Chef - Blog Posts

Shepherd's Pie

“Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” is what I was saying a little over a week ago as I purchased all of the fresh ingredients to make my very first shepherd’s pie, from scratch. I was so proud to come up with this idea for my second recipe and adventure in the kitchen. What a fun idea for St. Patrick’s day, and it was something I definitely have never tried to cook on my own before. This year instead of staying out late, decked in green from head to toe with giant light up shamrocks on my head, I chose to spend a quiet night in listening to music preparing a lovely meal.  

I have to admit I got a little caught up and a little busy this past week and haven't been able to post until now, but hey BETTER LATE THAN NEVER :)

I have only tried Shepherd’s Pie before a couple times in my life and each time it was only because someone I was with ordered it at a restaurant as their meal and I had a few bites. Or when I worked at a Preschool a few years back they served it there for lunch, pretty fancy lunch huh?  Although it was just instant mashed potatoes, teeny tiny frozen peas and carrots, and some mini meat balls mixed all together in a bowl with some shredded cheese on top. Either way,  whipped up in a restaurant or served buffet style in the preschool I always thought it was delicious, and I couldn't wait to try to make my own from scratch! 

Many recipes I found for Shepherd’s Pie called for ground beef, but I decided to go with chuck roast to make it more of a hearty stew to enjoy on this cold, windy, night in.  

I followed the recipe step by step, I started by browning the meat in batches just as it said but my favorite part was chopping up the delicious fresh veggies. Adding more veggies into my diet is definitely a must, and I was proud of myself for not going the easy route and buying them already chopped and frozen. :)

The celery was the easy part, I felt like I was on a roll! Then it was time to chop the carrots, and this ordeal set me back about 45 min. ;)

I’m not a big fan of cooked carrots mostly because of the texture, so my bright idea was to grate them instead. I love the taste and I didn’t want to leave anything out of the recipe (except the onions of course) ;) I still haven't been able to develop a liking for onions....just yet. Plus I did a little research and one of my favorite chefs Gordon Ramsay grates his carrots in his recipe. NICE!

Trying to budget my money a bit better I bought the most.....lets say inexpensive grater from the grocery store, that was my first mistake! It took me close to 10 minutes to grate ONE SINGLE CARROT. With an EXTREMELY sore arm and 5 more carrots to go I came up with another bright idea. Why don’t I put them in the blender! Quick, easy, and I should have nicely shredded carrots in just a couple pushes of a button. No...No...and NO! this did not work. All that happened was big chunks of carrots banging around the blades making a horrible noise. At the risk of breaking my roomates blender it was back to the grater because I was not giving up on those grated carrots. Over 30 minutes later I fully grated 6 LARGE carrots! I even alternated hands and got a killer arm workout in the process. Do you want to see what 40 minutes of hard work grating carrots looks like?

NOTHING SPECIAL!  And this is what took the most effort of this whole recipe. The important thing is I was DETERMINED and I did not give up! ;)

Next up was the chopping of the garlic, which I was looking forward to after the carrot fiasco. I set aside 6 cloves of Garlic and after trying to peel one of the cloves, that TOO was taking FOREVER. So at this point I turned to google for a quick trick to peel the skin off garlic. I found one. I was a little skeptical at first, it said to place the cloves of garlic into a hard container with a lid and SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE for a couple minutes. At this point I was glad I had the house to myself that night because i’m sure this looked absolutely ridiculous. After shaking that container as if there was no tomorrow, I was surprised to find this actually worked! WOW! All of the skin came right off.

Google was again my best friend because I needed a substitute for the cup of red wine. I used beef stock, but other choices included: vinegar, ginger ale, grape juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, liquid from canned mushrooms, tomato juice, or even just water.

I followed the recipe and combined all of the ingredients and allowed them to simmer, and let me just tell you my house smelled ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! As all of the flavors combined together I couldn't help but taste test this, over and over again. SO incredibly flavorful I could have just stopped there and eaten it just like that! But I moved on to the mashed potatoes. And for the record I have not made mashed potatoes from scratch many times in my life, if at all and they are so SIMPLE and WAY better than instant potatoes. I could have eaten a giant bowl of those alone too!

Now it was time to transfer the ingredients to a casserole dish and bake!

