Hello Blog Universe,
It was a beautiful spring like Sunday in Edmonton. I spent the morning sitting in a sun beam enjoying the magic that is Sunday. After some time in the sunshine I had brunch with a great friend and then headed to the dreaded Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart ruined that Sunday magic, but I had to get a passport photo taken so I took advantage of the cheap prices and dealt with the crowds.
Today’s kitchen lesson was an overdue Sheppard’s Pie and Emergency Chocolate Cake.
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| A busy prep cook, peeling potatoes |
The Sheppard’s Pie was the most challenging dish that I have made thus far. It had multiple steps and required significant preparation. Peeling, chopping, shredding, Oh My! In the end it tasted great, and I only set off the smoke detector once.
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| A little black and toasty |
The most challenging part of the recipe was the preparation of the vegetables. It required that you multi task and think on your feet. I was busy peeling potatoes, slicing carrots, and finely chopping onions. I had a trying time with my new frying pan when I was frying the onions; I burnt them a little! As my apartment with smoke I noted that the lesson here was that you don`t need to turn the burner to to max, medium heat will suffice.
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| Prepped Veggies..Ready to Go |
I don't think my onions were fine enough, any advice for chopping?
The most rewarding part of this recipe was mashing the carrots and the potatoes. It was also great to see how great the pie looked when it was all together.
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| Mashed Carrots |
Other kitchen lessons:
- Onions really do add flavor. They gave my mashed potatoes the edge they needed. Mom, you were right, again!
- Adding Philly Cream Cheese to the mashed potatoes gives it’s a very fluffy texture. This is a trick I observed last Thanksgiving from Marion’s Mom, Sandy, who makes the best mashed potatoes of life.
- When I make the Sheppard’s Pie again I am going to add corn, and peas. I enjoyed the mashed carrots but it needed a little more of a vegetable component.
Degree of Difficulty: 7
Execution: 6 (I did set of the smoke along after all )
Bon Appétit,
Kerri
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| Yum, Yum, Yum..This will feed me for months! Thank goodness for Ziplock freezer bags |
super duper little chef... Cant wait for you to cook me supper. no trick to chopping onions finer, just keep chopping and have a tissue ready to cry.
ReplyDeleteKerri,
ReplyDeleteWay to go! The cooking adventures is an enjoyable way for all of us to break bread together from afar. I think that Shepard's pie is a hard dish for you because it is obviously for Shepards, but remember they cook over an open fire and often set off their smoke detectors too.
Love,
Dad