinegar. Remove from heat.

Using your fingers, press mashed potatoes into the bottom and up the sides of an 8x12 inch baking dish (or into 6 smaller individual baking dishes). Spoon mushroom mixture into baking dish(es). Carefully cover the tops with additional mashed potatoes. Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are beginning to brown. Serve with a hearty red wine (one of the few vegetarian dishes that will hold up to it).

This is an American variation of traditional shepherd's pie that is sure to please any meat and potatoes fan. The ground beef has a natural rich mushroom gravy and the potatoes are loaded with cheese.

INGREDIENTS:
   * 1 pound ground chuck beef
   * 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
   * 1/2 cup chopped onion
   * 2 large cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
   * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
   * Freshly ground pepper to taste
   * 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
   * 1 Tablespoon flour
   * 1/2 cup beef broth
   * 1/2 cup heavy cream
   * 1/2 cup frozen peas, unthawed
   * 2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes (frozen or deli-packed), packed
   * 1/8 cup chopped chives (or finely sliced green onions with tops)
   * 2 cups finely-shredded cheddar cheese or cheese blend, divided use
   * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
   * 1/4 cup mayonnaise
   * Sweet Hungarian paprika

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place ground beef, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large heavy skillet.

Saute, breaking up ground beef, until the juices have almost evaporated.

Stir in Worcestershire, then flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring often. Add beef broth, stirring to combine, then heavy cream. Simmer until gravy thickens. Pour into glass baking dish. Let cool slightly, then sprinkle green peas evenly on top of beef.

In a mixing bowl, combine hash brown potatoes, chives, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, salt, and mayonnaise. Spread evenly on top of beef layer. Spread remaining cup of cheddar cheese on top and sprinkle lightly with paprika.

Bake about 45 minutes until cheese has melted and is slightly browned. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

-Recipe From: Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, http://homecooking.about.com/mbiopage.htm

“Maleficent” came out this past year, and even though she was made into a good guy in the movie, she’s still a favorite Villain to most Disney fans! Here’s a cute recipe for some Maleficent inspired cupcakes. They’re adorable and look delicious too! Here’s what you need to do~

Recommended Utensils:
Satin Ice Vanilla Fondant – Blackchocolate blackberry maleficent cupcakes
Wave Style Baking Cups – Blackchocolate blackberry maleficent cupcakes
Seedless Blackberry Preserveschocolate blackberry maleficent cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Cake
Yields 24 cupcakes
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Baker’s sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup lukewarm coffee
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with Wilton Black Wave Baking Cups; set aside. Stir together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl with a whisk. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
With a large cupcake scoop fill each paper cupcake liner about 2/3 full. Bake approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Blackberry Filling
1/2 cup Baker’s sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups frozen blackberries

In a small bowl whisk together sugar, cornstarch and water until cornstarch is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Add the butter and berries and bring to a boil stirring gently. Boil about 3 minutes or until thickened. Mixture will thicken further upon cooling.
Using a paring knife cut a cone out of center of cooled cupcakes. Fill with cooled blackberry filling.

Blackberry Buttercream
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup seedless blackerry preserves
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

With an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Stir in preserves until combined. Sift in powdered sugar. Beat on low until combined, then on high until light and fluffy. Approximately 5 minutes.
Using a piping bag and a Wilton 2D tip pipe frosting onto cooled and filled cupcakes.

A Taste of India
This easy Bombay Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe is a simple salad recipe for using left-over chicken or turkey. The dressing gives this pasta salad an Indian (Bombay) flavour as well as colour.
The raisins infuse this Bombay salad with a bit of sweetness and a nice chewy texture.
The curry powder in the dressing creates a unique eastern flavour and colour.
The spice, Curry, itself is native to India, (especially the Bombay Region) although it is now widely used throughout the world to flavour soups, stews, sauces and dressings.
Curry powder is actually a mixture of a number of spices, with of course, curry being the main one. Throughout India, and even within Bombay itself, there are many regional differences in curry powders - they can hot or mild, sweet or not, and sometimes very colourful.

Bombay Salad Ingredients:
• 1/4 lb. (112 g) shell pasta or other small pasta shape
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, poached & cubed
• 2 green onions – diced
• 4 tbsp (60 ml) raisins
• 1 tbsp. (15 ml) fresh basil – chopped

Bombay Dressing Ingredients:
• ½ cup (120 ml) mayonnaise
• ½ tsp. (2.5 ml) curry
• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt
• Dash of pepper
• Squirt of lemon juice

Method:
1. Cook pasta , as per package instructions, in boiling water until tender. Rinse under cold running water and allow to thoroughly drain and cool.
2. In a bowl combine the cooled pasta, chicken cubes, green onions, raisins and basil.
3. In a separate small bowl combine the dressing ingredients and mix well.
4. Taste test the dressing – adjust seasonings.
5. Add the dressing to the pasta bowl and stir to coat all the pasta and chicken with the dressing.