I really wanted to pipe the potatoes on with a pastry bag to make it look pretty, but the one problem I had with this recipe is there was not enough mashed potatoes AT ALL. Or else I just went a little overboard with the taste testing ;)  There is supposed to be a thick layer covering the top of the stew and I barley could spread them into a thin layer to cover it. OH WELL, into the oven it went. I knew it would still be delicious! 

I’m KICKING myself now, but I did not take an after photo :( 

While trying to plate this for a perfect after photo it came out UGLY UGLY UGLY! I did not want anyone to see it. But let me tell you it was one of the most DELICIOUS things I have EVER tasted. It was full of flavor and came out tasting perfect!

I’m bummed I was so worried about what people might think of my after photo. This was a dish I was truly proud of, and worked hard on (lets not forget the carrots)  Even though it didn’t look perfect on the outside doesn’t mean it wasn’t absolutely amazing!

SUCH IS LIFE, things may not always be perfect but life sure can be amazing when you take the time to enjoy the things you love to do. It’s as simple as PIE ;)

Ingredients

2 pound beef chuck roast

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 ribs celery, sliced

6 carrots, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup high-quality red wine

1 1/2 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 1/2 cups frozen green peas

Salt and pepper

2 pounds gold Yukon potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup half and half

Chopped chives (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Cut chuck roast into 3/4 inch cubes and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the flour and toss to coat each piece.

2. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick or iron skillet. Brown meat in batches. Do not overcrowd skillet and add oil as needed. Remove from skillet and set aside.

3. Add onion, celery, carrots and garlic to skillet and saute for six or seven minutes. Add three tablespoons of flour, mix well, and cook for two to three more minutes. Deglaze skillet with wine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Return beef to skillet and stir to combine.

4. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover skillet, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until vegetables and meat are tender. Add frozen peas and mix to combine. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

5. While stew is cooking, place potatoes in a medium large pot and cover with cold water. Add two tablespoons salt to water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pot, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife pierces potato.

6. Drain potatoes in a colander. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or push them through a ricer. Add butter, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir until butter is melted. Add half and half and stir to combine.

7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

8. Transfer beef filling to a casserole dish or finish the pie in the skillet as long as it is oven safe. Spread potatoes evenly over beef mixture with a icing spatula or large knife. Or, pipe the potatoes with a pastry bag.

9. Bake the pie for 30 to 40 minutes until bubbling and potato topping is slightly browning. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

Eggplant Parmesan

Now, how mouthwatering delicious does THAT look? 

HOMEMADE Eggplant Parmesan!

When trying to figure out what recipe I wanted to try cooking for my first blog post, I could not think of anything. I was WAY overthinking it. I didn’t want anything too boring or too simple, but the fact that my cooking has been on a little hiatus I wasn’t feeling overly daring in the kitchen quite yet either. I kept putting it off and putting it off. The idea came to me when I was flipping through my mail and came across some coupons. Me wanting to live a more balanced and full life, being better with my money is definitely at the top of the list. So I decided to actually take a look instead of just throwing them into a drawer, never to see the light of day again. I saw some coupons for fresh produce and saw that eggplant was on sale for JUST 98 cents! Now i’m not sure how good of a “deal” that is, being that I have never bought an eggplant before but 98 cents sounded pretty good to me. Then I realized, I had all of the ingredients at home needed for eggplant parmesan, except for the star of the show….THE EGGPLANT. So I snipped my very first coupon and headed to the store.

This was PERFECT to make for my first recipe because I was being frugal with my money (Great Feeling!!) and I would be cooking something that I have never made before. Although picking out the eggplant was a little intimidating (there were all different shades of purple going on) I bit the bullet and just chose one. I mean hey if something went wrong, anything smothered in cheese and delicious marinara sauce cant be too bad right?

Now, it was time to get cookin’

My adventure in the kitchen with the eggplant parmesan has now begun :)

First step on the list was to slice the eggplant into slices and salt both sides. Ok, I can do that, CHECK!  As I read on, the recipe said to let the slices sit in a colander for an hour for all of the liquid to drain out. BUMMER! I have to be honest, my first thought was to just skip this step and move on. I can be a little inpatient and hey I was ready to move on to the fun and messy part, dunking those slices into the egg wash and breadcrumbs. But I wanted this eggplant parmesan to come out perfect so I did as it said and I waited…and waited…and waited. Man those slices were SWEATING! I had no idea how much liquid there was in an eggplant. Glad I didn’t skip this step, it seemed important ;)

Now the FUN part! As I went to whisk the eggs and milk together for the eggwash I realized I did not have any milk. Again my mind went straight to “Its just a half a cup, lets just SKIP the milk i’m sure eggs will be fine. But I wanted this to come out perfect so off to the store I went for a second time. It was a bummer having to run back out but I found a way to see the positive in it. My supermarket is having that monopoly sweepstakes giveaway game going on and I am only one more ticket away from winning a million dollars. This milk could be my winning  ticket!! Everything happens for a reason right?

