Shepherd's Pork Pie

I am a big big fan for Shepherd's Pie, I simply cannot resist the comfort feeling of eating this dish especially if it's on a cold day. You don't get to find this dish easily here in Singapore as not many restaurants do this. I remember there used to be a café that has this dish on it's menu and it's a die-also-must-order for me whenever I visit the café. When the café ceased operation, I was devastated, I lost my source of Shepherd's Pie.

Have been wanting to try making this dish but keep putting off due to my laziness. Recently the urge to give it a try came back and I started researching for recipes. Found a few that looks delicious, mostly beef and lamb and a couple chicken ones. Decided to be a little different and make it into a pork pie instead!

As always, I started doing my own variation by combining some ingredients used in one recipe and some from another. I had also replaced some ingredients with something I have at home (so that I won't have to buy more things to store in my overflowing fridge!). In the end, I came up with a recipe and I am so so glad it turned out fabulous!

The recipe below will make one medium-sized casserole and one small casserole as can be seen in my picture. It was more than enough to feed the 3 of us (my hubby, son & I) For small eaters or if you have a side dish to go with it, it should be sufficient for 4 people.

Here's the recipe...


Shepherd's Pork Pie - Serves 3 - 4

For the filling:

300g minced pork
1/3 yellow onion, chopped finely
10 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 carrot, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 - 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp. mixed herbs
2 tsp. all-purpose seasoning powder ( I used Master food brand)
2 bay leaves
5 tbsp. pasta sauce (any which is tomato-based will do)
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. cooking oil
pepper ( to taste)


For the topping:

3 medium potatoes
1/2 cup full-cream milk
25g butter, unsalted
pepper and salt (to taste)
1 egg, beaten lightly (for egg wash)
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese


Directions

Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender. (approx. 20 mins)

While the potatoes are cooking, heat the cooking oil in a large frying pan.

Sauté the onion garlic until tender and fragrant. Add carrots and sauté well.

Add minced pork. Sauté well, making sure the minced pork do not lump into big pieces.

Add corn and mushroom

Add the mixed herbs, pepper and all-purpose seasoning powder and mix well.

Add the pasta sauce, bay leaves and water to simmer over low heat until cook thoroughly. (approx. 10 mins) You might need to add a little more water as necessary to keep it moist.

Turn heat off and dish up the minced pork into the casserole dishes, filling up approx. 3/4 of the dish.

Pre-heat oven to 200 Degree Celsius.

In a large bowl, put the cooked potatoes and mash it thoroughly.

Add butter, milk, salt and pepper to the mash potatoes and mix well. Your mash potatoes will turned out nice and creamy.

Heap the mash potato onto of the minced pork and spread evenly to cover completely.

Brush the beaten egg over the mash potato generously.

Using a fork, rough up the mash potatoes so that there are peaks that will brown nicely.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top of the mashed potatoes and bake for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Serve hot.

Hope you enjoy the dish as much as me. Bon appetite!

Korean Rice Cakes

I had never tried making any Korean dishes but my sister who loves Korean food had made this dish for me once. It was delicious but not really to my son's palate as the ingredients used were not what he likes to eat (my fussy eater....sigh!). So I did not try replicating the dish myself.

However, was grocery shopping the other day and saw the shop selling the rice cakes and the ready-made sauce. So I begin thinking maybe I should try doing the dish and change it to fit my son's preferences.

End results, he was rather happy with the dish but he commented that the rice cakes are quite chewy. (Which is typical of this dish). Well, at least the fussy king ate the whole plate so I am satisfied! Now I have another dish to keep the variety in the menu!

The picture below shows the sauce that I had used. I'm sure there are many other brands out there, but I'm just sharing the one I used.

Here's the recipe...


Korean Rice Cakes Serves 3 - 4

1 packet of Korean Rice Cakes
1 packet Topokki sauce (spicy & sweet sauce)
8 - 10 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 carrot, sliced thinly
4 hotdogs, sliced diagonally
5 imitation crab stick, cut into small pieces
1 - 2 cups water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 egg
1 tbsp. cooking oil


Directions

In a large wok or frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic until fragrant.

