Irish Shepherd's Pie (with Turkey)

Ingredients, Serves 8-10:

For the mashed potatoes topping:

• 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup half-and-half cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg yolk

For the meat filling:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 celery stocks, chopped
• 3 pounds ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons tomato paste
• 2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon paptrika
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup fresh or frozen English peas

Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.  Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in a pot and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the half-and-half and butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the pot. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the EVO oil into a large deep walled pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, celery and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the turkey, salt and pepper and cook until browned, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn and peas to the turkey mixture and spread evenly into an 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle on the paprika.   Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Irish Lamb Stew with Guiness Beer

Ingredients, Serves 8-10:

• 3 pounds lamb shoulder/neck (used for stew)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 6 stalks celery, cut into 1/2" slices
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped into medium pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh rosemary
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 2 quarts beef stock
• 12 ounces Guinness stout
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• Salt and pepper to taste

In keeping with the St. Patrick's day tradition I decided to make authentic Irish Stew.  Of course, not being from Ireland, I'm not sure how authentic it is!  Well, using pearl barley and Guinness beer should hopefully make up for not being Irish!

First we need to prepare the pearl barley.  Bring 3 cups of beef stock to boil and add the pearl barley.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Then remove from heat.

Now take some Thyme, Parsley and Rosemary stems and tie them together with cooking twine.  Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a deep sided pan and brown the lamb meat.  Salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle some flour over the meat.

Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery to the pan you cooked the meat in and saute, tossing to evenly cook the vegetables.  Add the herb bundle, pearl barley, guinness, potatoes and beef stock so that it just covers everything.  Heat until just boiling and then reduce heat to low simmer and cook for 3 hours.  Stir stew occasionally.

After 3 hours, add salt and pepper to taste and add the corn starch (mix in some cold water first) and chopped parsley.  Mix and stir for a couple minutes until slightly thickened.  Pour into a nice presentation dish and serve it up!

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Irish Root Vegetable Medley

Ingredients, Serves 8-10:

• 8 carrots
• 4 turnips
• 12 fingerling potatoes
• 1 rutabaga
• 1 large parsnip
• 2 medium onions
• 2 kohlrabi bulbs
• 1 celery root (celeriac) bulb
• 1 whole head garlic
• 2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage, or thyme
• Extra-virgin olive oil (EVO)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish

I made this for a St. Patrick's Day party and it was a hit!  Healthy too!

First pre-heat the oven to 400º F.  Now, prepare all the root vegetables.  You need to peel the carrots, turnips, rutabaga, parsnip, kohlrabi and celery root.  Chop them all up (including the potatoes) into roughly same size pieces.  Separate the garlic head into individual cloves.  You can optionally peel them or leave them unpeeled.

Put all the vegetables and the herb sprigs in a large baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season well with salt and black pepper, and toss them with your hands to coat them evenly.  Put the baking dish in the oven and cook for roughly 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting, until the vegetables are golden brown and tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork. Present the vegetables in their baking dish or transfer them to a dinner platter, garnishing with freshly chopped parsley or chives just before serving.  Enjoy!

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Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage

Sous Vide Details: Cook Corned Beef at 180ºF for 10-12 hours

Ingredients, Serves 6-8:

• Corned Beef:
• 3-4 lb beef brisket
• 4 tablespoon curing salt (I got some at William and Sonoma)
• 4 tablespoon pickling spices
• 4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar

So I decided to make corned beef from a regular beef brisket.  Be for warned, it takes 7 days to pickle the brisket into corned beef!

First, take your brisket and trim off most of the fat.  Mix the curing salt, brown sugar and garlic powder in a bowl.  Using a fork, punch holes in both sides of the brisket and rub the salt mixture into both sides of the brisket.  Now take the pickling spices and rub them into the brisket on both sides.  Once fully covered, take the brisket and seal it in a vacuum bag and place it into the refrigerator for 7 days.  Flip the brisket once every day.  If it's a thick brisket (more than 2 inches), you should let it pickle for 7 more days!  Once it's done, remove it from the bag and wash all the spices off the brisket and pat dry.  You now have corned beef!

Pre-heat water bath to 180ºF.  Lightly salt and pepper the corned beef and seam in plastic bag and drop in water bath for 10-12 hours.  The higher temperature and long cook time will worked to break down the connective collagen while maintaining a reasonably high level of water retention so that the corned beef is tender and moist.

