The flavors of a Pimento/Cheddar cheese spread work well in a traditional mac & cheese recipe. As a matter of fact, all of the added flavor from the roasted red peppers allowed me to use a smaller amount of cheese than I normally would.
Pimento Cheddar Mac & Cheese
makes 1 large casserole (8 servings)
1 box medium shell pasta, prepared al dente & 1 cup reserved pasta water
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 roasted red peppers, sliced thin with all seeds removed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 TBSP AP flour
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1 heaping cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2-3 tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup bread crumbs, fresh & coarsely ground, for topping
1/2 cup cheddar, grated, for topping
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Saute onions in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil until light gold. Add garlic and saute for another minute or two. Add salt & pepper. Sprinkle flour over the onion & garlic mixture and stir briefly. Slowly drizzle in the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add cheddar cheese. Stir until smooth. Add reserved pasta and stir gently to combine. Add pasta water, if needed.
Pour mixture into a large casserole dish. Top with sliced tomatoes. Using a food processor, combine 1/2 cup bread crumbs & 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Pulse for about 4 seconds. Top casserole with crumbs, as needed.
Bake for 45-55 minutes.
My goal was to create a slightly healthier breakfast treat by substituting oatmeal for most of the flour. The oatmeal created a very dense and moist bar that we both enjoyed. For me, the flavor is identical to a traditional crisp gingerbread man cookie. Considering how fast they are disappearing, I think I’ll have to add this to my cookie/bar rotation.
Molasses Spice Bars
makes 20 squares
2 cups steel cut oats
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp ginger, powdered
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grind the steel cut oats in a food processor to the texture of fine cornmeal. Pour oatmeal into a bowl and add the remaining dry ingredients. Stir vigorously with a fork. Add all of the wet ingredients and stir briefly to combine.
Pour into a buttered 8 x 8 inch square baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. For the nicest cut, let cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares.
My new Williams Sonoma Mauviel copper beating bowl
Will it make whipping egg whites easier? Egg whites whip up in about two minutes. How much easier could it be? Will it make them more stable? We’ll see. As soon as I can bring myself to scratch up the perfectly pristine surface of this lovely, shiny copper. I’ll do a little test or two.
To test its magical powers, I have to mar the surface and cover the glossy exterior with messy little finger prints. It seems a crime.
It will never be this pretty again.
Should I buy the polenta pot next?
A small bowl of fresh strawberries and a cocktail of creamy vanilla and praline liqueur make a nice substitute for dessert on those occasions when you’d like a little something special.
Creamy Vanilla & Praline Cocktail
1 ounce vanilla vodka
1/2 ounce praline liqueur
one whole fresh strawberry with stem removed, to garnish
Combine vodka and praline liqueur in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Pour into the cocktail glass of your choice and garnish with one whole berry. Serve with a small bowl of strawberries for nibbling.
My sweet & sarcastic husband: Aww… how pretty!
Me: Taste it. (He takes a sip.)
Him: Hmm… not bad.
Me: Eat a blueberry. (He eats a berry.)
Him: Mmm… Ok, I’d drink that.
Violette
1 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce vanilla vodka
2 TBSP Creme de Violette
4-5 blueberries, fresh berries placed in the freezer for 30 minutes
Combine vodka, vanilla vodka, and Creme de Violette in a shaker. Add ice. Shake. Pour into a martini glass and garnish with briefly frozen blueberries.
Cheers!
Of course, Ernest Hemingway created one of the most famous cocktails to include absinthe. He named his cocktail “Death in the Afternoon”. He says to make your cocktail: “Pour one jigger absinthe into a champagne glass. Add iced champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.” That’s certainly one way to spend an afternoon. But, since it was already well into the evening, we used a bit more restraint.
Absinthe
1 ounce Absinthe
3-5 ounces water
1 sugar cube or crystalized sugar stick
lemon wedge, to wet rim
super fine sugar, to garnish rim
I’ve added a lemon wedge to dampen the rim. Then, I dip the wet rim into the super fine sugar for an attractive garnish.
In the French method, the water would be drizzled ever-so-slowly & evenly over the sugar cube to your desired proportions.
(In the Bohemian method, fire is involved. This method is commonly called “Cooking the Absinthe” or the “Flaming Green Fairy”.)
No, these weren’t locally grown. But, I’m not about to walk by an 18 lb bag of perfectly fresh red (deep dark gorgeous red) grapefruit after tasting a sample that was sugary sweet & delicious. And, the icing on the cake? This 18 lb bag was $6.99. From a distance, we thought they were selling giant bags of blood oranges. But, on closer inspection, they were obviously grapefruit. Where did we find these gorgeous specimens? Kroger! Normally, we’re surprised to find acceptable produce at Kroger. This was a shock indeed. (We found these grapefruit at the LaVista & North Druid Hills Kroger.)
This Texas grapefruit combines the Rio Red and Star Ruby grapefruits to create one of the deepest red grapefruits available. (according to texassweet.com) According to the website, the flesh is 7-10 times redder than Ruby Red. Personally, I don’t know. I don’t have a Ruby Red to compare. But, they are a gorgeous shade of red and they are startlingly sweet. This bag is destined to be eaten, turned into marmalade, and much of the rind will be candied.
Hopefully, I’ll remember to take some pictures.
Is it possible to make ice cream without a maker? Definitely.
