Savory Shepherd's Pie with Shiitake Mushrooms

Who doesn't love comfort food?  Shepherd's Pie is one of my long time favorites.  It's the best for a rainy day.  When I'm looking for better flavors and texture, Olsen's Farms has the best selection at the farmers' market.  I like the Yukon Gold or Yukon for mashing.  I've tried to mash potatoes from baked russet potatoes but they don't seem to get as creamy tasting.  If you want more nutrition and less carbs, add a bit of cauliflower to the steamed potatoes.  The potatoes above were enhanced with sweet potatoes.  If you mash a vegetable with more water with the potatoes, you don't need to add much milk, vegan margarine or butter.

Many of the ingredients can be found at the farmers market.  Look for dried mushrooms, but if you can't find them, you can dehydrate shiitake or any other mushrooms and use those.  The longer you leave the mushrooms out, the more they dry. You could also put them in a dehydrator on low.  One friend left them in her refrigerator and instead of getting old, the mushrooms dried and made a rich mushroom stock.

I must admit, I'm a bit late with this post because I read this book and I've gone a little crazy with this method of tidying-up.  The book has significantly lightened my load.  I love her ideas of peeling stuff in categories and the idea of keeping only the things that bring you joy.

I have donated box after box to Bella's Voice a nonprofit thrift store that supports the Feral Cat Project.  The store offers amazing finds because stores like Goodwill often comb through donations to put them in online auctions, but Bella's Voice puts everything on the floor.  I hope more thrift stores open up as nonprofits supporting animal rescue organizations.

Here's the recipe:

Savory Shepherd's Pie with Shiitake Mushrooms

(Serves 4)

The mashed potatoes transform this Shepherd's Pie into a timeless tradition. First, choose an oven tolerant skillet such as cast iron. Prepare the mushrooms and potatoes ahead of time.  Mash the potatoes with cauliflower or sweet potatoes and you'll feel less guilt over the luxurious carbs. Also feel free to embellish any way you like, add herbs or change vegetables.

2 cups mashed potatoes (or mash a blend of sweet potatoes, cauliflower and potatoes)

1/4 cup salsa

1/8 cup dried shiitake mushrooms

1 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms, tough stems removed, caps sliced

1 tablespoon oil (canola or extra-virgin olive oil)

1/2 cup diced onion

2 stalks celery, sliced thin

1 carrot, small dice

1/2 red pepper, small diced or white beans

1 cup  seitan or white beans

1 tablespoon arrowroot

1 tablespoon Liquid Braggs Aminos

1 cup cauliflower, cut into small pieces

1 cup green beans, frozen

1 cup corn, frozen or canned

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Combine the mashed potatoes and salsa.  Set aside.

Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms.  Let allow mushrooms to rehydrate for at least one hour.  The longer the mushrooms are in the water, the more flavorful it becomes. Strain, reserve liquid and finely chop the mushrooms.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Cast iron is best.  Add mushrooms and dry fry, stirring them until they become limp. Add the oil, onion, celery and carrot.  Stir and cook until vegetables soften.  Stir in the pepper and seitan and continue to stir and cook for 5 minutes. Blend in the chopped, soaked mushrooms, green beans and corn.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Stir arrowroot into mushroom liquid until well blended. Pour over vegetables, stir and spread the mashed potatoes on top.  Sprinkle paprika over the top.  Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling.

Everybody gets to sample this Shepherd's Pie

Superbowl Brownies

My mom loved chocolate and that included brownies, one of her favorite desserts.  Lucky for me, I inherited Mom's cookbooks and I've tweaked her favorite brownies with a local flavors.

The flour is from Nash's; the walnuts from Grouse Mountain Farm, and I might have used eggs from River Farm, but Liz had her baby and they weren't at the market last week, so I used flax seed egg replacer.

So disappointed brownies aren't for dogs.  I vote for carob next time.

This recipe actually came from and old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but brownies are timeless. It's hard to improve on the old school recipes, unless you add more nuts, dried fruit or chocolate chips.

Superbowl Brownies
(Makes 12 brownies)

1/2 cup vegan shortening or local butter
2 one-ounce squaares of baking chocolate
3/4 cup Northwest flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Flax seed egg replacer for 2 eggs (2 tbs. ground flax seeds blended with 6 tablespoons water)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup Northwest lightly toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil an 8-inch baking pan. Melt shortening and chocolate together in a double boiler over hot water.  Cool.

Sift flour and baking powder together.   In another bowl mix egg-replacer and sugar.  Blend with shortening and chocolate, then stir into flour mixture with walnuts and chocolate chips.  Stir just until blended.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  When a toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven and cool on cooling rack.  Serve with coconut sorbet.

Meyer Lemon Biscotti

Some people think black eyed peas will bring good luck in the new year.  I've always been a dessert first kind of person, so I thought why not start the year off with biscotti?  It could start a new trend.

This time it's my mother's recipe altered with Meyer lemon standing in for the orange and anise and local flour and walnuts replacing the store bought varieties.  It's not the first biscotti recipe I've posted and it definitely won't be the last.

When I was perusing photos for this post, I found this one taken when my book first came out.  This was at the Edmonds Bookshop, where owner Mary Kaye made carrot hummus and set up this table for my book.

The thing about biscotti is they are easy to make, they freeze well and also make great gifts, if they last that long.