About 15 minutes before removing the corned beef, you can start the cabbage.  Cut the cabbage into 1/8 wedges.  Add the chicken stock and vinegar to a large pot or deep walled pan.  Heat on medium high until just boiling and then add the cabbage.  Cook for about 15 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.  YOu can flip the wedges once or twice.

Remove the cabbage and diagonally slice the wedges into 1" stripes.  Layer a bed of the cabbage on a serving plate.  Remove the corned beef from the water bath and bag and thinly slice across the grain.  Place the corned beef slices on top of the cabbage and garnish with parsley or you favorite green herb.  Enjoy!

You can serve this dish with this sauce to!

Horseradish Sauce:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, zest, and salt. Season generously with pepper to taste. Refrigerate the horseradish sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients, Serves 4-6:

• 4 cups of flour
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut up into pieces
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup golden raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 1 3/4 cup butter milk
• 1 large egg

We decided to throw a St. Patrick's Day party this year and so I decided to cook authentic Irish dishes for the first time!  On the top of the list was Irish Soda Bread, a wonderfully rich and flavorful bread that doesn't use yeast and is super easy to make!

First, pre-heat oven to 425ºF.  Next, we mix all the try ingredients in a bowl.  I used a mixer bowl, but you can use any large bowl.  Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, butter, raisins/currants and optional caraway seeds.  Add the buttermilk and egg and mix until a smooth sticky consistency is achieved.  Don't over mix!

Sprinkle a layer of flour on a cutting board and place the dough in the middle and knead for about 15 seconds.  Place a sheet of waxed/parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the dough in a nice round mound in the middle of the baking sheet.  Using a knife, make two cross incisions on the top of the dough, cutting about 1 1/2" deep into the dough.  You can optionally sprinkle the top of the dough with some flour if you want it to have that "artisian" look!  Pop it into the oven and cook for 35-45 minutes.  It is done when you tap on the bottom of the bread and you hear a hallow sound.

Take the bread out of the oven and let cool, then slice it up and watch it disappear right before your eyes!

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Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls

Ingredients, Serves 4:

• 1/2 lb headless shrimp
• 2 oz asian rice vermicelli
• Six  8.5" (22 cm)  rice sheets (you can get at an asian market)
• Leaves of cilantro, mint and Thai basil
• Lettuce Leafs
• Peanut sauce:
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Shirachi hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• Water to thin sauce

I LOVE Vietnamese shrimp spring rolls! They are fresh and aromatic and health too!  So I decided to make my own and now you can too!  It's super easy and makes a great snack or appetizer.

First you need to cook the shrimp.  Peel and toss into a boiling pot and cook for only about 2 minutes!  Strain and using a thin sharp knife (be careful), place the shrimp flat on a cutting board and slice the shrimp in half horizontally.  Next, you need to prepare the rice vermicelli noodles.  Place the dry noodles in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes until they soften up.  Then place them in a pot of boiling water for about 4 minutes.  Strain and set aside in a bowl.

Now comes the fun/challenging part....making the spring rolls themselves.  First, fill a bowl with warm water large enough to submerge the rice sheets.  Submerge a rice sheet for 2 seconds only and then lay it on a cutting board near you.  Place 3-4 shrimp halves down in the middle (left to right) and about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the rice sheet.  Place a piece of lettuce wrap over the shrimp, then layer some cilantro, basil, mint and shredded carrots.  Next, add some vermicelli noodles and then another layer of lettuce wraps.  Finally, add another 3-4 shrimp halves.  You should have what looks like a rectangular log of ingredients on the rice sheet.  Now, carefully fold over both sides so that they cover the ends of the ingredients.  Then carefully fold over the lower edge of the rice sheet over the top of the ingredients and roll the "log" away from you, forming the spring roll.  Do this for the other rice sheets and make as many rolls as you like!

For the peanut sauce, mix the first four ingredients in a small bowl and then slowly add small amounts of water, stirring until incorporated.  Add enough water until you reach the consistency you want for the sauce.  Place the peanuts into a zip lock bag and using the bottom of a pot or a meat tenderizer, crush the peanuts.  Add the crushed peanut on top for presentation.  You can also cut the rolls in half too!  Enjoy watching them disappear fast!

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