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. 

Looking At the Entire Cholesterol Effect

The last soup recipe I wrote was 2010. Well, I do enjoy making a good soup and I made one recently I think I should share. The response from friends and family was positive including a young baby name Bea. So it passed the test.

I recently had an appointment with a dietician. It was truly an eye opening and gut wrenching experience. I learned much about of my eating habits and what type of eater I am. Turns out I do something that apparently some people do as well; I eat when I'm upset. Especially chocolate. I know right?!  Apparently my serotonin levels have been a little lower than I care to admit. Thankfully I am not a pastry Chef or a chocolatier. That would be a bad recipe. 

I have been given a request for a rice pudding recipe which will come soon. However, I get many requests for root vegetable recipes in the winter time and so I am all too happy to oblige with.

I have to share a part of my conversation with the dietician. She told me that I was the first Chef she had ever consulted with. She was intrigued by this and asked me why this is. My theory is that Chef's have a very know-it-all attitude when it comes to food and cooking. Some of us want feedback and comments, but we generally don't want criticism when it comes to what we choose to feed people or ourselves. "I'm feeding you medium rare Prime Rib" I would say,  "with fluffy mashed potatoes, crispy Yorkshire Puddings and lightly steamed broccoli tossed in garlic butter. Trust me, you will like eating it as much as I do." Sure you can comment on presentation, portion size, texture and, for some Chefs,  even the doneness of the roast and I usually listen with genuine interest. But, at the end of the day I decide what people eat because I am the Chef. That is a very typical mentality of a Chef. Until they discover they are travelling a path that will lead to high cholesterol and a stoke at an early age. Well, I once said that I offer two choices for dinner: eat what I make, or don't. I still offer those two choices for dinner, but from now on I will offer healthy choices. 

The pressure is on for my heart.  

Curried Sweet Potato Soup and Squash Soup with Red Curry 

Bit of Butter

1 Tbs. of Canola Oil

2 Red Onions, diced

1 Lemongrass, smashed

1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced 

1 garlic clove, minced 

1 Small butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed 

1.5 l chicken (or vegetetarian) broth

1/2 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste 

1 tsp.red curry paste

1 Can of  coconut milk 

2 tsp. fresh lime juice 

150 g Almonds, whole (if you don't have a scale, use about 1 cup)

8 Asian Pears, cored and peeled

1 Tbs Sesame Oil

1 Tbs Canola Oil

1 Tsp Ginger, minced

250 ml, white wine

Pinch of Salt

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Toss squash and potatoes in oil and lay on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove and hold.

To core the pears, use an apple corer down the centre and remove core and discard. Cut 1/4 inch off the top and bottom of the pear. In a food processor (blender works but not as well), combine almonds, oils, ginger and salt. Chop mixture until slightly chunky. 

In a glass casserole dish, place pears top of pears facing up. Stuff each pear with the almond mixture. Pour wine into the dish and cover with foil or parchment. Bake for 15 minutes or until tender. Set aside and keep warm.

In a large pot over high heat, warm the butter. Add the onions and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ginger, lemongrass and garlic and cook about 1 minute more. Add the squash, broth and the 1/2 tsp. salt, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly. 

Put the curry paste in a small bowl and stir in the coconut milk until well blended. Remove lemongrass and discard.

In a blender or food processor, puree the soup, in batches if necessary, until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the coconut milk mixture. Heat the soup until just hot, then stir in the lime juice and adjust the seasoning with salt. Place pear in the centre of the bowl and ladle the soup into warm bowls and serve immediately. 

Serve with grilled pita points.

Serves 8. 

A Humble Chef's tip: when reheating soups back to a boil, constantly stir to prevent burning or use a double boiler. 

Pairing My Cordon Bleu Tooth

Another turkey recipe in time for the holidays. And it's an easy one. I've done many Christmas themed classes through the Loblaws cooking school for the last 4 to 5 years and I figured it's time to post a few of them.

Cordon Bleu is simply a dish where meat is stuffed with cheese. That's it. That's the meaning of the fancy term. And there are many versions of Cordon Bleu with the chicken likely being the most famous. Where a chicken breast is butterflied, flattened, stuffed with emmenthal cheese and ham (or prosciutto), breaded and fried. I'm unaware of any connection to the Le Cordon Bleu (the Blue Ribbon) culinary schools and if anyone knows of any, I ask that they let me know in the comments section below.

