March Madness

Perhaps it's time to get this Blog up and running again!?

Will anyone care? Probably not ...at this time.. But maybe someone soon out there might follow and give me feedback, etc.

This being the Month of St. Patrick's Parade's all over NY and America, and of course the whole world for the 17th March and Shepherd's Pie being a huge Favorite along with Corned Beef and Cabbage!

So no new places to comment on today but recently I made some Shepherd's Pie at home :)

It turned out very nice and maybe I can type up my own recipe later. Everyone has their own way of making and   what they add or not. I love to add mushrooms, sometimes peas, definitely carrots and onions.
I think I will incorporate recipes here later from different chefs ,etc but I would like to try the recipes first to see if it is even a good one?
And of course readers of my blog :) can add recipes or forward them to me to test out or keep in my collection!
And any other ideas, or restaurant's that you know or have been to that has some good pie to try :)

President's Day Pie

Today was President's Day and I sampled some Pie more closer to Home..well not too close actually. But it was in Queens! It's also very close to Brooklyn, I went to P.J. Leahy's on Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City.
No Link to website for this one, I guess they might not have one. A simple enough spot with a pretty simple enough Pie also.
It actually looked a little burnt also?

Well you know if it looks a bit dodgy, it certainly would be huge surprise if it tasted Amazing..
Anyhow your very Basic Pie here, it did have Peas !!
No beefy or shouldn't it be Lamby Flavour?
No real distinct flavours, I did need the ketchup for this one. I think I had an aftertaste of Burnt in my mouth afterwards. It actually looks worse in the Picture, at least I don't remember it been extremely badly burnt.
I think it was a Broiler Job.. In the end you get what you pay for more or less? On this Occasion it really was not something I would ever order again in there.
It certainly was not the worst so far, Marks out of 10..I give it 4.

Dinner by the Fireplace

Tonight I found a nice little Bar & Restaurant called "Jack Dempsey's" http://www.jackdemseys.com/
on West 33rd .

I went with Daniel , one of my Best Friends
(he's reading this..LOL )

Anyhow nice and cozy place with Fireplace and nice service.

The Pie came nice and hot ,and as I was very hungry, I dug in as soon as I took a snapshot! (a little dark in there and only had phone with me)
The Potatoes were lovely and fluffy and tasty. The meat had a nice amount of sauce to meat ratio. And the meat & sauce had loads of flavor, mostly a rich gravy one. Intense meaty and also a feeling of just like Mother made when you were young :)

Delicious and would go back for more. Had some mushrooms and green beans?
Whatever happened to Peas?!!

I also thought of something else tonight, I should find out if pie is Lamb or Beef?
Traditionally it should be made of lamb but I myself and I am sure many more out there use Beef.

8 Marks out of 10 .

Don't be fooled

Today I am going to review a Pie I had at


"The Triple Crown"http://www.thetriplecrownalehouse.com/




I had this Pie with my Nephew Vincent and his friend Martin while they were visiting New York only 2 weeks ago.
It was very close to Madison Square Garden on 7th Ave, and they had a show that very night, Bull Riding ,cowboys etc. It was on a block where there seemed to be a quite few Bars and Restaurants, but on this Occasion we picked Triple Crown.

It's all coming back to me now, I am only reviewing the Pie here but you can see full reviews on Yelp.
The pie I can fairly safely say was one of the worst I have had SO FAR.. The meat tasted very slodgy, if that's a word? And potatoes were just like regular mash on top.
I am not sure what flavor was there, mostly a cheap gravy one. I don't remember seeing any Vegetables in it?
This is one of those places I will have to visit again, (albeit not in a hurry) to make things fair for the Restaurant and for the Pie! :)
As today I am pretty much going by memory.

Marks out of 10 = 2

Decoration

One of the first pie's I am going to blog about is one that was Highly recommended by my brother Robbie. He visited New York last year around St.Patricks Day with a group of Firemen from Sligo Ireland.

The Pub's name is "Connolly's" on 121 West 45th st (http://www.connollyspubandrestaurant.com), it's one of 4 Locations I believe. I went there for lunch with my sister Patsy during the Christmas season.

This one is from Memory; as Notepad was not with me that day, but will be from now on...
I do remember the decoration, very striking for a Shepherds Pie as usually most time it's just plain on top.
On this Occasion it was my sister who ordered the Pie and I had Cesar Salad.
But we shared our dishes and I got a good Taste.

I remember thinking it has just enough flavor to make it good but nothing more. It went down very easily and enjoyably. I didn't like the green beans in it though.
The Potatoes on top were just ok, nothing dazzlingly there.

All in All it was a very Pleasant Pie.

I am debating whether or not to do Marks out of 10? Feedback Please. :)

Past and Future

Well this is not completely new for me, in both Blogging and checking out the Shepherd's Pie in New York.
I have tried a few already in the past, and recently again, got into tasting what Irish "Bars & Restaurants" have on offer for Shepherd's Pie.

I am not even sure why I ever started this whole "Looking for the best shepherd's pie?" and I kind of did stop the search long ago. But I am off again and with the help of a Blog I can certainly keep track of what I taste and where?

And who will read this ?? who knows. I guess if you are coming to NYC (Irish or English I guess) you might try a shepherds pie while your here..and you will have it from me , An ex-chef /Baker who will have tried quite a few. And my tastebuds tend to be good, sometimes Picky..but honestly I just want what I pay for. You spend over $25.00 you should get something that you yourself could not make in a New York Minute!

I certainly am no expert food critic and this really is more fun for me than seeing who is the best??
In the end what my best is could be your worst or vice versa.

Well to date I have like I said tried a few and to be fair I should probably try them again while doing the blog as memory can play tricks.!!
Although I will mention 2 places in my next 3 blogs as I only just had them so Officially for me it has been tried and tested.
There is also the factors of ,maybe the head chef was off the day I went in, but in truth I dare say the recipe stays the same and shouldn't vary too much from day to day.

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I will (hopefully) enjoy eating my way through all of New York's Shepherds pie's. :)