Author: Polo

Categories
Cuisine

The Ultimate Shepherd’s Pie Recipe: A Comfort Food Dream

When the craving for comfort hits, nothing beats a classic shepherd’s pie. It’s hearty, rich, and hits all the right spots. Let’s dive into making the best, juiciest shepherd’s pie you’ll ever taste.

The Ultimate Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground lamb – This is where the magic starts. Juicy, tender lamb brings that deep, meaty flavor you can’t resist.
  • 2 lbs golden potatoes – Creamy and buttery, they mash up like a dream.
  • 1 cup carrots – Sweet and tender, they add that little crunch.
  • 1 cup peas – Bright green and crisp, perfect to break through the richness.
  • 1 onion – Cooked till golden and caramelized for that sweet, earthy flavor.
  • 2 cloves garlic – Because everything is better with garlic.
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste – For a rich, tangy depth.
  • 1 cup beef broth – To bring it all together with that savory punch.
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce – A zesty kick that elevates the lamb.
  • 3 tbsp butter – Extra richness in both the mash and the filling.
  • Salt & pepper – To season to your heart’s desire.

Steps:

  1. Sauté the lamb: In a hot pan, brown the lamb until it’s crumbly and golden. Let those juices build up, giving you the base of the pie.
  2. Cook the veggies: Toss in the onion, garlic, carrots, and peas. Cook until everything is tender and fragrant.
  3. Add the flavor bombs: Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and beef broth. Let it simmer and thicken, creating a rich, juicy filling.
  4. Boil and mash the potatoes: While your filling is bubbling away, boil the golden potatoes until soft. Mash them with butter, salt, and pepper until they’re smooth and creamy.
  5. Assemble: Spread the savory lamb filling in a baking dish, then layer that buttery mash on top.
  6. Bake: Pop it in the oven at 400°F for about 20 minutes until the top is golden and crisp.

There you have it – the best shepherd’s pie ever. It’s the kind of dish that makes you feel wrapped in a cozy, savory hug.

Categories
Cuisine

Juicy Cherry Clafoutis Recipe – A Slice of French Heaven!

If you’re craving a dessert that’s bursting with flavor and oozing with charm, you’re in for a treat.

Cherry Clafoutis is a traditional French dessert, somewhere between a luscious custard and a delicate cake. The cherries are bathed in a silky, creamy batter that caramelizes to perfection. It’s easy to make, but feels oh-so-fancy – perfect for impressing your guests or just treating yourself!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of fresh, juicy cherries (pitted, if you prefer)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for dusting)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • A pinch of salt
  • Butter, for greasing the pan
  • Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional but highly recommended)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9-inch pie dish generously and sprinkle with sugar. This will give your Clafoutis a sweet, golden crust!
  2. Pit the cherries (or leave the pits in for a more rustic, traditional experience) and spread them in the prepared dish, letting their juices mingle.
  3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt until well combined. Add in the eggs one by one, whisking between each addition until the batter is silky and smooth.
  4. Gradually pour in the milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract, whisking until the mixture is light and airy. This batter will soak into the cherries and puff up like a dream!
  5. Pour the batter over the cherries, making sure each one is bathed in the creamy goodness.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the clafoutis is golden brown and set around the edges, but still slightly wobbly in the center. You’ll know it’s ready when the aroma of warm cherries and vanilla fills your kitchen!
  7. Let it cool slightly, then dust with powdered sugar for that finishing touch. It’s pure indulgence served warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Pro Tip:

For the juiciest, most irresistible clafoutis, use ripe, plump cherries bursting with flavor. And if cherries aren’t in season, frozen cherries work like magic too!

This Cherry Clafoutis is the perfect dessert to dive into after a summer meal or savor on a cozy evening. With each bite, you’ll get the sweet-tart burst of cherries, the creamy richness of the custard, and a hint of French elegance.

Bon Appétit! 🍒

Categories
Server

Unix: Count number of files in a folder

You have run out of inodes on your server and you have no idea where all those files are?

The following command will tell you the number of files of each directory so you can spot where the hell they are.

for i in /home/*; do echo $i; find $i | wc -l; done

When you see a directory with lots files, you can continue examining its subdirectories by calling again the command on it.

for i in /home/thisone/*; do echo $i; find $i | wc -l; done

Categories
Server

Unix: Fast Find and Replace in VIM

I configure a lot of files, and most of the time it’s all about copying an old config file, edit a few variables and save it.
Take for example a NGINX virtualhost file. You already have a website running and you want to run another site with similar configuration.

So you copy the existing virtualhost and give it a name, then opens it and want to change everyting that says “my-first-website” with “my-second-website”.

The following command is doing just that in one shot!

:%s/my-first-website/my-second-website/g

BOOM!

You have notice it’s using some regular expression quantifier “g” to tell VIM to replace all occurence of “my-first-website” with “my-second-website”.

Categories
Server

Unix: Remove tons of files

You may not be able to delete lot of files with the command “rm”.
The error could be “Argument list too long”.

One possible solution is to use the “find” command and the “-delete” option.

The following command is deleting all files in the /deleteme directory.
It deletes also all files in subdirectories but leaves subdirectories structure intact.

find /deleteme -type f -print -delete

Categories
Server

MySQL: create database with user and password

The following instructions are to create:

  • one database
  • one user with all privileges on this database

Connect to MySQL with root user.

mysql -u root -p

Create a database and give it a name.
For this example we name it “db_name”.

create database db_name;

Create a user.
For this example we name it “db_users”;

create user db_user;

Now one stone three birds:
– we are giving all privileges to the user “db_user” on all the tables of the database “db_name”.
– we say that the user can login only locally.
– we create the user password.

grant all on db_name.* to 'db_user'@'localhost' identified by 'db_password';

To test it, first log out from root.

exit

Connect as your new user to the new database

mysql -u db_user -p db_name

Congratulations!

Categories
Cuisine

Oven bake sweet potatoes

I am going to share you an healthy and quick recipe for sweet potatoes.
Sweet potato is an healthy food, it’s very nutritious and is good for fiber and vitamins.

This is the to go food when you don’t want to spend time cooking and still get an healthy meal.
All you need is 5 minutes for preparation and 45 min baking time.

Pro Tip

Depending on how many sweet potatoes you are making and how big is your backing pan, you will have food ready for the next two or three meals!

Instructions

1. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes
2. Cut them in half , then cut them quarter inch (0.5 cm) thick.
3. On a baking pan lay the sweet potatoes without overlapping them
4. Brush the sweet potatoes with olive oil
5. Bake for 45 min at 350F (180C) or until soft
6. Add extra cheese (swiss, cheddar, parmesan, …) at the end!
7. You can keep the left over in your fridge a couple of days and reheat or eat them cold anytime.

Pro Tip during hot summer

You have baked you sweet potatoes and now they are in the fridge.
You can add them cold to ANY salad mix. It will be a great source of fiber and cool you down during hot days.
My favorite is to eat them cold with cold coucous or bulgur and fresh herbs like parsley and olive oil.