My Heart is in the Kitchen

My heart is in the kitchen, stirring oatmeal, scrambling an egg, cutting up his avocado. It's in there with the scratched linoleum begging to be swept, by the recipe box I inherited from my grandmother. It's in and around the jars of fermented salsa, the bone broths that make my house smell of an old world.

My heart chops up garlic and it scrubs out pots. It pulls out knifes that are never sharp enough to prepare meals that are always simpler than the recipes, ingredients forgotten at the store or in the cabinets.

My heart unloads the dishwasher when it can't find a child to do the deed. It wishes that the stove was gas and that vinegar and baking soda didn't require quite so much elbow grease. It wakes up in the morning to brew Maxwell House and in the evening it's there to plunk ice cubes into a glass for a tall, weak gin and tonic.

It makes it's way into the bellies of the people I love through roasted chickens and buttery mounds of sweet potatoes.

My heart waits there among the amused cast iron and the oft- misplaced measuring spoons. Beating and waiting.

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The Dinner Series / 1

Sometimes we eat at my parent's houses, sitting around the same table I ate around with my sisters and brother as a child. The bay strikes the rocks behind us, the clock on the wall ticks away, punctuating our conversation. We start with grace and then pass the butter.

Other nights we eat at my house, at the oblong table my mother bought me last Christmas that already bears the scars of craft projects and temper tantrums. The bay is a block further away, but the meal still starts with bowed heads and gratitude.

These moments around the table are important to me, just as they were important to my parents, just as I believe that they are or will be important to my children. These moments are worth the dirty dishes they produce, worth the stress of stopping for groceries on my way home from work. 

Last night I made shepherd's pie served in my giant cast iron skillet, and I served it on mismatched plates to the people I love. We talked about weddings and the snow outside, and it was good. It was important.

My children won't likely remember this meal, or tomorrow's meal either. They won't likely recall that day, January 8th, the night mom wore her airplane earrings, and there dad was nervous about his first jury trial. And chances are, I won't remember it either. But we will remember the routine, the habit, the tradition of being together, eating together, sharing. 

What I made:

I doubled the base from Alton Brown's Shepherd Pie Recipe with a few minor changes, topped it with a slightly adapted version of this mashed cauliflower recipe instead of the potatoes and cooked it all in my skillet instead of transferring it into a baking dish.

Cast Iron Shepherd's Pie with Cauliflower Crust

Meat filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium chopped yellow onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 pounds ground lamb
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 oz can of tomato paste
2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
4 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
1 bag of frozen peas, carrot, freen bean mix
2 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 cloves  minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cauliflower mash:

2 bags of frozen cauliflower florets
2 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Put frozen cauliflower in a stock pot and cover with water. Cook on high heat until cauliflower is soft, about ten minutes.
Drain. while it is still hot, add the rest of the ingredients. I mash mine, but if you have a food processor or immersion blender ( I do not), now would be a good time to put it to use. 
Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


While the cauliflower is cooking, prepare the filling. Place the olive oil into a 20-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil heats up, add the onion and carrots and saute until they are turning color and just strating to get soft, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir . Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until thoroughly browned  approximately 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
Add the corn and peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly around the cast iron skillet, or transfer to a baking pan if you don't have a big enough skillet. Top with the mashed cauliflower. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the topping is getting a little golden. 

Let it cool for about 15 minutes before eating, even longer, if you're like my mom and eat everything luke warm. 

And if you are like Gus, feel free to add ketchup. Malcolm Gladwell made me feel so much better about my picky son's desire to coat everything in it. Read all about why ketchup just makes sense.

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My New Favorite Place

This was how my kitchen looked when we moved in. I did not love it. Not one bit. But over the past few months, with the help of half a dozen people who must love me lots, this kitchen has pretty much become the kitchen of my pintrest dreams. 

This kitchen has become this kitchen.  And boy am I happy about that. There are still a few things that need to be done (curtains, a rug, knobs and pulls), but I am happy as a clam. 

I am so grateful for all the people that helped us- most notably my mom and friend Steve. If you are not best friends with a contractor, I seriously recommend trying to make friends with one asap. Best decision of my life.

It's also been really neat watching Tom learn how to do some of these things. During our many years of renting, neither of us took that much interest in our house. Even though we lived in the same house for nine years, I usually didn't ever plan on staying more than another year at any given point. We didn't completely settle into it. But this house is different in so many ways, not the least of which is the hard work that goes into it. 

I really love this kitchen. I love that Steve started putting in the countertops at 10:30 on the night of my birthday. I love that Gus helped prime the cabinets doors. I loved that I watched my dad and husband work side by side hanging the back splash. I love that my mama is willing to work so tirelessly so that it would be ready in time for my party this past weekend. 

What's next crew? Hardwood floors?

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