I have perfected Shepherd’s Pie. There’s nothing magic about this recipe, no secret ingredients. It’s just really, really good, with the right balance of spices and flavors. And that is seriously all I have to say about this recipe. Yup, that’s it. 

Okay, actually, one more thing. You can use ground lamb, beef or turkey. I always use turkey. As I’ve started subbing in poultry products for beef products more and more, I’m discovering that I actually like ground turkey better better than beef in most recipes, and this recipe is no exception. Use whatever meat tickles your fancy, but I’m loving the ground turkey in this one.

Uh oh, I thought of something else. This recipe is gluten free and, if you use oat milk (which I do), it’s dairy free, too.

Okay, okay, just one more thing. You may notice that there are no peas or corn in these photos. I totally forgot to add them even though I specifically made this batch of shepherd’s pie for photographing. Just pretend there are a few more veggies in the photos. You are now like one of the lost boys on Peter Pan. You’re welcome!

Here you go…classic shepherd’s pie, no bells and whistles, just deliciousness.

Shepherd's Pie

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 standard-sized russet potatoes
• ½ cup milk or oat milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 small onion
• 2 full-sized carrots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• ½ cup corn (fresh or canned)
• 2 pounds ground meat (lamb, beef or turkey...I like turkey!)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground sage
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1½ cups beef, chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Instructions

1. Cut russet potatoes into evenly sized discs, about ¾" thick. Place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium or medium-high to maintain a light boil and cook until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and drain. Put potatoes back into pot.
2. Heat milk and butter in microwave until warmed, about 30-60 seconds.
3. Add milk, butter, salt, pepper and egg yolk to potatoes and mash (with an electric hand blender or potato masher). Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 400º F.
5. In a deep 12-inch frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook about 5 minutes.
6. Add ground meat and cook until meat is no longer pink, stirring and breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the salt, pepper, sage and thyme while the meat is cooking.
7. Sprinkle the cornstarch evenly over the meat, then whisk in the broth. Stir in worcestershire sauce and tomato paste and cook a few minutes until everything is fully mixed.
8. Pour meat mixture into a large casserole dish (a 13"x9" or equivalent). Carefully spread the mashed potatoes over the top, doing your best to create a seal around the edge between the potatoes and the pan and spreading the potatoes so there are no holes in the surface. If there are holes it's not the end of the world - you'll just get gravy bubbling up over the potatoes.
9. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are lightly browned and dish is bubbling. I will sometimes turn on the broiler for a few minutes at the end to get the tops of the potatoes even more browned.

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Ages ago when I kicked off my {now sorely-neglected} podcast, one of my first guests was Tracy Benjamin of the food blog Shutterbean. First off, Tracy is one of my favorite people and I love her episode, so go take a listen if you haven’t already! One of the recipes Tracy shared in that episode was for Thai Beef with Basil, a recipe her family loves that utilizes ground beef. I’ve had it on my to-try list ever since and last week it finally happened.

The result? A really great go-to recipe that my kids devoured. All three of them said they want me to make it again and I am definitely planning to. I must admit that I wasn’t sure I was going to love this recipe – serving ground beef over rice just, I don’t know, didn’t capture my interest. Well, I’m glad I tried it anyway as I loved the recipe, too! The carrot slaw is key to why I love this dish so much. I also cooked the rice in coconut milk instead of water, which gave a nice, subtle flavor to the dish overall.

As is my M.O., I changed the recipe, both on purpose and on accident. I am writing my version up below, mostly so I don’t forget what I did but also so I can share it with you, in case you think my changes seem like a good idea. Enjoy!

Update! This is one of our new favorite go-to meals. The last time I cooked this dish I made a discovery – it is awesome if you had a handful of greens to the bowl. This adds a nutritional punch and tastes awesome. I just put the rice and beef in the bowl, then topped it with greens and finished with the carrot slaw. The dressing from the carrots mixes in with the greens and it’s great. I just used prepackaged “power greens,” but any kind of darker greens will work well!

Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Brown Rice

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Adapted from Bon Appetit recipe, as discovered by friend Tracy Benjamin from Shutterbean. This dinner is easy to make and all three of my kids (all ages!) loved it!