I remember reading that Chicken Cordon Bleu is actually an American invention. Curious to know the validity of this.

I made Lyonnaise potatoes with this dish. I thought the caramelized onions went well with the honey dijon sauce. Give a a try!

Well, this blog post is pretty flat. I guess I better wrap it up.

Turkey Cordon Bleu with Honey Dijon Sauce

2 Large Turkey Breasts, butterflied

200 g Emmenthal Cheese, cut into long sticks

200 g Black Forest Ham, sliced

2 Tbs. Dijon Mustard

2 Tbs. Liquid Honey

1 Red Onion, finely diced

500 ml 35% cream

250 g Panko Bread Crumbs (1 Cup)

6 Eggs

250 g A.P. Flour (1 Cup)

½ Stick of Butter

Bunch of Sage, finely chiffonade

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lay out turkey breast and slightly flatten with tenderizer. Lay down slices of ham and cheese side by side. Roll up turkey breast and slightly season.

Make a breading station by laying out three bowls: 1 for flour, 1 for eggs and 1 for panko bread crumbs. Start by coating turkey with flour, then roll into egg wash and then into bread crumbs.

In a large frying pan, pour generous amount of oil and allow to get hot. Fry breast until golden on seam side down first. Then carefully turn over and continue to sear. Be sure to add any oil if frying pan is too dry. Place turkey into oven and cook for 35 minutes. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, heat butter until frothy. Cook onions for 2 minutes. Add honey and Dijon and allow to get hot. Add cream and bring to a boil. Whisk thoroughly. Season to taste and garnish with sage. Serve with turkey breasts.

Serves  6 - 8.

A Humble Chef's tip: if you like to tie up the breast, it's better to show in person or with images. Try a search of tying up chicken breasts and see if that helps.

Variation: Instead of Emmenthal and Ham, I also like Gorgonzola and Salami. But I never get to do it since I'm the only one in my family who likes blue cheese. 

Prosciutto: The Cure For The Common Home

My wife and I are trying to cut down on eating out for lunch for numerous reasons. I imagine many people can relate with the desire to save money, control the types of food we eat and use up any leftovers throughout the kitchen. I feel ashamed by the amount of waste that comes out of my home kitchen. The professional kitchen is different and far more complicated.

I am not going to discuss the impact of food waste in our current society. I would think the investigation of the statistics would be far too alarming and shocking. I choose to keep myself in the dark on the topic. For the moment. Trust me, if you were a Chef, wilful blindness would be a very tempting option when it comes to the politics of food. I constantly battle with the idea of donating food versus discarding food. And believe me, it ain't no picnic. But I do know that food waste in Canada is extremely high and the majority of it comes out of homes and not professional kitchens.

And so now we are going to have lunch at home more often. Kind of ironic since I make a living off people going out to eat.

Today's recipe is a simple sandwich that takes 5 minutes of preparation time and another 5 minutes to make. It should take more than 5 minutes to eat it but that depends on how much time you get for lunch and how much an aversion you have towards chewing.

I used a pretzel bun for this sandwich but that is at your own discretion. Pretzel is a different type of bread than what most people usually have (actually, I think it adds a nice twist) and since the sandwich is such a popular and common type of food, a simple thing like changing the bread goes a long way.

I like using prosciutto (dry cured ham) in sandwiches to compliment other meats. Here I used plain leftover chicken breast. Many of you may be familiar with some appetizers that use prosciutto to compliment sweet fruit. Melon Wrapped with Prosciutto and Goat's Cheese and Figs with Mascarpone and Prosciutto are two classic examples of this. Having said that, I used peach preserve in the sandwich but you can use any number of preserves for this recipe. Apple jelly being one of them.

Prosciutto is a little expensive but very versatile and flavourful. It keeps for a good amount of time (if it lasts that long in your household) and is easy to use in cooking, salads and sandwiches.

Prosciutto and Chicken on a Pretzel Bun

2 Pretzel Buns, sliced
4 Thin Slices of Prosciutto
100 g of Chicken Breast, sliced lengthwise, as thin as you can make it
50 g Havarti, sliced
1/2 Apple, sliced thinly (I used an Empire apple)
Handful of Arugula
2 Tbs. Peach Preserve
2 Dabs of Butter

Make sandwich.

Serves 2.























Just kidding (but not really, it's just a sandwich people!).

