Food Wishes
Published 5 Mar 2012Learn how to make an Irish Shepherd’s Pie! This recipe is a lovely alternative to the much more common corned beef and cabbage recipe that you may have been planning for dinner. Take things to the next level with some nice Irish cheddar.
St. Patrick’s Day Special: Irish Shepherd’s Pie (the real one, not the stuff they eat in cottages)
I know I may have used a few atypical ingredients in this, but as far as I’m concerned, the only two things that are mandatory to make a “real” Shepherd’s Pie are potatoes and lamb. While the ground beef version is also very delicious, it’s not considered a “Shepherd’s Pie”, since shepherds raise sheep, not cows.
The real mystery is why the beef version is called “Cottage Pie”, and not “Cowboy Pie”, or “Rancher’s Pie”. When I think about cattle, many things come to mind, but cottages aren’t one of them. Okay, now that we have all those search keywords inserted, we can moooo’ve on.
By the way, I know it’s something of a Food Wishes tradition that I do a cheap, culturally insensitive joke about Irish-Americans drinking too much in our St. Patrick’s Day video, but this year I decided not to do any. In fairness, I know hundreds of Irish people, and several of them have no drinking problem whatsoever, so it just didn’t seem inappropriate.
Anyway, as I say in the video, this would make a lovely alternative to the much more common corned beef and cabbage that you may have been planning for dinner. Also, I really hope you find some nice Irish cheddar. I used one called “Dubliner” by Kerrygold, which can be found in most large grocery stores.
If you’re curious about beverage pairings, may I go out on a limb and suggest a nice Guinness, or other Irish beer … just hold the green food coloring, please. Erin go bragh, and as always, enjoy!
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March 17, 2025
How to Make Irish Shepherd’s Pie | Food Wishes
February 13, 2025
Homemade Valentine’s Chocolates – Hot Chocolate Stones – Chocolate Truffles
Food Wishes
Published 13 Feb 2010Use this Valentine’s Day chocolate recipe to make a special gift. Find yourself a nice decorative box to put these best Valentine’s chocolates in. It doesn’t hurt to have the word “love” on the box. The flavor profile of these chocolates is perfect: dark chocolate with just a hint of warmth.
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December 22, 2024
Chocolate Bark – Holiday Gift Idea – Food Wishes
Food Wishes
Published 15 Dec 2017Learn how to make Chocolate Bark! This easy recipe is perfect for enjoying yourself, or to use as an edible holiday gift. Visit https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2017/… for the ingredients, more information, and many, many more video recipes. I hope you enjoy this Chocolate Bark recipe!
In addition to sharing an easy, and beautiful edible holiday gift idea, I wanted to make this chocolate bark so I could test a simplified technique for tempering chocolate without a thermometer. It sounded too good to be true, but worked fairly well, which is the problem. Is fairly good, okay?
Properly tempered chocolate will snap when broken, and retain that gorgeous glossy sheen. Poorly tempered chocolate is sort of dull grey, and the texture is soft, and waxy. This was somewhere in the middle.
Using this method, you will get close to properly tempered chocolate, and you might get lucky, and actually end up with perfectly tempered chocolate, but in hindsight, since using a thermometer isn’t really hard, and the extra steps required not that strenuous, I’ll probably just do it the right way next time.
October 29, 2024
Halloween Ham & Cheese Board | Food Wishes
Food Wishes
Published Sep 29, 2023Ideal for Halloween, this “horrible hand” ham and cheese board will be the life (or death?) of your party. This exceptionally creepy skinned hand is easy to make, and the cheese spread inside can be customized in countless ways. Fake blood and dagger sold separately. Enjoy!
For the fully formatted, printable, written recipe, follow this link: https://www.allrecipes.com/horrible-h…
You can also find more of Chef John’s content on Allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/16791/e…
June 14, 2024
Chef John’s Cream of Mushroom Soup – Pure Liquid Moon-Soaked Earth
Food Wishes
Published Dec 30, 2009[NR: I kid you not, this is the best cream of mushroom soup I’ve ever tasted. And I made it!]
I can’t believe I haven’t posted a video recipe for cream of mushroom soup! It’s such a classic cool weather staple, and quite simple to make – as long as you have a few hours to spare. The secret to this deep rich potage is a long slow caramelization, the key to unlocking the mushroom’s magic. Oh, and by the way, I mean that literally. Mushrooms are by far the most mysterious and magical things we eat.
Scientists still don’t really understand how and why they grow like they do. While every other food you eat gets its energy from the sun, Agaricus bisporus, the common button mushroom, does not. Some believe mushrooms are powered by the moon, which I find fascinating to contemplate.
