Shepherd's Pie

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This week, we are making a dish I had many times as a child, a Shepherd's Pie! It was a weekly staple in my family which everyone enjoyed. It's a filling, delicious, and hearty dish that is great for a cold winter evening. 

A lot of people confuse this for a Cottage Pie, or use the names interchangeably, and while they are quite similar there is one main difference - Shepherds Pies are made with mince lamb or mutton, and Cottage Pies use mince beef. The rest of the recipe is pretty much the same, so if you like, you can substitute the lamb for beef for an equally tasty dinner ! 

There is some controversy on where the Shepherds/Cottage Pie originated. Since I ate this many times as a child here in Ireland, I always believed it was traditionally Irish. However, there are a lot of people who believe it came from Britain. It's hard to find an exact source of where it came from - the internet seems pretty divided on the issue - but since this was a dinner I ate growing up, I like to think it's an Irish classic ! It's generally accepted, though, that the Cottage Pie was first made around the 18th century as a way to serve leftover meat and vegetables. 

The dish is a hearty meat and vegetable filling, topped with crusted mashed potato. It is very versatile - you can add any of your favourite vegetables, such as leeks, or mushrooms. Today, however, I'm making it like my mother did and using onions, carrots, and peas, as well as some smoked bacon for some extra flavour!

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30 minutes

45-60 minutes

4-6

Strawberries and vanilla cream crêpes cake

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Pancake Tuesday is around the corner, and so we thought that our first dessert of the year should be...a crêpes cake ! It also makes for a perfect valentine's day dessert, and there'll definitely be some left for few days after! 

I always joke about crêpes being in my DNA, not only because I'm French, but mainly because in my family, crêpes was a monthly event ! Even if my mum didn't especially enjoy standing in front of a hot stove for hours, she had two crêpes pans in her kitchen allowing for a much faster process. However, she never made a full cake with them. Personally, I only discovered this cake a few years back at a friends birthday party. They had this cake, which they called a "crêpier", and I remember thinking it was a genius way of enjoying pancakes.

We used our classic crêpes recipe and doubled the proportions to have around 30 crêpes. If, like us, you only own one pancake pan, the most daunting part of this recipe will be cooking the crêpes. It's indeed a long process, but it's all worth it in the end. In this recipe, we'll be skipping the crêpes making process but do check out our crêpes batter recipe and especially our tips for stress-free pancakes at the end.

This is a filling dessert, so we recommend serving thin slices, especially if you're planning on serving it after a large dinner.

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Crêpes : 40 minutes Cake : 40 minutes

Crêpes : 1h30 - 2 hours Cake : None

8 - 12

Tarte Flambée or Flammekueche

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Today we're making a dish that always brings me back. Even though my Mom is born in Paris, she lived part of her childhood in the Alsace region of France, where she grew up enjoying local specialties, such as Choucroute and Pretzels. Because of the particular history of the region, switching between German or French rule, the culinary culture is somewhat based on a mix of Germanic and French traditions. 

One of the specialties from that region that my Mom often made back in south of France is the Tarte Flambée, or, as we usually called it, Flammekueche. Basically, it's a very thin pizza-like dough, often served in a rectangular shape, garnished with thinly sliced onion and lardons over a layer of fresh cream. Unlike what the French name might suggest, the tart is actually not flambéed, but traditionally cooked in a wood-fire oven.

From scratch, it is so easy to do because the dough doesn't need any resting time or kneading. It's even easier if you simply grab a pre-made pizza dough. As for the lardons, they can be hard to find here in Ireland, but you can simply slice some bacon instead - it's pretty much the same thing.  For the onions, if, like us, you own a food processor that can slice, we'd advise you to use it since it's much nicer when the onion is sliced very thinly, but it is not impossible to achieve similar result by slicing it yourself. It just takes a bit more time and tears !

It's also a very versatile dish ! Add a bit of grated cheese and you'll turn it into a Tarte Flambée "Gratinée", or add some mushrooms and it'll become a Tarte Flambée "Forestière". However, we'll be doing the classic version here.

It's a delicious tart, in fact so delicious, that I get often asked to do it at home. We'll be serving it with a mixed salad and my favorite homemade vinaigrette, as a healthy side after the over indulgence during Christmas !

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30 minutes

15-20 minutes

4