Most custard based ice creams can be made without an ice cream maker if you incorporate whipped cream (fresh heavy cream, whipped… not artificial whipped cream) into the recipe. If you make this recipe the day you plan to eat it, the texture is perfect. Not only does the whipped cream add tons of richness, it helps the ice cream freeze quickly. I made my batch at noon. And, it was ready for dessert that evening. The second day, you will probably need to let the ice cream sit at room temperature for a few minutes before scooping.
Hershey’s special dark cocoa is perfect for this recipe. The dark chocolate bitterness works perfectly with the crazy sweetness of sweetened condensed milk. (Also, I love this cocoa for making hot chocolate.) Now that I know this recipe works, I’ll be testing both Valrhona & Scharffen Berger cocoas in this recipe.
Oh yeah, by the way, this recipe is literally oozing calories. So, if you eat more than a small serving, make plans for an extra hour on the treadmill.
Super-Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
makes over 4 cups
(Servings? That’s between you and your treadmill.)
5 Tbsp Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
4 perfectly fresh egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
Combine the egg yolks, milk and cocoa in a stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl over gently simmering water and stir constantly while the eggs & milk thicken to a custardy consistence. Once, the custard thickens add the sweetened condensed milk. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and place the bowl in an ice bath.
Whip the heavy cream in a medium-sized stainless steel bowl. Slowly add the custard to the whipped cream, folding it gently. When the mixture is combined press a piece of plastic wrap lightly onto the surface of your mixture. Freeze. Serve in 6-8 hours.
Serve one small scoop with an Italian wafer cookie.
Right now, most of the tomatoes at the market are almost inedible. But, this dish is a good way to make the most out of a bad batch of tomatoes. This soup is extremely hearty and makes a perfect meal with a slice or two of rustic bread that you’ve toasted and drizzled with your favorite olive oil.
To Doctor a Bad Batch of Tomatoes:
Slice the tomatoes in half,drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper and roast them in the oven until the edges develop a bit of color. (Roast at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes.) Use your roasted tomatoes in a soup (below), stew, or sauce.
(Normally, I’d add a head of escarole to this dish just prior to serving. But, I didn’t have any on hand.)
Zuppa di Fagioli
serves 6-8
1 pork shank that has been sliced into 1″ pieces
1-2 hot italian sausages, removed from the casing
4-5 thick slices of pancetta
1 lb dried borlotti beans (Cannellini & Great Northern make nice substitutes)
1 large onion, diced
5-6 cloves garlic
2-3 stalks of celery, finely sliced
1 carrot, diced
6 tomatoes, roasted (as described above)
1 large can of high quality DOP tomatoes
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
black pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste
Rinse beans. Then place them in a large stock pot and cover with water. Boil the beans for about 10 minutes. Drain and repeat the process. Let the beans boil as you prep the rest of the ingredients.
While you boil the beans, fry the pancetta in another large stock pot. Fry until the pancetta achieves a dark golden brown color. Set the crisp pancetta slices aside and saute the onion in the rendered fat. Caramelize the onion to a light golden brown. Crumble the sausage meat and add it to the sauteing onions. Add the garlic, celery, and carrot. Saute for an additional 4-5 minutes.
Puree the roasted tomatoes with the can of whole DOP tomatoes in a food processor until smooth. Add the tomato mixture to the stock pot of sauteing vegetables. Drain the stock pot of beans and add them to the other stockpot with 2 cups of water. Add red and black pepper and bring the mixture back to a boil. Let the beans boil for another 15-20 minutes. Then, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour. Add the browned pancetta by crumbling it into the pot. Simmer for another 2 hours or until the beans and meat are tender.
Serve with thick slices of rustic bread that you’ve toasted. Then, drizzle with high quality olive oil. Sprinkle toast with finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano, if you like.
Strozzapreti & Maltagliati
Both of these pasta “shapes” take more than one form. Maltagliati refers to any misshapen or badly cut pasta form. Most frequently maltagliati is made by cutting hand rolled pasta into a variety of shapes. Wide strips, diamond shapes, triangular shapes or wedge shapes are common. But, flattened logs of dough can be thinly sliced to form what looks like a flattened cavatelli. I prefer the last of these alternatives because you can whip out a ton of pasta in no time. Whatever shape you choose, keep them uniform in size and thickness for even cooking.
Strozzapreti (or priest-chokers) also take on more than one form. Most varieties require hand rolled pasta cut into rectangular strips cut the length of your finger. Those strips are then either rolled & twisted or rolled & knotted. The rolling doesn’t create a log of pasta… it creates a thin sheet that is wrapped around itself. The nooks and crannies you create make nice pockets to catch & hold the sauce. In my family’s neck of the woods (the Campania region), this would be a hearty ragu.
Strozzapreti
makes 4-6 servings
2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon melted lard (I substituted a drizzle of olive oil this time)
Combine AP flour and semolina in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs, egg yolk, and lard (or olive oil). Stir to form a ball. Then, turn the dough out onto a large wooden board and knead until a smooth elastic ball forms (3-5 minutes). Shape the dough into a flattened rectangle and wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for at least 45 minutes.
Cut the dough into four squares and roll the first piece with a rolling pin to form a thin sheet. Cut that sheet into strips and then cut those strips into finger-sized rectangles. Take one rectangle and place it in the palm of your hand. Use your other palm to roll the piece of dough into a rough cylinder. Then, give it twist and set aside on a wooden cutting board to dry. Repeat the process with all of your dough.
Maltagliati
Leftover scraps can be cut into strips, diamonds, and triangles. Or, the last square can be rolled into a log, flattened and sliced into thin roughly oval (actually more like half-moon) shapes.
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