Cousin Sarah's Famous Mac and Cheese

My cousin Sarah is an excellent cook.  She taught me her wonderful macaroni recipe a few years ago, and as my friends could tell you, it's become a tad famous.  I'm actually a little appalled I haven't put it on the blog yet.  Anyways, the other day I was with some friends and one of them (Zoe) told me how much she missed and was craving my mac and cheese.  Well that convinced me.  It was time for a macaroni night!  So I gathered some friends, and together we demolished the mac and cheese!

Cousin Sarah's Famous Mac and Cheese

1 (8oz) package of fusilli or spiral noodle (it holds the cheese better than elbow)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups good quality shredded cheddar cheese (I think I used 4 cups, whoops)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 onion, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Cook and drain noodles according to package directions; set aside.

3)  In a large saucepan, melt butter and saute onion, until fragrant an translucent. Add flour, salt, and pepper, using a whisk to stir until blended.

4) Pour milk and cream in gradually, stirring constantly.  Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly). Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.

5) Add shredded cheese little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

6) Add noodles to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.  Transfer the macaroni to a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

7) Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

8) Try to stop yourself from eating the whole thing.

This picture doesn't do it justice!  This is one of those meals that you have to force yourself to stop, otherwise you'll catch yourself stealing noodles off someone's plate (sorry Kirsten).  Thank you Zoe, Nick, Erin, Leah, Kirsten, and Sophie for sharing this wonderful meal with me!  And thank you Sarah for teaching me to make it how ever many years ago!

I'm bored. Time to make cookies!

I finished my homework (well most of it), and decided to improvise some cookies.  I found a recipe for Toffee Crunch cookies on Food Network and decided to mess with it!  Instead of toffee candy bits, I made homemade toffee and swirled it in.  Oh, and I added rum.  I don't know why.  It just sounded like a good idea.

Rum-Toffee Cookies

1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Toffee (recipe follows)
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Toffee

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla.  Beat the egg slightly and add to butter mixture; mix well.  Sift flour, salt, and baking soda, then slowly add to the mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  Mix in the oatmeal and almonds.  Put in fridge or freezer to chill while toffee is made.

3) Melt the butter over medium heat.  Once melted, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.  Allow it cook (it may bubble, that's okay), stirring occasionally.  It may seem that the ingredients are not incorporated, I waited until it was a rich caramel color and then added the cream; stir.  The cream allowed the butter and sugar to combine.  Take the toffee off the heat and allow to cool.

4) Stir the still slightly warm toffee into the chilled dough.  Drop in teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Well that was interesting, in the sense that it didn't quite work.  The cookies were incredibly flat and kind of formed one large mega cookie.  I also didn't follow my own advice and used foil, which the cookies stuck to. One the left are a few of the pretty ones.  But you know, they may be a bit funky but they taste great! 

Quinoa Mac and Cheese

Finals week is wrapping up, marking the end to another gloomy winter quarter.  To celebrate, I had a couple of friends, Laura and Andrea, over for dinner.  Last week, during the a dreadful dead week, they had me over for dinner, and it was the bomb dot com.  I wanted to reciprocate and had I recently found a recipe for quinoa mac and cheese on pinterest, and I knew I had to try it!

Quinoa Mac and Cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium leek, halved and sliced
1/2 cauliflower head, cut into florets
1 small sweet potato, cut into small chunks
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
Salt
a few grinds of seasoning salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs
1 cup milk of your choice
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Bread crumbs for topping
Any optional toppings

1) Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the vegetables; cover and cook for five minutes, or until tender.  Stir in the quinoa and garlic.  Cook uncovered another three to four minutes (or until the grains are opaque).

2) Add three cups of water and season with salt and seasoning salt.  Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer five to ten minutes more, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Remove from heat and let sit for five minutes.

3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat 13 x 9 inch dish with cooking spray.  Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl.  Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese.  Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt.  Transfer to prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs.  Bake 30-35 minutes (or until edges are browned).

I had no idea what this was going to taste like, but it turned out pretty dang good! The picture certainly doesn't do it justice.  Thank you Laura and Andrea!

Parmesan Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries

I had an interesting experience this week.  I was at Haggen (the local grocery store chain) and looking at the meat section.  If you read my blog (so probably just my mom, hi mom), you know I don't cook meat very often. It can be expensive, it can be messy, so I just don't deal with it.  However, in the meat display case, was a chicken breast coated with parmesan and mozzarella and it looked really good.  Imagine my horror when I cooked it, cut it open, and discovered tomatoes hidden inside, nestled between the cheesy breading and the chicken breast.  Well, I tried to scrape off the offending red stuff, but those sneaky tomatoes still gave me heartburn.

I was disappointed in the Haggen chicken, and I wanted to experience parmesan crusted chicken without the icky, hidden tomatoes.  I had my close friend, Roland, over for dinner last night, and we improvised a recipe.  Man-oh-man, do I wish there were leftovers, but there's not because it was just that delicious.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
Grated Parmesan
Oregano
Garlic powder
Thyme
Olive Oil
2 eggs

1) Using a meat pounder or rolling pin, pound the chicken breast flat.

2) Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside.  Combine the bread crumbs, liberal amounts of parmesan, and oregano, garlic powder, and thyme to taste.  (Add as much or as little as you'd like.  I think Roland added more parmesan every time my back was turned.)

3) Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add the chicken (one breast at a time, no need to crowd the pan) and allow to cook until dark golden brown on each side.  Always remember to cut open the chicken to look for pink spots.

In addition to the chicken, I also made some sweet potato fries and a salad.

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

2 small sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan

1) Peel the potatoes and cut into wedges or sticks.  Put the sliced potatoes into a large ziplock bag.

2) Add about a tablespoon of oil, a healthy pinch of salt, and pepper to taste in the bag.  Close the bag and shake to evenly disperse and coat the potatoes.

3) Place the potatoes spaced out a foil lined pan.  Sprinkle parmesan on top.  Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, flip the potatoes over and put back in for another 15.

This was an incredibly delicious meal, and I thank Roland for helping me make and eat it!

Oven Baked Parmesan Risotto

I think risotto is one of the most delicious foods ever.  I've tried making it a couple of times, and I discovered something. I hate making it.  I absolutely loathe it.  You have to constantly stir it and time things just right and it burns super easily.  So I was ecstatic when I stumbled upon a recipe for oven baked Parmesan risotto from the blog Once Upon a Plate.  It doesn't require constant stirring!  I am home for winter break, and I wanted to cook dinner for my parents.  I thought this would be a great recipe for my dad to come home to after a long commute!  I ended up improvising a little. We didn't have chicken broth, so I used turkey broth.  I also added chanterelle mushrooms, which may or may not have been a good decision.

Oven Baked Parmesan Risotto

1 1/2 cups arborio or other short-grained rice suitable for risotto
3 cups chicken broth (or turkey broth)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese or parmigiano reggiano
1 1/2 ounces butter
salt and pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) In an oven-proof pot with a tight fitting lid, add the chicken stock and stir in the rice.

3) Cover tightly with foil and/or lid and place in oven.  Bake for 45 minutes or until liquid is almost all absorbed and rice is al dente.  (Check to make sure the broth is boiling, otherwise it will take longer to cook).

4) Remove from oven.  Stir in the Parmesan and butter until creamy, and season with salt and pepper.  Add more broth is the risotto is too thick.

For some reason, the risotto didn't start cooking for a long time.  But an extra 20 minutes later, it was delicious and my parent's loved it!

3rd Annual Latke Dinner

For the past two years, Chanukah has been so early that I wasn't able to celebrate it with my family.  In lieu of being with my family and eating my mom's delicious latkes, I started my own tradition of cooking this customary Chanukah recipe for my friends up at school.  Even though Chanukah is at a reasonable time this year, I've really enjoyed this yearly shin-dig and have decided to continue my new tradition! So put on your yarmulke, it's time for Chanukah...I hope I don't burn my apartment down.

Latkes

6 large potatoes (about 3 pounds)*
2 yellow onions
4 eggs
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup flour
Peanut oil
*frozen shredded potatoes (hashbrowns) works just as well

1) Shred potatoes into a bowl of water (to help prevent browning).  Let them sit for a while, then drain well, keeping the starch at the bottom of the bowl.  Squeeze as much water out as possible.

2) Shred onions and add them to potatoes along with beaten eggs, salt/pepper, and flour.  Blend well.

3) Fry in hot oil.  If they fall apart, add more flour.

It tasted like home!  I am so thankful for the friends who came and ate my latkes! I also made some vegan latkes for one of my friends.  They were delicious too!

Pickling Adventure

There's an older lady whom I volunteer with at the hospital.  If you know me, then you've probably heard some of my crazy Carolyn stories.  Well despite some of her...faults, Carolyn is a sweet lady.  Maybe a little too sweet?  Last night she gave me approximately five pounds of cucumbers and a large dill plant.  I wish I was exaggerating.  Given the large amount of cucumbers I suddenly have, I figured it was time to try pickling again.  I say again because as a child, I would pickle the little cucumbers we grew in our vegetable garden. However, my mom later revealed that it had never worked, so she fed me store bought pickles and let me think I was the next Martha Stewart.  I found a pretty simple recipe for refrigerator dill pickles on cooks.com and, thus began the adventure.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles
6 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cups canning salt (or 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon kosher salt)
pickling cucumbers
1 large bunch of fresh dill weed
1 large onion
2 or 3 whole cloves (I'm a rebel so I used 3)
Sliced garlic (2 teaspoons or whatever you feel like)

1) Combine water, vinegar, and salt in a large pot (if the pot is non-stick, make sure there are no cracks). Bring to a boil to make the pickling solution.

2) Wash the cucumbers.  Layer whole, unpeeled cucumbers, onion, cloves, garlic, and dill in jar.  Pour the pickling solution over the top.  Let the jars sit on the counter for 3 or 4 hours.

3) Refrigerate. They will be ready in 2 to 4 days.

One of many jars immediately after pickling. I will update in 2 to 4 days!