Is it gravy? Is it stock?

No...it's Champagne punch. My awesome friend Jen introduced me to this yummy treat -- very fun for a girl's get together.

Champagne Punch

1 cup Triple Sec

1 cup brandy

1/2 cup Chambord

2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

1 quart chilled ginger ale

2 chilled 750-ml. bottles dry champagne, cava, or sparkling wine (save the good stuff)

Coming soon.. Wicked Wednesdays

If you attended The Ohio State University in the 90's or even before, you will know what I am talking about. Anyway, I am going to give it a new spin....recipes with mustard!!!

Where's the beef?

So my awesome friend Jen who grew up on a cattle farm was all excited to come over and cook a recipe with me and then "blog" about it. We were all set to make Shepard's Pie with ground beef. But guess who forgot the beef!?? Fresh beef from the farm at that!

Anyway, we debated using chicken but it really called for beef. So, we ran to the store grabbed some beef and we were good to go.

For the filling:
1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground sausage

1 sweet onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped very small

1/2 pound mushrooms

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup red wine

1 1/2 cups veggie or beef stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the crust: (This is where we get a little lazy.)1 package ready-made potatoes (like Bob Evans)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup scallions, cleaned and chopped

1 cup Cheddar
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven and brown meat – should be about 80% cooked . Remove the meat from the pan. Add the onion to the pan and saute until the onion are translucent - about 5 minutes. Add the chopped carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, tomato paste, thyme, parsley and cinnamon. Stir and saute for 2 minutes. Next, stir in the flour then the wine and stock. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed. Return the meat to the pan and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Cook the potatoes according to the package.
Season with salt and pepper. When the meat is ready, spoon it into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and level it out with the back of the spoon. After that, spread the mashed potato evenly all over. Sprinkle the scallions on top of the potato, scatter the cheese over the scallions and bake the pie until the top is crusty and golden, about 25 minutes.

Miscellaneous Cheese

So, I have lots of random cheese in my fridge... cheddar, parmesan, farmers, swiss, cheese sticks, and goat. In an effort to utilize some of my cheese, I made croque monsieurs tonight. (They had ham, but you could have easily left it out for a veggie.) I combined a few different recipes, as I didn't find one that I preferred. It is really cold today, so the croque was perfect with sauted green beans and a cheap bottle of vinho verde fronm Portugal. (If you are a cheese lover and you happen to go to London, you cannot miss.....Neils Yard Dairy.)

Croque Monsieur for 2 (My 4 year old passed on this "treat.")

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups hot milk

Pinch of nutmeg

8 ounces Swiss cheese (or whatever you have), grated (2 cups)

Handful freshly grated Parmesan

4 2 inch slices good bread, or whatever bread you have

Dijon mustard

6 slices deli ham (You could also use turkey.)

Preheat the broiler.
Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a whisk for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper to taste, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Swiss and the Parmesan and set aside.
To toast the bread, place slices on baking sheet and broil for 2-3 minutes. Turn each slice and broil for another 2 minutes, until toasted.
Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Swiss. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Spoon cheese sauce over tops of sandwiches, sprinkle with the remaining Swiss, and broil the sandwiches for approx. 5 minutes-- until the topping is lightly browned.

Kids and Food

My son loves a handful of foods and blueberry muffins are definitely one of his favorites. I think he grew fond of them after having them at Starbucks. Anyway, muffins you make at home can be much healthier and kids love to be part of the process. So, today it's cold, wet, and rainy; thus, we spent the morning making muffins...just a traditional recipe. He loved making the muffins as well as eating them. I actually try to do this with other foods he enjoys. Again it's healthier, but it also gives kids better exposure to "home-cooked" foods. We have even made chicken nuggets!

More Gordon

I mentioned earlier that I really enjoy Gordon Ramsay, particularly his BBC show Kitchen Nightmares. If I had lots of $$ and time, I would go on a Ramsay BBC tour of the UK. Anyway, I am reading one of his books about his life, Roasting in Hell's Kitchen....not sure how you write more than one... anyway, I am truly enjoying the book, particularly his business style. His style acutally parallels corporate America.

My essentials....

Tomato paste in can usually turns out to be such a waste. You only need a tbsp. or so generally. Once I discovered paste in a tube, I said goodbye to the cans. The first time I bought it I forgot to refrigerate it once it was opened...oops.