Preheat skillet on medium heat. Melt half of butter and cook apple slices in butter for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Warm chicken breasts in butter. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Lightly butter the outside (top and bottom) of pretzel bun and lay buttered side down on skillet. Spread peach preserve on the inside of each bottom half (facing up in skillet). Lay down chicken on top of peach preserve. Top with prosciutto and apples. Add cheese (I like placing cheese on skillet briefly first, to cut the coolness of the cheese) and arugula.

Close sandwich until desired crispiness of the bun (I'd say 3 minutes really).

Serve with soup or salad or some nice chips.

Serves 2.

A Humble Chef's tip: since this essentially a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, use the same level of heat on your stove that you would for a grilled cheese sandwich.

A Turkey Stew? Ewww, Grouse!

Well hello again. It has been several years since I lasted posted a recipe on this blog. I apologize to all who have waited for me to post something new and I look forward to catching up with some of my recipes. Rest assured, I am still a Chef and I am still at a golf course doing what I do and I still get to experiment on new recipes and new flavour combinations.

Thanksgiving has passed and maybe you have leftovers in your freezer. Even if you do not, here is a lovely stew recipe that is very appropriate for a lovely Sunday afternoon that will fill your lovely home with a lovely aroma that will warm the heart of even the most un-loveliest of people. And then will certainly put you to sleep after a hefty portion.

For this recipe, I recommend a blend of root vegetables of your preference, the freshest stock you can get your hands on and light coloured beans. The idea is to keep the stew a blonde stew so you may want to use your black turtle beans for a different recipe. I like to add chick peas (if you want to cook em yourself and have the time to do so, be my guest) and white navy beans but it is your recipe and I insist that you work within your beans.

Following the Turkey Stew is a basic Corn Bread recipe that I took from an old George Brown Textbook. Works well and easy to change. Since it has been 2 years since my last post, I may repeat some techniques from old posts. But I can't imagine anyone going over old posts of mine so I may be worrying over nothing. It's great to be back and I look forward to writing more posts and I anxiously await any feedback that any of you have to offer.

A Fair Coloured Turkey Stew

1 Large Vidalia Onion, diced
1 Stalk of Celery, diced
1 Stalk of Leek, white only diced
1 Parsnip, diced
1 Carrot, peeled and diced
1 Turnip, diced
3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
Pinch of Cumin and Chili Powder
2 Cans of White Beans, (i.e. Navy), drained and washed
1 Can of Chick Peas
1.5 l (12 Cups) Chicken or Turkey Stock Approx.
750 g (about 3 cups) Cooked Turkey, or whatever you have leftover from Thanksgiving
Small bunch of Basil, chiffonade
2 Baking Potatoes, cut into small cubes
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Dab or Two of Butter

In a large pot, heat butter until frothy. Cook onion, carrot, celery and leek for five minutes. Add garlic and spices. Sweat for another few minutes.

Add turkey, beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and basil. Cover and cook for about 25 minutes at minimum, an hour would be better.

Serve with sour cream and corn bread. Serves 6 – 8.

Basic Corn Bread

350 g A.P. Flour, (1 ½ cups flour)
350 g Cornmeal, (1 ½ cups cornmeal)
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
250 ml Milk
250 ml Sour Cream
125 ml Corn Oil
1 Egg

Preheat oven 375. Grease 9 inch pan. Whisk dry ingredients together. In separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Fold wet into dry. Pour into 9 inch pan.

Bake for 35 minutes and let rest for 10. Cut into desired squares.

Serves 6 – 8.

 A Humble Chef's Tip: everything in the stew is cooked except the potatoes. Don't dice them to small or they'll disintegrate. Just big enough to fit on a spoon.

A Recipe That Is Quince and Easy

Some recipes really come out by accident, don't they?

I was recently asked by a cooking school coordinator to think of a recipe with quince paste because they have so much of it in stock. Quince paste. Before I go on, I will admit that I was not entirely familiar with this fruit but I have tried it as a kid. But certainly during my time at George Brown it was never brought up. Suffice to say, it is a rare fruit with a distinct flavour.

Without getting really boring, quince is a yellow shaped, pear looking fruit that can be eaten raw, but not entirely recommended unless very ripe. It is extremely sour and very hard to even bite into, so it is best if it is cooked. Once cooked, it takes on an orange hue. You can try buying the fruit but it is rare and it can be difficult to find. However, you can buy it often in a paste form. Or even sometimes in jams. If you can't find quince paste or jam, you can use marmalade as a substitute for this recipe.