This is a very minimalist formula, and meant to transform the browned bits of fungus into pure earthy essence of mushroom. You can use whatever exotic mushrooms you can get a hold of, but it works quite well with the ubiquitous white button mushroom. Enjoy!
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December 25, 2023
Homemade Eggnog Recipe – How to Make Classic Christmas Eggnog
Food Wishes
Published 22 Dec 2015Learn how to make Homemade Eggnog!
I’ve never been a big eggnog person, and that’s putting it kindly. It’s too thick, too sweet, and way too artificially nutmegy. I even did an anti-nog tweet recently, just for a few cheap, seasonal laughs, but then I realized I was being unfair to this iconic Christmas drink.
I was basing most of my hating on the stuff in the carton from the supermarket, which features no booze, and a nutrition label you seriously don’t want to read. The homemade stuff I’ve had was significantly better, and so I decided to film this rather easy process, since I get so many requests this time of year.
Go to http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2015/1… for the ingredient amounts, more information, and many, many more video recipes! I hope you enjoy this easy Classic Christmas Eggnog recipe.
December 22, 2023
Roast Smoked Goose – A Christmas Goose Special
Food Wishes
Published 8 Dec 2011Learn how to make a Roast Smoked Goose Recipe!
Visit http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2011/1… for the ingredients, more recipe information, and over 650 additional original video recipes! I hope you enjoy this Christmas Roast Smoked Goose Recipe!
May 29, 2023
How to Plant a Culinary Herb Garden! DIY Kitchen Garden
Food Wishes
Published 1 Jun 2015[Note, description is from the Food Wishes blog. Chef John’s plant selection is Thyme (English, French, and Lemon), Chives, Italian Parsley, Sage, Oregano (Greek and Italian), Tuscan Blue Rosemary, Basil (Genovese or Sweet), and Spearmint.]
I mentioned several times during this “how to plant your own culinary herb garden” video that I’d give a lot more specific information on the blog, but now that I’m here, I realize there’s not much more to tell you.
Herbs are very easy to grow, and besides basil, which doesn’t like to dry out, they only require occasional watering. Any well-drained soil will work, but your best bet is to grab a bag of ready-to-use planting mix. Feel free to double check with the person at the nursery, but it’s basically potting soil with benefits. And, I did say nursery. Drive the extra mile, and talk to people that just sell plants.
I consider these herbs must-haves, but there are many more varieties you can try. I’ve done things like tarragon and cilantro in the past, and while they are a little more temperamental, they can be successfully cultivated.
Nothing beats being able to go out into the garden, and just take a pinch of this and a pinch of that. When you consider the cost of one of these plants is just a little more than for a single bunch at the market, why not have a few pots around, even if they’re on the windowsill? I hope you plant your garden soon. Enjoy!
NOTE: I’m not a gardening expert, so asking me specific question about soil types and weather issues will result in many a guess. My advice would be to use this video as an inspiration, and then check out some local gardening websites.
March 17, 2023
Beef & Guinness Stew – St. Patrick’s Day Special – Beef Stewed in Guinness Beer
Food Wishes
Published 15 Mar 2013Learn how to make a Beef & Guinness Stew! Go to http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2013/0… for the ingredient amounts, more information, and many, many more video recipes! I hope you enjoy this St. Patrick’s Day Special Beef Stewed in Guinness Beer recipe!
From the comments:
Food Wishes
2 years ago
Check out the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/234534/Beef-and-Guinness-Stew/
December 23, 2022
Hot Buttered Rum – Food Wishes
Food Wishes
Published 8 Dec 2020You can do a lot of great things with rum. Make rum balls, soak a chocolate cake, pour it into a glass of cola, and of course, entertain pirates, but maybe my favorite thing to do with rum, especially around the holidays, would be to butter it. Enjoy!
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December 22, 2021
Rum Balls Recipe – Christmas Cookie Special! Chocolate Rum Balls
Food Wishes
Published 7 Dec 2011Learn how to make a Chocolate Rum Balls Recipe! Visit http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2011/1… for the ingredients, more recipe information, and over 650 additional original video recipes! I hope you enjoy this Christmas Cookie Special – Chocolate Rum Balls Recipe!
July 7, 2020
Homemade Flatbread in Minutes – How to Make the World’s Oldest Bread
Food Wishes
Published 17 Nov 2014Learn how to make Homemade Flatbread in minutes! Visit http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2014/1… for the ingredients, more information, and many, many more video recipes. I hope you enjoy this easy, homemade flatbread technique!