Add carrots and stir-fry for a min.

Add 1 cup of water and the Topokki sauce. Bring to boil.

Add in the Korean Rice Cakes and simmer on low heat until the rice cakes softens. (approx. 10 mins)

Add in the hotdogs, mushrooms and crab sticks. Stir and continue cooking on low heat for another 10 - 15 mins. Add some more water if necessary.

Add egg and turn heat off. Stir the egg in well and let the remaining heat cook the egg.

Serve while hot.

A very easy and fast dish that is so delicious. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Cheesy Hotdog French Toast Roll

Recently I started having the habit of browsing through the web and YouTube to search for recipes and ideas. It has become sort of a routine everyday for me after I drop my younger son at school. It was at one of the websites that i saw another French Toast recipe that is in roll form! Didn't think of that before so when my elder son woke up feeling hungry, I decided to give it a try, again with the ingredients that I have at home! Something to note here, I did mine savoury as my son prefers it that way, you can change to make it a sweet snack.

Turned out perfect and topped with maple syrup, my son wolfed it down in mins! ;)

This is a keeper for me, easy and yummy!

Here's the recipe...

Cheesy Hotdog French Toast Roll - Serves 2 - 3

6 slices of bread (of your choice)
2 eggs
6 cheese hotdogs, pre-soak with hot water
2 tbsp. milk
Black ground pepper (to taste)
2 tsp. mirin (optional)
salt (to taste)
grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tbsp. butter

Directions

Pre-soak the hotdogs in hot water for approx. 5 mins so that it can be "cooked" as the cooking time for the French toast roll will be rather short so if you skip this procedure, your hotdog will still be cold.

Remove the crust of all the slices of bread and flatten them with a rolling pin. If you do not have a rolling pin, you can use a bottle. I used my thermal flask but do remember to wrap your bread with cling wrap to keep them clean before you start rolling.

Place a hotdog on each slice and sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese. Can use any other cheese that you have.

Roll it tightly and place aside. Do the same for the rest of the bread.

In a deep dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, mirin, salt and pepper.

Heat the frying pan and add the butter, making sure that the pan is evenly greased.

Coat the bread with the egg mixture evenly and let the excess drip off. Place in frying pan.

Cook each side approx. 3 - 5 mins, making sure it is golden brown before flipping.

The French toast roll with be golden brown on all sides.

Served hot with maple syrup.

  

Bon Appetit!

Ham & Vegetables Frittata

My son loves ham, mushroom and eggs. In my effort in trying to incorporate more vegetables in his diets (He dislikes vegetables in general!), I am always on a lookout for interesting ways to cook the vegetables. One way which I found online is doing frittatas, improvising it to fit my son's palate.

So what is a frittata?

It is basically like an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche, enriched with an additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, vegetables and/or pasta.

Here's the recipe...


Ham and Vegetables Frittata - Serves 2 - 4

4 large eggs
2 slices of ham, sliced
3 - 4 shitake mushrooms or fresh button mushroom, sliced
1/4 red onion (can also use yellow onion), chopped finely
1/2 carrot, sliced finely
1/2 cup buttermilk or full cream milk
Cheese of your choice, grated
1 tbsp. butter
2 handful of pasta (of your choice)
4 tbsp. of pasta sauce (tomato-based)
Pepper and salt to taste


Directions

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water with a little salt. When cooked, drain the water and wash the pasta with cold water. Drain and set aside.

Heat up frying pan (I'm using the Happycall pan, so must heat both side. Please adjust heat according to your pan) using small to medium heat. When heated up, add butter and onion and fry until fragrant. The onion should look slightly translucent.

Add in the carrots and fry about 2 mins. You can close the pan to sauté for a while so that the carrot can soften. Add in the mushroom and ham. Stir fry for a min.