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup short grain brown rice
• 1¾ cup canned coconut milk (one 13-14-ounce can will work!)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped yellow onion
• 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced (remove seeds for less heat)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. ground beef
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• kosher salt
• ½ cup beef stock (or ½ teaspoon beef bouillon + ½ cup hot water)
• 3 cups fresh basil, cut into a chiffonade (measure basil before cutting)
• 4 medium carrots, julienned
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (both white & green parts)
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• lime wedges for serving, if desired
• leafy greens (for example "power greens" salad mix), optional

Instructions

1. Add rice, coconut milk and ½ teaspoon salt to a pot. Stir then bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, cover pot and reduce heat to low. Cook on low for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit with lid on for 10 additional minutes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and jalapeño and cook until onions have softened and start to turn translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add garlic, pressing it through a garlic press, to the pan. Stir then add ground beef. Break beef up, sprinkle evenly with kosher salt, then cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
4. Add beef broth (or bouillon and water, if using) along with the ginger, cumin and cinnamon. Let simmer over low heat for 5-10 minutes, adding ⅔ of the basil a few minutes before serving. (Note: I removed about half of the jalapeño pieces before serving to reduce the heat for my kids.)
5. In a mixing bowl combine juice from 1 lime, 2 teaspoons oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, carrots, green onion and the remaining ⅓ of the basil. Stir well to coat veggies in the dressing.
6. Serve rice topped with beef and carrot slaw. Drizzle some of the dressing from the slaw bowl over the servings and enjoy! Optional: Add a handful of leafy greens to the bowl for extra nutrients and deliciousness!

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OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE:

• Lentil Rice Bowls with Lime-Tahini Dressing
• Asian Spinach Salad
• Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Thai Cucumber Salad
• Chicken Kai Pa Lo

EQUIPMENT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:

• Cuisinart 12-Inch Skillet with Glass Lid
• Wusthof Classic Chef’s Knife
• Epicurean Kitchen Series Cutting Board
• Cuisinart 4-Quart Saucepan

I’ve tried making bolognese sauce a few times in my life and was never impressed. I blamed the bolognese. But what I should have been blaming were the recipes I was trying. Today I have a recipe that is divine and completely changes how I feel about homemade bolognese sauce. This past Christmas I found myself with a half a pound of ground veal left over from making Swedish meatballs. I searched around the web for recipes to use up the veal and happened upon this recipe for veal bolognese from Food & Wine. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly but used it as a guide and oh my GOODNESS the resulting sauce was so, so good and flavorful and wonderful and, well, I am finally impressed by homemade bolognese sauce.

I think one of the reasons the sauce was so good was because I used half veal, half regular ground beef. But I’m quite certain the sauce will still be uber delicious with straight ground beef, as the veggies and spices are what really make this sauce shine. If you want to use veal, by all means do. But ground beef alone is a-okay.

Click here for the original recipe, which also includes butternut squash, which I am sure is delicious! Below is my version of homemade bolognese sauce, with some modifications from the original recipe.

Oh, one more note! I used a rigatoni-like pasta instead of spaghetti and really liked that shape of pasta with this sauce. Use whatever pasta you like, but the rigatoni is quite delicious.

Homemade Bolognese Sauce

 

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Adapted from a Food & Wine recipe.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef or veal (or half pound of each)
• 2 slices of bacon, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup minced carrot
• ½ cup minced celery
• ½ cup minced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or pushed through a garlic press
• Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground sage
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil OR 1 tablespoon fresh basil (chiffonade)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 15-ounce cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ¾ cup cream
• Pepper
• Optional: 4 tablespoons tomato paste (I added this to the recipe after making it many times, see directions below for notes)

Instructions

1. In a large cast-iron casserole (or pot), cook minced bacon in the olive oil over medium heat, for about 5 minutes until bacon is well cooked, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Sprinkle evenly with a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Add the fresh garlic and stir.
3. Add the ground meat along with the sage, parsley, bay leaf and oregano. If using dried basil, add that now as well. Season evenly with a few pinches of salt. Cook until meat is cooked through and no longer pink, stirring regularly.
4. Add the wine and cook until the wine has reduced significantly, about 3-5 minutes. Add UNdrained tomatoes and cook until liquid is reduced by about half, around 5 minutes.
5. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. At this point if you are using tomato paste, add that as well. (Note: originally I did not have tomato paste in the recipe. The sauce base originally came out with more of a broth consistency - still unbelievably tasty, but you have to serve the pasta in a bowl. This last time I added tomato paste and it helped to thicken the sauce base up and the flavor remained the same. I will be using the tomato paste in this recipe from now on).
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.
7. Remove the bay leaf. Add the cream and, if using fresh basil, the basil. Stir and add salt to taste if needed. Finish off with a few shakes of pepper.

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I have to confess something. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to Mexican food. I blame living 20-40 miles from the Mexican border for eight of the last 15 years, with the other seven years still being in California. One of my biggest fears of moving away from the San Diego area is that I won’t be able to access my favorite Mexican ingredients for cooking at home. No, really, it’s a true FEAR.