Sadly, still not a millionaire. But back to the eggplant parmesan, now with the milk to make this a truly winning dish at least  ;) 

Now, I know I said earlier that this was the fun part, but honestly this was more intimidating than picking out the eggplant. I have never really fried anything either but I survived!  My eggplant slices came out fried to a perfect golden brown. Except for the first one…the burnt one that is strategically not shown in this picture. These fry up fast, so be sure to keep an eye on them not to make the same mistake I did with that stubborn first one ;)

I carefully constructed the layers of marinara sauce, eggplant slices and cheese in the baking dish. Maybe a little too careful, this step took me 3 times as long as it probably should. But like I said earlier I wanted this dish to come out perfect.  I even got a little daring by adding spicy Italian sausage and crushed red pepper flakes to my marinara sauce. Popped it into the oven and I can honestly say to my SURPRISE….

THIS DISH CAME OUT PERFECT! 

Following the recipe step by step and deciding not to skip anything really paid off! ;) This is definitely a dish I would make again and I can now check off  eggplant as something I have conquered successfully in the kitchen. Absolutely delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 large eggplant, sliced into ½" thick slices

2 tbsp kosher salt

1 ½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

3 eggs

½ cup milk

4 tbsp vegetable oil, for lightly pan-frying

3 cups marinara sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella 

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese 

Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

Salt both sides of your eggplant slices and place them in a large colander in the sink. Let the liquid drain for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When your eggplant slices have finished draining liquid, brush off the excess salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In 2 bowls, add breadcrumbs to one and whisk eggs and milk in the other. Dip both sides of eggplant slice into milk/egg mixture then cover with breadcrumbs, shaking off the excess. Place on plate or large baking sheet.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil into the skillet. Once the skillet is hot, add two eggplant slices at a time to the skillet and cook on both sides until golden brown, remove and set on a large plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil for every 2 eggplant slices.

In a large baking dish, add 1 cup of marinara sauce to the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of eggplant slices then use about ¼ cup of marinara sauce to top each of the eggplant slices. On top of the eggplant slices, sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers until you run out of eggplants slices. Top the casserole with more cheese before you place in the oven

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and brown on top.  Use the broiler for 5 minutes to get the cheese nice and brown (keep a close eye on it not to burn)

Serve hot and top with chopped basil

Since the person didn't answer i'll request

An Emily X Reader SOFT LAUNCH

where the BAU slowly finds out that Emily is in a relationship (w/a woman)

reader not apart of bau(maybe a chef??)

;))

Thanks for the request 🫦 Enjoy! 😉

The Soft Launch 🚀

For weeks, the BAU had been on alert. It started small, cute, funny little, cryptic Instagram stories from Emily.

A photo of her hand over another, fingers intertwined beside a wine glass and a plate of what looked like the most divine pasta any of them had ever seen.

No caption. Just a timestamp and a playlist linked, “Melt into You, Slow Jazz Sundays.” Then came the lunches. Homemade. Artisan, even. JJ had noticed it first.

“Emily,” she murmured one afternoon, during their usual break between rough cases, "did you pack that yourself?" Emily's eyes cast down to the perfectly layered beetroot and goat cheese tart in a glass container, simply shrugging.

"Got lucky."

Morgan, of course, had smelled something fishy when a bouquet of rosemary, not flowers, rosemary, had shown up in Emily's office with a note attached, "Don't forget the salt this time, baby. -Y."

But no one had answers. Just assumptions.

Then came the night at Rossi's, a few weeks later.

The house was buzzing with laughter, expensive liquor and the warm hum of an early spring evening. Rossi was holding one of his infamous parties, the kind where the wine flowed like a river.

Strauss had gotten tipsy enough to sing Piano Man on the baby grand. Rossi had, apparently, spared no expense on the food this time. "Hired someone big," he said with a smirk to JJ as he poured her another.

