Magnum Pie

Comfort food means different things to different people. To me, it means a simple meal that removes pretentiousness. There's nothing wrong with craving a meal that remind us of a simpler time. Comfort food does not mean something pre-made or processed. It means done with care and for the love of simple cooking.

Growing up, my family always referred Shepherd's Pie as Chinese Pie. I never understood this. Until I read the French side of PC Sheppard's Pie and noticed it was called Pâté Chinois. Strange no? If you are interested knowing why it's called that in Quebec, you can read the Wikipedia page Pâté Chinois for the possible reasons.

Doesn't really matter; a pie by any other name would taste as sweet.

This is a version that is very different than the one taught  to me at George Brown. In that version, there were peas, lots of carrots and the ground lamb was cooked and served in demi-glace. So I like the creamed corn version. Also, the mashed potatoes had egg yolks and nutmeg (Duchess) giving the mashed potatoes added flavour and creaminess. My preference is to leave out the eggs but I would do either way.

The only really important thing to remember is make sure you keep the recipe simple that you enjoy making it and that you can maximize the flavours you've added.

Stevo’s Sheppards Pie

About 500 g Ground Beef or Lamb, or whatever amount 8 family members would normally eat

2 Cans of Creamed Corn or maybe just 1

1 Clove of Garlic or 2 if you like garlic

1 Large Cooking Onion, diced

1 Stalk of Celery, diced

1 Carrot, diced

1 Pinch of Cumin, Oregano, Paprika, Marjoram and Basil

6 Large Baking Potatoes, peeled and in cold water

¼ lb. Butter (1 Stick)

150 ml 35 % Whipping Cream

250 g Marble Cheese, grated

Splash of Worcestershire Sauce, aka “What’s This Here Sauce?”

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 350.

In a tall pasta pot, cook potatoes. Drain well. In a separate pan, heat cream and half a stick of butter. Whip with cooked butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep hot.

In a large sauté pan, heat butter and add onions, celery and garlic. Add herbs and spices and sauté for 3 – 5 minutes. Add either the lamb or beef and brown. Reduce heat by half and continue to cook until browned through. Season to taste. If the beef is particularly wet, drain. Place cooked meat in a rectangle baking dish (maybe a 13 x 9?). Add desired amount of Worcestershire  Sauce. Top with corn and cover with mashed potatoes and coat with grated cheese.  Toss in the oven to melt the cheese and brown to desired colour.

Serves 8.

Variation: try roasting one sweet potato and while whipping the mashed potatoes, add the cooked sweet potato for a little sweetness and richer flavour.

A Humble Chef's tip: to reduce the stress of a weekday, make this on a  Sunday, save it and heat in the oven 1 hour before serving. 

Food Pearing

Today we have two recipes. I've decided to provide two side dishes that you may want to serve during the holidays. These recipes are extremely simple yet add a little elegance to the norm.

Apple sauce has always been a staple for large pork roasts. Personally, I am a fan of combining a little sweetness to a savoury roast. Though, there is no need to limit to pork. I'm sure many of you serve Cranberry Sauce with your turkey dinner. But, for a change I have a recipe that will certainly make your guests raise one eyebrow with the name, then both eyebrows with the taste.

As for the potatoes, during a busy time I like to keep things simple and still tasty. For large groups of people, I don't recommend a complex sides like Pomme Dauphine. But, you could go for my Mashed Potatoes and have it done in advance. However, roasting your potatoes is easy, tasty and a little more elegant than mashed. Well, at least, I think so.

Kiwi Pear Sauce

4 Kiwis, peeled and roughly chopped
8 Bosc Pears, peeled and roughly chopped
100 g Sugar
100 ml Water
Pinch of Cinammon
1/2 Stick of Butter

In a sauce pan, combine everything but the butter. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover for 12 - 15 minutes.

Remove from heat.

In a frying pan, melt butter until golden and frothy. Here you want to caramelize the milk solids to make a Beurre Noisette. Fold into sauce and serve.

Serves 8 - 10.

Herb Crusted Potatoes

16 Mid-Sized Yukons, cut into 8's, in cold water
Small Bunch of Fresh Thyme, finely chopped
Small Bunch of Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
Small Bunch of Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1 Clove of Garlic, crushed
Pinch of Cayenne and Paprika
Drizzle of Peanut Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 400.

In a tall sauce pan, fill with water and table spoon of salt. Bring to slight boil. Blanch potatoes until three quarters cooked. Remove from water and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine oil, salt and pepper, seasonings and herbs and mix. Add potatoes and toss. Lay out evenly on a baking sheet with parchement.

