Mrs. Sweet Cheeks

Christmas in Our Hearts 

"Let's sing Merry Christmas and a happy holiday
This season may we never forget the love we have for Jesus
Let him be the one to guide us as another new year starts
And may the spirit of Christmas be always in our hearts" 

~Christmas in Our Hearts by Jose Mari Chan

It has been 8 years since I last spent Christmas with my family. Though it breaks my heart that I could not be with them on Christmas, my love and prayers are always with them. 

But this year's Christmas is special as it is my first Christmas together with my husband! Since I am only cooking for two, I wanted simple dishes that are easy to cook but tastes fantastic. So for this year, our menu consists of Shepherd's Pie and Oven-Baked Pork Ribs. 

Yummy-licious!

Both dishes are cooked together in less than two hours so I had more time to cuddle with the mister.

The ribs were marinated overnight using Hunt's Honey Mustard Sauce. Then pre-heat the oven at 200ºC and set the timer at 30 minutes. Wrap your ribs with the meaty side up in aluminum foil and place on a cookie sheet. After 30 minutes, open it up, spread another layer of the sauce on both sides, take out the foil and place it back in the oven for another 30 minutes and it's done. Easy right?

While all of that waiting time is going on, prepare (wash, peel, and dice) your Shepherd's Pie ingredients of four russet potatoes, three medium sized carrots, two onions and 4 cloves of garlic. You will also be using a cup of kernel corn, 500g of ground beef and a cup of fresh green peas. 

Make your mashed potatoes first. Dice the potatoes so they can cook faster and boil it in salted water.

After 20 minutes, drain the water and add 1 cup of milk, 5 Tbsp of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Then pound it with a wire potato masher until smooth. 

For the filling, sauté the onions and garlic until the onions look transparent. Add in the carrots and peas with a splash of light soya sauce and mix it in for a minute before adding in the beef. Sprinkle pepper, salt and cayenne pepper powder to taste. Add a splash of light soya sauce and 3 Tbsp of butter for extra flavour. Cook until browned.

To assemble your pie, fill the bottom layer of your pie dish with the beef and cover it with the mashed potatoes. Add a layer of mozzarella cheese on top. Melt and lightly brown the cheese in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 200ºC. Serve your feast and enjoy!

My husband enjoyed it so much that he said if we were not married yet, he would have asked me to marry him after this! 

Happy Holidays!