Another Mac and Cheese

Okay, so I had a craving for mac and cheese. Guess that means Thursday's event was a success.

I used up all my noodles on this.

I started with a saucepan:
- two tablespoons butter
- about 2 cups garden fresh tomatoes, diced
- 3/4 teaspoon four color organic pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
cook until bubbly.
I added:
- one crumbled Morningstar breakfast patty
cooked a while.
Added:
- 1 cup heavy cream
Simmered. after five minutes simmering I added
- I cup milk.
Meanwhile, I layered broccoli in the bottom of the casserole dish, and topped with the noodles.
Brought the milk base to a boil as the oven preheated to 325.
Removed milk from heat and added:
- About 2 ounces mozzarella
- About 3 ounces extra sharp provolone
- About 2 ounces vermont cheddar
- About 2 ounces smoked gouda
Once melted and combined I mixed the pasta and broccoli with the sauce and stuck about 1 ounce worth of mozzarella chunks between noodles. It's in the oven now for a half hour.

Exotic Mac and Cheese

Why do I always have dinner parties on the hottest days of the year?

I have guests coming tonight for the mac and cheese party, but due to some confusion and some scheduling upheaval, I appear to be the only one cooking. I made about 4 quarts of mac and cheese. 2 varieties. One rather plain and French/ croque monsieur inspired. The other artery-clogging and Italian-inspired.

Neither are cheap.

The French-inspired Mac and Cheese

mixed in saucepan, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes:
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon four color organic fresh ground pepper
Once bubbly, add
- 2 tablespoons flour, still and heat until bubbly
Warm separately
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
Add to the butter base and heat to boiling.
Remove from heat and add
- 1/3 pound shredded gruyere
- 1/4 pound smoked gouda, grated or chopped
Stir and add to noodles. Bake in oven as you would with normal mac and cheese.

The Italian-inspired mac and cheese

- Two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- one teaspoon garlic powder
- about 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
- about 8 leaves fresh basil, chopped
cook until fragrant and sizzling and add
- two tablespoons flour
cook a few moments and add
- about 1 cup diced proscuitto (spelling?)
- about six pepperonis, diced
when the meat seems glossy and done, add
- 2 cups milk
slowly bring to a boil
remove from heat and add
- about 6 ounces extra sharp provolone, chopped
- about 2 ounces mozzerrella
Combine with noodles
Top with chunks of mozzerella
Add pepperonis.
Bake.

How to make basic mac and cheese, according to Betty Crocker:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/06/spinach-herb-apple-meatloaf-and-simple.html

Apple Crisp Bread Pudding

This is a recipe from Ginger Creek Cooking School if I remember correctly... Again, I typed the recipe for a friend looking for bread pudding recipes. I haven't made it in years.

• 4 apples, peeled and cored
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup brandy or 1 Tablespoon good quality extract
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 16 ounces of soft French or Italian bread
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

Thinly slice the apples. Melt butter in large skillet. Add apples and remaining ingredients except bread and sugar. Toss the apples six to eight minutes to soften slightly.

Slice bread about 1/2 inch thick and no larger than three inches in diameter. Butter an 11 x 13 baking dish and sprinkle with the sugar. Layer half the bread, then the apples. Repeat and set aside.

Custard:

• 6 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 2.5 cups light cream, whole milk, or no-fat cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk together all ingredients. Pour evenly over the apples/bread. With back of spoon, press down so the bread absorbs the custard. Sprinkle with crumb mixture.

Crumbs:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine all ingredients until they're a coarse crumb texture. Sprinkle onto bread pudding. Place bread pudding in preheated 350 degree oven. Bake about 40 minutes until 'just set.' Serve warm.

Yield: 12 servings

Spinach Rigatoni with Garden Vegetable Sauce & Gruyère

I made spinach rigatoni from Aldi tonight. I like the spinach rigatoni from Aldi. It's $3.99 for the bag, and the bag feeds the family with some leftovers, especially when I doctor it.

The bag supposedly feeds three. Because of all the cheese, they are high in saturated fat, but they are also high in protein and nutrients. I don't use the seasoning packet so that may reduce the sodium significantly. I don't know.

But one serving of just the pasta has 19 g protein, 5% RDA Vitamin A, 35% RDA calcium, and 15% RDA Iron.

And tonight I made this funky sauce:

• 1/4 cup leftover crôque monsieur sauce
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup shredded gruyère
  
• 2 teaspoons butter
• one teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup diced tomato from the garden
• 4 basil leaves from the garden
• One handful parsley from the garden
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives (from the garden)

I melted the butter, added the cornstarch and whisked until combined. I added the crôque monsieur sauce, the cheese and the heavy cream. Once combined, I added the herbs and the tomato. I cooked until bubbly.

When the noodles were done, I poured the sauce over the noodles in a big pot. Then I added:

• 3/4 cup finely chopped fresh broccoli, cooked
• 1 cup peas, cooked
• 1 shredded morningstar vegetarian chicken finger

And that was dinner.