Now that you know I’m a snob, I have another confession to make. Ground beef tacos are not my favorite and I refer to them as “gringo tacos” in my head (especially when crispy taco shells are involved). This isn’t to say Mexican cuisine does not include seasoned ground beef for tacos, it’s just not my first pick and ground beef is never on the menu at any of my favorite Mexican restaurants. That all said, I will still eat and even cook ground beef tacos occasionally, it’s just never my first choice.

While we were visiting family the last few weeks, however, my sister-in-law Cora (who is a wonderful cook as well as a crazy talented photographer) made the best ground beef tacos I’ve ever had. Her Mexican friend Zu taught her how to make this delectable taco meat, and Cora has now passed that wisdom on to you and me.

Please note: The amount of meat you see in the picture above is the recipe below doubled.

First off, you will not need taco seasoning packets ever again. Stop buying them.

Secondly, after you make this taco meat, you will want to eat 10 tacos. You’ve been warned. (After Nate’s umpteenth taco he declared, “Why are these SO GOOD?!”)

Thank you, Cora, for bringing ground beef tacos back into my life in the most delicious way.

Note: Making your own crispy taco shells is the best thing ever with this taco meat recipe. Click here to read how to make crispy taco shells.

Cora's Mexican Ground Beef Tacos

 

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My sister-in-law Cora gave me this recipe. Her Mexican friend taught her how to make this meat and it is scrumptious!

Author: Cora Wallin

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds ground beef
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (Cora prefers chipotle chili powder)
• 1 teaspoon paprika (Cora uses smoked paprika)
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1½ - 2 tsp seasoned salt (to taste)
• 1 handful chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ onion, diced
• 1 pint quartered grape tomatoes

Instructions

1. Brown beef over medium heat in a large, preferably deep, skillet. Use a potato masher to really break down the meat as it cooks. (The potato masher is the secret trick to this recipe!)
2. When the beef is about halfway browned, drain off excess fat, then add the diced onion and seasonings. Continue browning, then add the chopped cilantro and tomatoes.
3. Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes and onions melt into the beef mixture, at least 20 minutes. You can add a bit of water as it cooks if needed. Also, continue to use the potato masher throughout the cooking process.
4. Awesome served with fresh homemade salsa (like this one), pico de gallo and Cholula hot sauce...but you can eat it however you want!

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Chili was one of the first things I learned how to cook without a recipe, so it holds a fond place in my heart. Over the years how I make chili has evolved and the great part is that it was delicious no matter what form it took! It’s one of my favorite go-to meals and my kids love it, so chili is therefore one of my favorites, too! 😉

As much as I love my chili (recipe below!), chili is one of those dishes I know people have recipes they are proud of and want to share. So I think it’s time for a chili cook off, don’t you? Call for Recipes posts are my favorite and I can’t wait to see what you guys have to share in the chili department. 

My recipe is not fancy, but it’s good, easy and flexible. And you can use whatever you have lying around. For you chili diehards out there…yes, I’m breaking all kinds of rules. (Beans! Quel horreur!) So, be nice. This is a FRIENDLY chili cook-off…anything goes, there are no rules!

Chili

 

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Measurements are approximate, this recipe is easy going.

Author: Jane Maynard, inspired by MIL Pat Maynard

Ingredients

• About ⅓ of an onion, chopped
• Bell pepper (about half of one”¦red tastes better, but green offers a nice color contrast”¦you choose!)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped or minced”¦if you don’t have fresh garlic, just sprinkle some garlic powder
• ~3/4 lb ground beef (you can easily make this vegetarian by cutting the ground beef and adding an extra can of beans!)
• 1 can kidney beans (14 oz size)
• 1 can of chili beans (usually a mix of black, pinto and white) - I used to do 1 can of baked beans, but now I usually do the chili beans instead)
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce (or salsa/pasta sauce lying around in the fridge)
• ~2 tablespoons chili powder
• ~1/2 – 1 teaspoon cumin
• ~1/2 - 1 teaspoon paprika
• a few shakes of cayenne on the days I want some heat (red pepper flakes and hot sauce also work)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Saute the onion and bell pepper in a about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat until onions are turning clear and vegetables have softened.
2. Add the garlic and ground beef. Sprinkle everything with some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring regularly to break up the meat, until ground beef is browned and cooked through. Drain off fat.
3. Add everything else, bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low and let cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Serve with shredded cheese, corn chips, corn bread, sour cream, whatever you like!

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