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Spicing things up a bit

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I don’t know about you but I love mac n cheese. Who doesn’t? My grandmother once made don and I homemade mac n cheese and we could never go back to the box stuff. Seriously ! I make it homemade every time. !!!!

As usual, I was watching the food network and sunny anderson was making mac n cheese but spicey mac n cheese. We were both drooling and I could already feel the kick on my tongue it looked and sounded so good. The very next day I was in the kitchen making this very same dish.

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Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

2 Cups elbow pasta – Cooked untl ALMOST al dente ( about 6-7 minutes)

8 ounces of Cheddar cheese – ½ Cubed, ½ Shredded

8 ounces of Colby Jack Cheese – Cubed  (I doubled up on cheddar and skipped the jack)

8 ounces of Monterey Pepper Jack Cheese – Cubed

2 tsp flour

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne

½ teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

4 Tbsp of sour cream

1 large egg, beaten

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup half n half ( I doubled up on the heavy cream, using regular milk will suffice also)

1/4 cup grated onions

4 slices of bread

1 tbsp butter

Directions:

As always, begin by preheating oven 350 degrees!

In large bowl, mix cooked pasta with cheese cubes and pour into baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, pepper, cayenne, mustard, and nutmeg. Add in sour cream, egg, heavy cream, half n half, and onions mixing well. Pour mixture over pasta and cover with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until top begins to brown.

While the pasta is baking, cube bread slices. In a small pan, melt butter on medium heat. Add in the bread cubes and toast until golden brown. Sprinkle croutons on top of the pasta and bake for an additional 10 minutes .

My thoughts…

It was good, however there are a few things I would change in the prepping process! I would heat the milk on stove adding in the dry ingredients until it comes to a boil. Then mixing in the different cheese until melted. Once the cheese is fully melted I would mix in the pasta , pour into a baking dish then bake it for 30-35 min. Why? I felt like there was alot of bites with no cheese! I did use an entire box of elbows instead of 2 cups so I am sure that is why , but I find doing it this method with normal mac n cheese get everything nice and coated!

I was proud of my homemade croutons. They were delicious :) I forsure thought they would be soak up all the butter and become soggy but with patience they turned out great !

ENJOY !

Photo Credit : Life’s Ambrosia

Going Italian

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I have been getting the itch to cook something new and yummy. As you have seen, my cooking ‘new things’ has slightly gone down hill. I need to get back on that crazy train pretty soon. Fall always brings flavorful new recipes, so I am excited to see what will be brewing in my kitchen.

So apparently yesterday was ‘Talk like a Pirate day” but I was not feeling that one and I am sure my patients really appreciated me not participating in that also. Mid-morning I was on twitter (@keemy87) and also saw that it was ” National Cheeseburger Day” … Yes! I knew what we were having for dinner ….Cheeseburgers!!! If your anything like me, You have to be craving what your about to eat or you just do not want to eat it.  I was actually craving Italian… I wanted PASTA, but not your typical boring baked cheese and marinara dish, something new and exciting. Don mentioned this dish that we order at a local Italian restaurant. >;>; Spaghetti Alla Carbonara <;<;

I was actually scared to make this for certain reasons .. you will see why shortly, but I bit the bullet and went strait for it!

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dry spaghetti
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, cubed or sliced into small strips We used pancetta
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving We definitely used FRESH Parm here !
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped Skipped ! Remember – I have a picky eater on board.

Directions

Prepare the sauce ( Egg Mixture) while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian “al dente.”) Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish. We did not need to use this due to the EVOO

While your pasta is boiling, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for less than 1 minute to soften.

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. we had lumps from our cheese and it came out fine. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Pass more cheese around the table.

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WORD(s) of ADVICE…

Ask your significant other for help. While your boiling and rendering fat, have someone else make the egg mixture.

Add the egg mixture while one person is moving the hot pasta around . This prevents the egg to sit and scramble.

Add the egg mixture in increments . This also helps prevent the egg to sit.

 

My Thoughts…

It was good. Not as good as the restaurant because my house lacks a fresh pasta maker. {hopefully this changes when the wedding comes around ;) }

Next time, I may use actual bacon for saltiness, and for that reason alone.