Add in the pasta and the pasta sauce. Fry for a while, close the pan to simmer.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, add the eggs, buttermilk, salt and pepper (according to personal taste preference) and beat the eggs to a frothy mixture.

Pour the mixture into the pan and spread it evenly. Close pan to cook the omelete for about 2 – 3 mins, flip the pan and cook the other side for another 1 – 2 mins till brown on both side.

Serve hot with mayo or sour cream (if desired).

Ham & Cheese French Toast

Saw the post from 365 days of Baking & More for Banana Nutella Stuffed French Toast and was itching to try out the recipe. However, didn't managed to buy any banana so I improvised the recipe with a couple of my kid's favourite ingredients - Ham & Cheese!

You can do it for breakfast or simply just as a snack. Drizzle with maple syrup or honey, this dish is a winner anytime with both adults and children!

Here's the recipe...

Ham & Cheese French Toast - serves 2 - 3

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Approx. 3 tbsp. buttermilk
2 tbsp. flour
6 slices bread (you can use any bread you want, I used white or wholemeal bread most of the time)
3 slices of cheddar cheese
3 slices of picnic ham (thickly sliced)
butter or margarine spread for the bread
1/2 tbsp. butter

Directions

In a dish (preferably deep one), whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.

Add in the flour and buttermilk and mix well.

Heat a frying pan using small to medium heat. (In my case, I use the Happycall pan so very little butter is needed. Please adjust according to the pan you are using)

Prepare the bread by spreading some butter or margarine on all 6 slices of the bread.

Place the cheese and ham each on 3 of the slices of bread and cover with the other 3 slices to make a sandwich. Gently press together.

Add some butter to the frying pan and spread it so that the surface area is covered.

Take one sandwich and dip it in the egg batter to a count of three. Gently turn over and do the same on the other side of the sandwich. Allow excess to drip off and place on the preheated pan.

Cook for 3 - 5 mins on one side, making sure it is golden brown before carefully flipping. (please adjust cooking time according to pan using)

Cook on the other side for another 3 - 5 mins.

French toast will be golden brown on both side, with the cheddar cheese melting inside.

Verdict by my son : Super!

Will be making this again and again!

Meanwhile, will be going to try the Banana Nutella Stuffed French Toast from 365 Days of Baking and More very soon!

Hearty Chicken Stew

It was raining for the past few days so the morning was a little cool. Had a sudden urge to cook something hearty and since I had some chicken that I put out to thaw, I decided to do a chicken stew to go with the rice.

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients - Serves 4 - 5

2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into slightly larger than bite-sized
1 medium size carrots, cut into approx. 1" thick chunks
1 large potato, cut into chunks about the same size as the carrots
1 large onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
7-8 slices of ginger
2 tsp. wolfberries
2 tbsp. premium thick dark soy sauce
2 cups of water
1 tbsp. Shao Hsing wine
2 tsp. sesame oil
black ground pepper to taste (can use white pepper)
coriander for garnish (optional) 


Directions

Heat work with medium heat and add oil. Lightly fry the ginger to bring out its flavour. Dish out and set aside.

Using the same oil, add the chicken to the wok and brown the chicken on both sides, approx. 7 - 8 mins each side. Dish out and set aside. If there are some liquid in the wok from the chicken, dish that out together to add in later for more flavour.

Add a little oil and fry the garlic and onion until fragrant. Add in the carrots and potato. Fry about 5 mins and add in the chicken and ginger. Stir-fry another 3 mins.

Add the soy sauce, wine, pepper, wolfberries and water. Stir well. When water start boiling, turn the heat to low and cover to simmer. Occasionally stir to let the food cook evenly.

Simmer until the chicken is tender and cooked. Vegetables by this time should be soft as well. The gravy will be nice and thick. If you like it more salty, you can add some light soy sauce at this point. I prefer it less salty so I leave it as it is.

Garnish with coriander. (optional)

Serve while hot with white rice.


Enjoy! :)