In fact, I learned that the origin of marmalade comes from quince jam (the Portuguese word for quince is marmelo, leading to the now famous preserve) that was made in Portugal and sent to England. I imagine there has been changes to the classic jam but whatever. You get the idea.

Here is a simple recipe that I found several years ago but altered over time. I have never served this at the golf course I work at, but at home I do.

Quince Glazed Pork Chops

Handful of mustard seeds
Juice of 2 Lemons
200 ml or about 2/3 of a cup quince paste
100 ml Dijon mustard
100 ml White wine
1 Red Onion, diced
A Few Twigs of Rosemary or Thyme
8 Pork Chops


Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Combine the mustard seeds, quince paste and lemon juice and whisk until quince is broken up. Add mustard, white wine, onion, rosemary, salt and pepper. Pour half of the mustard concoction on the bottom of some kind of baking dish. I don't know your inventory so use whatever you got. Lay the chops in da dish and cover with remainder of the glazey glaze.

Then bakey-bake the pork for about a half an hour. If you bought the chops bone in,it takes another 5 - 10 minutes to cook them. However, I like a little pink in pork chops, but you can cook them to whatever doneness you desire.

Serve with some kind of starch. Like Herb Roasted Potatoes!

Serves 8.

Variation: use marmalade instead of quince.

A Humble Chef's tip: you can cover the pork for half the cooking time to speed it up. Then uncover to caramelize the glaze.

Green Around the Gills

Substituting the portobella mushroom for a beef patty is nothing new. And why wouldn't it be? It's easy and quick. If you feel you eat too much red meat (which I and much of North America does), portobella is an excellent alternative to a burger.

Last post, I was discussing everyone's favourite fungus, the mushroom. But there is way too much to cover and so I had to cap it off.

What many people may or may not know is that the common white mushroom, the cremini and the portobella mushroom are basically the same thing. What differs them from one another is the maturity level. I imagine many of you can figure out which mushroom has been allowed to grow the longest. That's right! You guessed it. It's the portobella. Or is it the portobello? Oh, whatever. You get what I mean. Because the portobella has been allowed to mature and grow, the gills can bleed quite extensively. Some chefs I've worked for would cut out the gills while other chefs couldn't be bothered. In my opinion, I leave them in for most recipes and will cut them out for only a few recipes. For example, Mushroom Polenta or Cornbread. The gills bleed and makes the polenta very grey looking and very unappetizing. Or maybe a chowder or a cream sauce where I want to retain the white colour. As you can see, I determine it for the sake of appearance. Not so much for texture or flavour.

Then again, many of you may not care about the appearance. But, I think, to a certain degree, everyone does. Every time we go grocery shopping, we are bombarded with magazine covers where the dishes look ridiculously delicious. Or on T.V. where these chefs seem to make these gorgeous dinners in less than half an hour. And because of this, can it not be said that we start to want our own food to look this good all the time? Appearance matters. When you buy beef, do you normally base your judgment on the redness of the beef? Even though the colour can be very deceiving. Sure, grey beef is not usually a good thing, but just because the alternative is red, doesn't mean it's fresher. With a quick flash of carbon monoxide, that meat can stay red much longer after it's gone rancid. Scary. How about produce? If you see two red peppers where one is a perfect shape and other looks curled over and slightly disfigured. Which do you buy? If you said the perfect one, why? Will it taste better?

Anyways, appearance matters whether we like it or not. So, keep the garnishes coming!

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms on a Foccaccia

6 Large Portobello Mushrooms, washed
1 Red Pepper
100 ml Balsamic Vinegar
100 ml Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
Drizzle of Honey
1 Package of Arugula
Small Package of Blue Cheese (Gorgonzola is good), crumbled
6 Foccaccias
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Score the cap of the mushroom with two cross hatches.

Marinate mushrooms in oil and balsamic vinegar and two cloves of crushed garlic.

Coat red peppers with oil and grill peppers until blackened on the outside. Place in a sealed bag and close. Steam through for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel skin away and discard innards. Keep flesh of peppers.

In a hot grill pan or on the BBQ, grill mushrooms for 3 minutes per side. Remove and cut in half.

On a foccaccia, rub last clove of garlic on the inside. Place arugula, peppers and mushrooms in panini. Add desired amount of cheese.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

A Humble Chef's tip: if it's winter time, cook your peppers in the oven at 400 for 30 min. Less smoke will emit if you roast them.

Variation: Goat's Cheese over the blue if you don't like blue cheese.