Cook in oven for 10 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Serves 16. Two if they're Irish.


A Humble Chef's tip: if you have a food mill, don't bother peeling and seeding the pears when cooking. Then run your mix and puree through the mill.

Variation: for the potatoes, go ahead and try some of your herbs leftover from the summer garden. Oregano, sage, savory. Whatever you have.

I Yam What I Yam. A Sweet Potato.

Now that the weather is warming up, it is time to leave the kitchen and start burning propane. When comfortable, you can cook more than burgers and chicken on a stick on your outdoor grill.

Generally speaking, there are three overall methods of cooking: dry heat, moist heat and n0-heat. Within those are all the ways we cook. For instance, dry heat is roasting, grilling, sauteing, deep frying (yes, deep frying is considered a dry heat method) and broiling. Moist cooking is blanching and braising. No-heat would be curing and pickling and these sort of things.

If you can remember that the BBQ is just an oven that is outside, then sky's the limit. Once you have the mindset, you can do braises on your BBQ, or roast beef or chicken or whatever, standard grilling foods like meats and vegetables and even some starches. Heck, desserts aren't even out of the question if you're brave enough. If you have some cedar planks, then you can really treat your BBQ like any oven.

It is unfortunate that sweet potatoes aren't as popular as they should be. Not to be confused with the yam, sweet potatoes are a distant cousin of the common potato we all know and love. Yet, sweet potatoes are high in fibre and complex sugars. Virtually opposite to the delicious cousin. So, why don't we eat more of it? I'm not sure why but I do know that many people I talk to about cooking are often afraid that they are higher in carbs than other potatoes which couldn't be further from the truth.

So stop being a Sweet Potato hater and make the switch. It is brilliant mashed, in a soup, roasted and, of course, grilled. Yum.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with a Honey Tarragon Glaze

2 Large Sweet Potatoes, cut into 3 cm slices
50 ml Liquid Honey
Small Bunch of Fresh Tarragon, chopped
Juice and Zest of 3 Limes
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Drizzle of Oil

In a sauce pan, combine honey, tarragon and lime juice. Reduce by half to a glaze. Remove from heat.

On your BBQ, heat one side to high and the other to medium low. In a bowl, toss sweet potatoes in oil, salt and pepper and zest. Grill potatoes on hot side and grill for 3 - 4 minutes. Turn sweet potato one quarter to make cross hatches and grill for another 3 - 4 minutes. Flip and repeat. Transfer potato to other side of BBQ and using a silicone pastry brush, glaze potato with reduction. Cook until tender. Usually 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the sweet potato.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

A Humble Chef's tip: you can lay down some foil on your cooler side of your BBQ to prevent burning.

Variation: Sweet Potatoes have an affinity with spices like cinnamon and clove and these sort of things. You can make a sweet glaze using the same method except omit the tarragon and substitute whatever spice you often use in apple pie.

In The Pommes of Your Hand

This quick and easy post is here because I promised a class today that I would post this immediately. It is quick and easy recipe for a quick and easy dinner. The only drawback is you need to deep-fry it. It can be baked but it is so much better in oil.

If you do not own a deep fryer, you can use a sauce pan to deep fry. The drawback is that is can be difficult controlling the heat of your oil without a thermometer. I have a deep fryer that I rarely use for a few reasons: very unhealthy way to eat, annoying to clean, wasteful on oil and it stink up your house and clothes. If you use a sauce pan to deep fry, you won't use so much oil and the clean up is considerably easier.

This basic of basic recipes can be fun and interesting to make. The cooked pastry is called Choux. This simplified version should turn anybody nervous in the kitchen turn into a confident chef. Choux can be made sweet or savoury. Here, it is savoury.

Be sure to dehydrate the potatoes after they have been cooked in a sauce pan. The less water the better.

Finally, for those who read my blog, you will know that I prefer to roast my potatoes for making mashed. This is no different, if you have the time. It takes ore than a hour to roast through a Yukon Gold Potato. If you boil them, drain well and dehydrate in the sauce pan.

Pommes de Terre Dauphine

250 ml 2% Milk
250 ml Water
1 Stick of Butter
500 g Flour
4 Eggs
5 Large Yukon Gold Potatoes
Seasoning to Taste

In a deep fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook potatoes in oven for at least one hour;longer if the potatoes are really large. After they are cooked, remove from oven and let cool. After the cooled, using a serrated knife slice potatoes in half. Scoop out innards into a bowl. If still wet, place in sauce pan over low heat to dehydrate further.

