Shepherd's Pie

One of the sweet things that my hb does is he lets me rest on weekends in terms of cooking meals. He likes to cook breakfast and Saturday night dinners. Two weekends ago he made this Shepherd's Pie, one of his fave dishes that I learned to like myself. Hb is a Brit and this is a famous English dish, so no surprise there ;-).

SHEPHERD'S PIE

INGREDIENTS:
2-3 pcs medium potato
1 2/3 cups milk
2 Tbsps butter
1 tsp salt, divided
1 lb ground beef
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 jar (12 ounces) beef gravy
1 package (10 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. Peel, cube and boil potatoes until tender. Mash with 1/2 tsp salt, whole milk and butter. Add more or less milk depending on the desired thickness or creaminess. Set aside.
2. Preheat broiler. In a separate skillet, brown meat on medium-high heat, stirring to separate meat. Drain drippings. Sprinkle meat with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Add gravy and vegetables; mix well. Cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until hot.
4. Pour in a broiler-proof baking dish and even out. Spoon prepared potatoes on top of the meat mixture and sprinkle cheese evenly on top.
5. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat source 3 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and meat mixture is bubbly.

Glazed Hickory Smoked Spiral Sliced Ham

Ham is a staple food on every family's dinner table during the holidays and it was one of the featured dishes I served during an annual get-together with friends. There is a popular brand called Honey Baked Ham which is very expensive but I settled on this local brand from Costco which was four times cheaper. In line with my goal to continue being frugal this year, I came to realize that cheaper does not always mean poor quality. With this ham you can't really tell the difference and everybody liked it.

The ham is fully cooked so you will just basically heat it through. It is recommended by USDA that pre-cooked ham should be reheated to an internal temperature of 140 deg F

Heating the ham:
1. Preheat oven to 325 deg. F
2. Remove all packaging materials (including clear 'button' on bone of ham). Ham should be cooked flat/face side down in open, shallow roasting pan. Do not cover.
3. Bake at 325 deg F for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or approximately 8 minutes per pound
4. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 425 deg F.
5. Brush or spoon prepared glaze (procedure at the bottom) over ham and between slices.
6. Return to oven 8 to 10 minutes. Remove ham and serve.

Glaze - there is a packet of glaze mixture that comes with the ham package. Just pour it in a sauce pan with 3 Tbsps of water on low fire. Stir constantly until totally dissolved.

Slow Cooker Lamb Stew

This is the easiest recipe ever. I got this recipe from my father in law the first time he visited us. You just put all the ingredients in a crock pot and then forget about it. Sometimes we just leave the crock pot in the sink while cooking just in case it spills over, then we go out to shop and come home with a hot dinner.

LAMB STEW

INGREDIENTS
A pack of Lamb ribs, about 2 lbs
(you can substitute with beef chuck or stew)
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 cup baby carrots
2 stalks celery, sliced about 1/4 inch
3/4 cup pearl barley
1 cup frozen peas
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
2 cups water or enough to cover everything

PROCEDURE
1. Put the lamb ribs at the bottom of the crock pot
2. Put the carrots, potatoes, celery, and barley on top
3. Mix the pepper, soy sauce and water together then pour in the pot.
4. Cook on High for 5 hours, then stir and fish out the bone of the lamb.
5. Add the peas and stir.
6. Cook for another 1 hour on Low.

Two Dishes For a Pack of Beef

I got a four pounder pack of boneless beef chuck and decided to make two dishes out of it. It's very seldom that I cook beef dish, if ever I usually do the slow cook Beef Stew that my husband grew up eating in England. Beef Stew will be for my later post but this time I would like to feature Beef Mechado with Green Olives, a recipe I got from my best friend Malou and Boiled Beef (Nilagang Baka), my family's long time recipe.

BEEF MECHADO with GREEN OLIVES

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs boneless beef chuck
1 lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 pcs medium carrots
2 pcs medium potatoes
1 pc red bell pepper
1/2 cup Olives with pimiento
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic

3/4 can tomato paste
1 small can liver pate

PROCEDURE:
1. Boil beef chuck in juice of lemon and soy sauce. Once boiling point is reached, lower heat to simmer until meat is tender.
2. Meanwhile, pre-fry cubed carrots, bell pepper and potatoes, set aside.
3. Soak olives in water to wash to remove saltiness, set aside.
4. In the same pan, saute garlic and onions for about 2 minutes, then add tomato paste and liver pate.
5. When meat is already tender, pour into the pan with garlic and onion mixture, add the pre-fried veggies and boil for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the olives and remove from heat.

BOILED BEEF (NILAGANG BAKA)

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs boneless beef chuck
1 medium onions
1 tbsp pepper corn
2 tsps salt
2 medium potatoes
1 head of cabbage
2 cups of sliced green beans

PROCEDURE:
1. Boil beef in 4 cups of water or enough to cover the meat, with pepper corn and salt. Once boiling point is reached, lower heat to simmer until meat is tender.
2. When meat is tender, add potato and green beans and boil for 3 minutes.
3. Add cabbage and boil for another 2 minutes or until tender.
4. Serve hot with condiment of calamansi with patis.