Local whole wheat pastry flour is the way to go with these, but you can use unbleached white flour and they'll turn out just fine.

Walnuts are best and local walnuts even better, but it's a splurge and local walnuts could be scarce this time of year.  I've done hazelnut biscotti in the past, and you could substitute pecans if you want.

No one can resist these twice baked wonders.  In case you're interested here's a bit of biscotti history.  Seems these dry cookies were made for traveling. 

Here's to everything sweet in 2015!

Meyer Lemon Biscotti

(Makes 36 to 45 cookies)

4 cups flour (add enough for a stiff dough)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs, beaten, or flax seed egg replacer for 3 eggs, whipped

1 cup Florida Crystals, or sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest and juice from 1 Meyer lemon

1 cup toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift flour with baking powder and soda.  In another bowl mix eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla extract and lemon zest and juice. Combine the flour and liquid ingredients, adding enough flour for a very stiff dough.  

Form 2 or 3 long rolls about 14-inches long.  If you make 3 rolls, the cookies will be much smaller and you'll get more cookies.   

Place rolls on baking sheet.  Flatten with the tops slightly with your hand. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Slice cookies carefully on the slant, about 1/2-inch thick.

I was promised biscotti.

Ranger Cookies

One of my resolutions this year was to cut back on sweets and only eat treats if I make them at home.That means setting aside time, getting ingredients and since I like to eat as locally as possible I already had Nash's flour, Grouse Mountain walnuts and dried cherries from Ayers Creek Farm.  I probably could have found oats, too but three ingredients seemed enough and cookies seem the perfect way to start the new year.

Local flour is gaining popularity and the variety that grows best west of the Cascades is soft wheat, which is perfect for quick breads and cookies.  Nash's flour seems to have even less gluten than the store brought variety.  I usually add a bit more flour to the baked goods.

This was my walnut supply last fall.

The supply is dwindling.

This is my begging Cooking Assistant.  He's a pro, and a good counter surfer, so he's not usually allowed in the kitchen when we're cooking.

I found the perfect cookie recipe in an old Betty Crocker cookbook that my dad once owned. I was surprised to see a cookbook on a shelf at house after he passed away.  Dad was a great cook but he rarely used recipes. The was a mystery until  I spotted the sticker on the front that said the book was a complimentary copy from Glendale Federal Savings.  

Another thing dad liked was deals and freebies.  He actually had two cookbooks from banks, making me wonder if banks today offer free cookbooks as incentives to investors. 

Perhaps it's an idea that needs reviving.

Here's the recipe:

Ranger Cookies

(Makes about 3 dozen cookies )

1/2 cup Earth Balance (butter sticks) or butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flax seed egg replacer (1 tbs ground flax seeds plus 3 tablespoons water, whipped together until frothy) or use 1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut or toasted walnuts

1/2 cup dried fruit (optional)

Heat oven to 375F. Mix thoroughly Earth Balance and sugar.  Blend in egg replacer and vanilla.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonson an ungreased baking sheet.  Each cookie should 2 inches apart to allow for expansion.

Orange-Ginger Carrot Soup with Lemon Cashew Cream

After the rich holiday treats and meals, I'm ready for something healthy, but I need delicious too.  That's how I invented this citrus-ginger flavored carrot soup with lemon cashew cream.

Carrots are in season about 9 months a year in the Northwest and my favorite time for carrots is winter. Like Brussels sprouts, carrots get sweeter in cold weather.  The citrus tones from blood oranges and Meyer lemon in the cashew cream make this a dreamy treat.  I honestly never knew carrot soup could be so good.  

Get your carrots at the market if you want fresh carrots.

You see this sign when carrots are back at local markets in the spring.  New crop carrots are very sweet and tender.  Larger winter carrots are often sweet with more carrot flavor. 

In the end, we got local carrots.  My Cooking Assistant loves the size of these northwest winter carrots.

The lemon-cashew cream has possibilities beyond this soup.  It is simply amazing and would enhance desserts as well as hot whole grain cereal in the morning.  Though the recipe mentions organic blood oranges and lemons (because the recipes lists zest), I also prefer that all the other ingredients be organic as well, if possible.

Orange-Ginger Carrot Soup with Lemon Cashew Cream

(Serves 4)

1 medium onion, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 pound carrots, washed and sliced

1 1/2  tablespoons freshly grated ginger root

4 cups water or vegetable stock

2 organic blood oranges, outer skin grated and juiced

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Sea salt to taste

Lemon cashew cream (see recipe below)

1. Sauté onion in olive oil, in a heavy skillet, until onions soften.  Add pressed garlic and celery.  Stir and cook for a few minutes.  Remove from heat.

2. Combine cooked vegetables, carrots, ginger and water in a soup pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until carrots become very tender.

3. Add orange juice, orange zest, brown rice and pepper flakes.  Blend in a blender, 2 cups at a time until smooth and creamy.  Add sea salt to taste.  Drizzle each serving with lemon cashew cream.

Lemon-Cashew Cream

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

3/4 cup raw cashews

3/4 cup apple cider

2 teaspoons organic Meyer lemon zest

1 tablespoon organic Meyer lemon juice

1. Soak cashews in apple cider for at least an hour. 

2. Blend cashews, apple cider, lemon juice and zest until smooth and creamy.