In a sauce pan, combine milk and water over medium high heat. Add butter.Once butter melts, remove from heat and add flour. Mix vigorously until dough comes off the side cleanly.

Fold potatoes into choux. Add seasonings. Shape and deep fry until golden; about 7 minutes.

Makes about 20 balls.

Not Just Any Salad

I'm sick of writing about soups. They're cheap and easy and repetitive. Every so often I need to make something new.

Well, with spring apparently around the corner, how about a salad. But not just any salad. A potato salad. But not just any potato salad. A German potato salad. But not just any German potato salad. A Humble Chef's German potato salad. But not just any Humble Chef's German potato salad. But A Humble Chef's German potato salad made by none other than my wife, The Closet Optimist herself. That's right readers. My Equality Equation made this fantastic recipe as dictated by me.

I have some esplainin' to do. She has this fear that if I were to unexpectedly meet my end, it would be unfortunately the cessation of my recipe development. She would never be able to eat any of my food again. Ever. So, she wrote down a few recipes while we were working together in the kitchen to preserve her pickle of a husband's legacy (actually, this is why I am writing this blog).

So, I will leave out any notes and go for the jugular.

Not Just Any A Humble Chef's Farinaceous Salad Made In the Style of the Germans

8 Red Potatoes, cleaned and quatered
5 Slices of Bacon Itself, medium chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, medium dice
1 Green Bell Pepper, medium dice
1 Small Red Onion, finely diced
1 Green Zucchini, medium dice
1 Stalk of Celery, finely diced
3 or 4 Sprigs of Sage, chiffonade (don't you dare ask me what that is)
20 gr Pommery Dijon Mustard
200 ml Mayonnaise (or as needed)
A Few Drops of Worcestershire Sauce

Blanch potatoes until you can eat it. Probably 8-10 minutes. Try to not overcook them. It usually doesn't take very long.

In a sauté pan, fry up yummy bacon until crispy. 5 min. on medium high heat. Remove bacon and add peppers, onion, celery and zucchini until bright. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Season to taste.

Serve warm.

Serves 4.

Variations: Everybody has their own version of potato salad. Add your signature to this classic. I like to add quatered hard boiled eggs myself.

A Humble Chef's tip: Add a few extra potatoes to use as testers. Don't be embarrassed that you have to check your potatoes to see their doneness: everybody does it.

The Monster Mash

Mash potatoes. I mean, it's the ultimate isn't it? They go with virtually every meal, it's pretty tough to screw up, you can make them in advance and everybody at any age loves it. No collection of recipes is complete without mashed potatoes. Make too much and it keeps pretty well until the next day. Or, fry it up and serve with eggs and bacon. Hey. It's famous for a reason.

I imagine most people and restaurants simply peel and boil their potatoes and whip with some milk, butter and season and there you have it. 1-2-3 easy as pie. However, there is an alternative.

When purchasing potatoes, ensure there is no green spots. And each type of potato is good for certain type of cooking. Potatoes are generally classified by the amount of starch it contains. New potatoes have high sugar, low starch. Good for salad and roasting. Not deep frying or mash. Mature potatoes like Yukon Gold or Russets have a high starch content and, hopefully, low sugar. Actually, sugar content often relies on the season and/or temperature. So, unless you have Shaman at your disposal, don't fret about sugar and moisture content.

One quick note: some of you may be familiar with Duchesses Potatoes. This is basically Mashed Potatoes with egg yolks. Egg yolks keeps the potatoes firmer and richer, so if you are making this recipe for Sheppard's Pie, adding an egg yolk will enable you to have better control of the potatoes when spreading over the ground meat.

Mashed Potatoes

8 Large Yukon Gold Potatoes, whole
200 ml 35% Whipping Cream
100 ml Butter, melted
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Cook potatoes on a tray until cooked through. Approximately 1 hour, or longer if potatoes are particularly large.

Scald cream and add butter and garlic. Reduce heat and keep warm.

After potatoes are cooked, cut each one into half. Carefully using a spoon, scoop out the innards of the potatoes into a large bowl. Add cream and seasonings. Using a stand or hand mixer, whip potatoes until creamy and without lumps. Do not overwhip.

Serves 6.

Variation: Everyone has their own variation on mash. My personal favourites are adding roasted garlic and goat's cheese in the last minute. I'm not so sure if there is anything that beats it.