Kitchen Makeover

Our whole house is trapped in the 1970's. We've got old school aluminum siding, wood paneling galore and this totally ugly, dated kitchen.

We spent a whole weekend rescuing the cabinets from their sad, retro-in a bad way- state.

A few coats of paint, a ton of sanding that I thought would take my skin off, and many coats of furniture wax, and viola- 2011.

Before:

Now it's retro- in a good way.

After:

Sheperd's Pie

For Beef or Lamb Filling:

4.5-5 pounds ground beef or ground lamb

1 onion, diced, or 1 tablespoon onion powder

1 clove garlic, minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

salt

black pepper

3 cups frozen vegetables (peas/carrots/corn)

For Sauce:

1/2 stick salted butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 bottle Guinness

3 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3 ounces tomato paste

pinch ground cayenne pepper

salt

black pepper

For Potato Topping:

5 pounds potatoes

1 stick salted butter

salt

milk or cream to reach desired consistency

Peel & dice potatoes and boil in salted water until soft. While potatoes are boiling, in a large skillet brown beef in batches, adding garlic, onion, salt & pepper while browning. Drain off fat and set beef aside. In the same pan over low heat whisk together flour and butter until completely combined and smooth. Add beef broth & Guinness, garlic powder, onion powder, tomato paste, salt & pepper, stirring continuously until blended and smooth. Sauce should coat the back of a spoon. Remove sauce from heat.

Combine meat, vegetables (leave frozen) and sauce and fill a tray or pie pan 2/3 full of meat mixture. (I use many small disposable metal dishes and make smaller pies) Mash potatoes, adding butter, salt, pepper & milk and blend until desired consistency. Fill remaining 1/3 of dishes with potatoes.

Bake pie in oven at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes, until potatoes brown.

You can also assemble this and refrigerate overnight, then bake covered with foil at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes, uncover to finish browning the potatoes approximately 15 minutes more.

Serves the entire Irish army :)

Butternut Squash Soup

3 tablespoons butter

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

4 ribs celery, roughly chopped

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

40 ounces butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 tablespoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of cayenne pepper

6 cups chicken stock

salt & black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons sour cream + more for finishing

In a large stock pot over medium heat sautee onion, celery, carrots, garlic & butternut squash in 3 tablespoons butter, stirring until all vegetables are coated in butter and onion begins to turn translucent, about 10 minutes. Add stock, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, salt & pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover & simmer, approximately 30 minutes more. Remove from heat & puree using an immersion blender, or allow to cool and puree in batches and return to pot. Before serving, heat soup and add 3 tablespoons of sour cream, stirring until combined.

Serve with sour cream on top.

Serves 8

Chorizo & Chick Pea Stew

1 pound fresh chorizo, casing removed
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup long grain rice

3 cups water

2 cans garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon onion powder (or 1/2 onion, finely diced)

salt & pepper to taste

In a stock pot brown chorizo over medium heat, breaking apart sausage with a spoon. Once chorizo is browned, add all ingredients except for the garbanzo beans. Bring to a boil then simmer until rice is soft, approximately 30 minutes. Add garbanzo beans and simmer for 20 minutes.

Refrigerate for 24 hours. Reheat & serve.

Serves 8

Note: If you don't have 24 hours to refrigerate, after adding beans, simmer for 1 hour then serve. I've found that this dish tastes better the second day, after the beans have had time to soak up the flavors from the chorizo.

Brown Bean & Hot Dog Soup

3 tablespoons butter

4 hot dogs cut into 1/4 inch rounds

2 large carrots, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

1 pound pinto beans, rinsed & soaked

2 bay leaves

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons Worchestire sauce

3 ribs celery with leaves, chopped

1/4 tablespoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 6 ounce can tomato paste

1/4 cup light brown sugar

In a large stock pot saute hot dogs, carrots, celery and onion in butter until onion is translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for approximately 45 minutes or until beans are soft.

Serves 8

Whichever Vegetable Soup

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 ribs celery, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

60 ounces chicken stock

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons italian seasoning

salt

pepper

whichever vegetables are in the fridge or freezer

suggestions (and the way I prepared it)

1 small head cauliflower

1 cup baby carrots

2 small zucchini

1 parsnip (whole & remove when cooking is finished)

In a large pot saute onion, garlic & celery in olive oil until onion is translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add stock, canned tomatoes & spices and vegetables. Bring to a boil then simmer until vegetables are soft. Approximately 30 minutes more.

Tip: Add vegetables in the order of how long they take to cook, for example, cauliflower takes considerably longer than zucchini to cook.

Serves 8-10

Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings

4 large chicken breasts

2-10 ounce cans Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup

1 onion, chopped

4 ribs celery, sliced

3 large carrots, sliced

2 small tubes or 1 large tube bisciuts (for example Pillsbury Grands)

40 ounces water

salt & pepper to taste

In a slow cooker combine all ingredients except for biscuts.

Cook on high for approximately 5 hours, or on low overnight. Once chicken can be broken with a spoon, shred chicken and return to slow cooker. Break biscuts up into small pieces and roll into balls, and add to slow cooker. Cook on low for approximately 30 minutes.

Serves 8.

Note: This recipe freezes really well, so I tend to make it in giant batches.