Recipe Yield: Serves 2

Recipe Notes:
1. The pasta can be prepared a day ahead & refrigerated.
2. To poach the chicken breast – drop it into a pot of boiling water and continue to cook til done. This can also be done a day ahead.
3. Alternatively this recipe can be made with pre-cooked (left-over) chicken or turkey.

Butter Chicken is one of the recipes most frequently requested of me. It’s one I make fairly often, so I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to post it!

This restaurant favourite is creamy, flavourful and mild on the spectrum of Indian curries. My version is simplified (read: doesn’t require a plethora of spices that you’ll buy and only need one-eighth of a teaspoon of) but doesn’t suffer in the flavour department. This is definitely a lick-your-plate dinner.
Most butter chicken recipes require cooking the chicken separately first, then simmering in the sauce. I don’t think this extra cooking step is necessarily crucial, especially for the sake of an easy weeknight dinner. The marinade, however, is important because the chicken breasts don’t take long to cook, so they won’t absorb much of the flavour from the sauce. If you are a planner, marinate the chicken overnight for maximum benefit (but even a half-hour to mingle with the spices will make a difference). And if you are a planner AND a perfectionist, then feel free to add an extra step and char the chicken cubes a bit on a grill/grill pan, or under a broiler for a few minutes before tossing them in the sauce.

One thing you don’t want to rush is the caramelizing of the onions – it’s a really important layer of flavour in any Indian curry, and especially in a sweeter one like this.
Wait until you see what I’ve done with the leftovers… (coming soon!)

Ingredients
For chicken & marinade:
    2.2 lbs (1 kg) boneless, skinless chicken breast cut in 1" - 2" cubes
    2 tbsp lemon juice
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tbsp garam masala
    1 tsp kosher salt

For sauce:
    ¼ cup vegetable oil
    2 ½ cups chopped onion (about 2 medium-large)
    2 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
    2 tbsp garam masala
    2 tsp paprika
    ¼ tsp cinnamon
    2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
    2 cups diced no-salt-added canned tomatoes
    ¾ cup cream
    2 tbsp butter
    Chopped cilantro, to garnish (optional)

Instructions
For marinade:
    Combine all ingredients in a zip-top bag or shallow baking dish, massaging the marinade into the chicken. Let stand at room temperature while you prepare the sauce, or marinate in the fridge overnight.

For sauce:
    Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add onions and slowly cook until golden, about 20 minutes, reducing heat if they are getting crispy or browning quickly.
    Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in garam masala, paprika, cinnamon and salt; cook 1 minute more. Add tomatoes; cook 2 minutes, then add cream and carefully puree using an immersion blender (or standing blender, but do it in batches or the steam will blow the top off).
    Return sauce to saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add chicken to the sauce, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat until cooked through, about 12 minutes (remove a couple of pieces to make sure they are no longer pink inside). A gentle simmer is required to gently cook the breasts so they don't become tough, and you don't want to overcook them.
    Stir in butter, taste and add more salt to taste. Serve sprinkled with cilantro, if desired.

Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time:  15 mins
Cook time:  35 mins
Total time:  50 mins
Serves: 6 servings

Author: Jennifer Pallian
-Source: http://foodess.com/9871-butter-chicken.html

1. Grease a piece of baking paper and place on a tray/baking sheet.
2. Insert bamboo skewers in all the apples and set aside.
3. In a medium pot, combine the sugar, water, glucose/corn syrup and food colouring and stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture feels smooth when you rub it between your fingers.
4. When the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up and wash the sides of the pot down with a pastry brush dipped into clean water to prevent crystals from forming.
5. Allow the caramel to boil until it reaches the hard crack stage (150°c/310°F).
6. Carefully dip the apples into the hot candy mixture and place on the baking paper to set and cool for approximately an hour before serving.
   
   -Found Here: http://simply-delicious-food.com/2013/10/29/poison-toffee-apples-halloween/

Ingredients: 
(Note quantities not added. This will vary depending on how many you plan to make. It’s safe to estimate about 2-3 per person.)

White or Wheat Bread
Bacon
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Eggs
Butter Maple Syrup
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
While the oven is preheating partially cook the bacon for about 3-5 minutes in a large skillet set to medium-high. You want the bacon to be a little cooked but still pliable.

Mix maple syrup and butter in a small sauce pan and heat over medium low so butter melts (you can’t mess this up so don’t worry about amounts too much. I usually use ½ a stick of butter and a cup or so of syrup).

Using a cookie cutter, ravioli cutter, or whatever else you may have that can cut a 3 inch diameter circle—cut circles out of the bread slices. Here comes the good part!

Grease/non-stick spray muffin pan and line with bacon so that is circles each mold.

Now, brush each side of the bread with the syrup/butter mixture and place in cup so that it rests evenly at the bottom of the mold.

You may have to do a little trimming of the bread but it’s ok if it doesn't fit perfectly either.

Crack an egg into each mold, season with salt and pepper and give each cup a sprinkle of cheese (you can also add the cheese on top of bread, beneath the egg).