All of the ingredients combined make a light ‘creamy’ sauce. If you ever order this at a restaurant and they use CREAM to make it. Send it back and leave!

 

Hope you make this dish and enjoy it !

Recipe Courtesy of Food Network and Tyler Florence

Baked Penne

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Well HEY there! Didn’t think I would be posting again so quick eh? Tonight’s dinner was another new dish. We don’t eat a lot of pasta however I was drooling when I saw this dish. By looking at the photo, It reminds me much of baked ziti except this dish has a few twist and turns. Plus, I have really been wanting to use the Philadelphia Cooking Creme.

Source: plainchicken.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Baked Penne

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of ground beef or ground sausage
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
24oz Spaghetti sauce
1 tub of Philadelphia cooking creme ( Italian Cheese and Herb )
1 cup of mozzerella cheese, divided
3 cups cooked penne pasta ( 1 1/2 cups of dry pasta )

Brown your choice of meat with the chopped vegetables. Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 of cooking creme, and 1/2 cup mozzerella. Stir until mozzerella is melted ( 2-3 minutes ). Add your cooked pasta. Pour mixutre into a casserole dish. Top with remaining creme and mozzerella.Cover and bake for about 20 minutes ( uncover after 15 minutes ).

Voila..You have baked penne.

okay okay . . . so this dish is not my favorite, didnt really tickle my fancy. Its another EASY recipe. Great for on the go moms when they need to prep dinner prior to cooking them. Its also good for picky eaters, just remove everything they wont eat. Anyone can become very creative with this dish ( use meatballs, chicken, all veggies ). Try it! I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

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During our weekend, we came across an amazing baked pasta dish at a restaurant. We weren’t planning on eating at this place, but just to play our hole for the putt putt pub crawl. We grabbed a menu to find out what munchies they had and the waitress quickly recommended there Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese !

We have officially created a new food group in this household ; Anything Buffalo! I knew once we had our first bite, I HAD to make this. I searched high and low for the perfect recipe, however I could not find anything close to the this pasta dish……. Of course !

Pretty much all the recipes I came across made the mac and cheese portion like the back of any pasta box. We used the back of the Mueller’s pasta box!

8 ounces Mueller’s Elbow Macaroni
2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded American or Cheddar cheese, divided

In addition…
One rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup of favorite buffalo sauce ( and more)
1/2 cup of blue cheese or Gorgonzola
Shredded mozzarella ( topping )
Scallions ( topping )

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.

In medium saucepan, combine flour, salt, dry mustard & pepper in medium saucepan. Stir in milk until smooth. Add margarine, stirring constantly.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Add cooked pasta, buffalo sauce, blue cheese, and chicken.

Make sure you taste it and decide to add more buffalo sauce.

Pour into greased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and scallions.

Bake uncovered 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

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Picture Courtesy of google images !

Garlicky Breadcrumb Pasta

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Happy Tuesday Folks. I am already looking forward to the weekend. Here in Central Florida it is supposed rain for 4 days. Yipee… WE NEED IT SO BADLY… Especially when you have a newly sodded back yard :)

I finally started making some new recipes again. Tonight we had Garlicky Breadcrumb Pasta. You must be a GARLIC lover to enjoy this recipe. Its a simple, low ingredient recipe.

Garlicky Breadcrumb Pasta

  • 2/3 cup of breadcrumbs. I used Italian Breadcrumbs that I had in the cupboard already.
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided.
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced. I have the pre-minced garlic. About 1/2 tsp = 1 clove
  • 8 ounces uncooked linguine
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley This is the only ingredient I did not use
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt. I only used 1/4 because I was using the seasoned breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder - this was my addition to the recipe.

Directions:

  1. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Return pan to heat. Stir in breadcrumbs, and cook 6 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently.
  2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and oil; drain. Place pasta in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper; toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

As I was eating, I was thinking of a way to add UMPH to the dish. . . If this is to plain for you and your family, try adding grilled chicken or fresh sauteed veggies ( squash, zucchini, etc). Otherwise, it is perfect for picky eaters and vegetarians.

Recipe adapted from: My Recipes !