"Almost impossible to book, but I pulled strings." Emily, nursing her scotch, froze, "Who?" Rossi grinned, holding his glass a little tighter with excitement.

"Y/N Y/L/N. Apparently she trained in Paris and Tokyo and is probably going to get her second Michelin star before thirty." Emily's glass paused at her lips.

"What?" Rossi looked her over, "You've heard of her?" Emily blinked once, swallowing her worry, "You could say that." And then, like fate tipping its might hat, Y/N walked into the room from the kitchen.

Carrying an amuse-bouche like it was a crown jewel. She had short, tousled hair tucked behind one ear, arms inked with delicate fine-line tattoos, a lavender sprig, a sunflower, a French knife, and a crescent moon.

She wore her pristine chef's jacket rolled at the sleeves, her apron tied snug around a frame that was compact but clearly muscular. She glowed. And when her eyes met Emily's dark irises...

Everything stopped.

The room, the noise, the laughter, every bit of it melted. Y/N lit up, face breaking into the warmest smile and she crossed the space in a few long strides before stopping just shy of Emily's side.

"...Babe," she whispered, "Didn't realise you were here."

Emily looked dazed, then chuckled, running a hand through her hair, "Neither did I." Y/N leaned in and kissed her temple, and the collective BAU jaw hit the floor in unison.

"Holy..." Garcia whispered from across the table, "That's the chef?"

"THAT'S the mystery girlfriend?" Morgan mouthed to the blonde. Y/N turned to the group, cheeks slightly pink but utterly composed. "Hi. I'm Y/N. Sorry for the surprise. I wasn't told who the event was for."

Her eyes flicked to Rossi, "Your assistant booked me under 'D. Rossi Enterprises.' Very sneaky." Y/N smiled to the older man. "You're the Y/N?" JJ blinked, "The pasta queen from Instagram?"

Y/N laughed, nodding her head gently, "Guilty."

And just like that, any awkwardness vanished. Y/N floated back to the kitchen like she was born there, commanding heat and flame and plating like it was an artwork.

Emily, never far from the archway between kitchen and dining room, watched with an expression none of them had ever seen on her. Not even during a case crack.

Admiration.

Adoration.

The soft kind of awe that made her cheeks flush and her lips curl even when she didn't know she was smiling.

At one point, music drifted from the speakers, and Y/N, mid-sear on scallops, turned with a grin and swayed her hips to the beat. She danced around the kitchen like it was a small stage, a pan in one hand and a plating tweezer in the other.

"Is she dancing?" Reid asked in a whisper, "While cooking?" He turned to Garcia, the blonde shrugging her colourful shoulders, "Gordon Ramsay would cry," She whispered back, "Happy tears."

Then came the food.

A roasted duck breast with blackberry glaze, served over parsnip puree and heirloom carrots that had somehow sculpted into tiny roses.

Pasta with lemon cream and shaved bottarga. Each plate was a piece of art, every bite more transcendent than the last. A moan escaping every FBI agent's lips.

As dessert was served, something chocolate and impossibly airy, Emily stood and joined Y/N in the kitchen, slipping an arm around her waist.

"Can I help?" Emily murmured against the shell of Y/N's ear, Y/N just smiled, still focused on plating. "You already are." And when Emily kissed her cheek in full view of the team, Y/N leaned into it without a second thought.

Rossi raised a glass, "To Chief Emily Prentiss, and her not so secret anymore girlfriend." The team clinked glasses, JJ still wide eyed, Morgan nodding with impressed approval and Garcia already on her phone trying to find an open reservation.

- - -

Later, when the dishes were done and Y/N was tucked under Emily's arm on the porch with a glass of wine, Emily whispered, "Soft launch, huh?"

Y/N just turned to her and smiled, "Felt more like a firework finale..." Emily kissed her slow, like gratitude, like peace, like home. "Couldn't be prouder and more in love with you."

When will this pie be ready? – Soon, but I have to make the whipped cream first and let it set. – I'll be here. It's a masterpiece.

Julie & Julia (2009) dir. Nora Ephron

FOOD IN MOVIES MEDIA

THE BEAR (2022-) #02.03

His name is Jaque and he is a world-class chef thank you.

Sheldon from Sheldon Chef's Birthday Breakfast available on Amazon #childrensbook #illustration #kids #cooking #chef

A little bit of my favourite best boy from Dungeon Meshi

i wish his va wasnt into Scientology