Macaroni and Cheese

The perfect comfort food! This is Martha’s recipe via Food 52′s blog. If you haven’t gone to this blog before, check it out. It is chock full of fabulous recipes! I omitted the bread crust as I did not want it! Feel free to do the same, or not!

Serves 12

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
• 6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn or diced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
• 5 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 4 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)
• 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces) or 1 1/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 5 ounces)
• 1 pound elbow macaroni (or other small pasta shape)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter (alternately, melt butter in the microwave). Pour butter into bowl with bread, and toss. Set breadcrumbs aside. Pull out 1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar, and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and reserve.
2. Fill a large pot with water; bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer’s directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. In the same pot you used for boiling the pasta, melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute.
4. While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.
5. Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup Pecorino Romano. Stir reserved macaroni into the cheese sauce.
6. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and breadcrumbs over top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. If after 30 minutes, it’s not browned to your liking, broil the topping rather than leaving it in the oven, which may cause the pasta to overcook and sauce to dry out. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes; serve hot.

Fennel Compote with tomatoes and olives

This recipe is from the NY Times and really simple and delicious. The author suggests to serve it on fish, however, I served it on pasta and it was wonderful

 

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 bulb fennel (or 2 smaller ones), trimmed and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 6 plum tomatoes, chopped (canned are fine, but drain excess liquid)
• 1/2 cup big, plump olives, green or black or a combination, preferably unpitted
• 1/4 cup capers, optional
• 4 servings cooked fish, optional
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

PREPARATION

1.

Put the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel and some salt and pepper, and without browning (adjust the heat as necessary), cook it down, stirring occasionally, until it’s quite soft, about 20 minutes. Add the thyme and garlic, and cook 1 minute, stirring.

2.

Add the tomatoes, olives and capers, raise the heat a bit, and cook until the mixture is saucy, about 15 minutes. Serve as a side dish or top with a portion of cooked fish. Garnish with parsley.

YIELD

4 servings

Quinoa Tabbouleh

A fabulous new restaurant opened in Denver called True Food and the cookbook is full of great recipes. I am a huge fan of quinoa and this is a delicious fall salad with beets, pomegranates and marcona almonds

 

1# beets

1-2 cups red quinoa (depending on how much quinoa you like)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, mashed and minced

1/2 t. salt

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

3 scallions, chopped

2 oz. arugula

1/2 pomegranate, seeds removed and reserved

1/4 cup chopped Marcona almonds (or any almond-Marcona are crispy)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse beets and wrap in foil, bake for one hour, until easily pierced with a knife. Cool, peel and dice and set aside.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add rinsed and drained quinoa and simmer, covered for 20 minutes, until the quinoa is dry and fluffy. Cool.

In a salad bowl, whisk the oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes. Add the beets, quinoa, parsley, mint, scallions and arugula and toss well to combine. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and almonds.

 

Scalloped Oysters

I have only a few recipes from my grandmother in her handwriting. She was a wonderful cook and I wish I had spent time cooking with her. This was always on our Thanksgiving table and I continue the tradition. Serves 10 easily!

1 pint of fresh oysters

2 T.+ oyster liquor

2 T. milk or cream

1/2 cup melted butter (the recipe says or oleo but I don’t use oleo)

1/2 cup + saltine cracker crumbs

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix cracker and bread crumbs (some recipes use all cracker crumbs) with melted butter. Butter a shallow 8″ square baking dish. Sprinkle a few crumbs and then a layer of oysters. Season with salt and pepper and moisten with oyster liquor and cream. Add one more layer of crumbs, oysters, cream and top with remaining crumbs. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes. Never use more than two layers as the middle layer will not get cooked.

 

Perfect Rice

My husband can make the perfect rice-every time! I struggle but have recently found the  answer from Saveur magazine’s recipes. It works for any kind of rice-brown, basmati, jasmine-short grain or long grain. Makes 2 cups

Rinse 1 cup of rice for 30 seconds, drain.

Bring 12 cups of water to a boil. Add rice, stir once and cook uncovered for 30 minutes

Pour rice into a strainer in a sink, let drain 10 seconds. Return to pan and cover with a tight fitting lid for 10 minutes, no heat. Uncover, fluff and season!

Spicy Quinoa, Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This recipe comes from Martha Rose Shulman who writes a weekly column in the NY Times Health section under Fitness. Her recipes are amazing! This is a wonderful easy recipe using quinoa, which I really love.

1 cup quinoa

3 cups water

Salt to taste

2 cups diced cucumber

1 small red onion, finely minced (optional)

2 cups finely diced tomatoes

1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers (to taste), seeded if desired and finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus several sprigs for garnish

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 avocado, sliced, for garnish

1. Place the quinoa in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes. Drain through a strainer, and rinse until the water runs clear. Bring the 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add salt (1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon) and the quinoa. Bring back to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and translucent; each grain should have a little thread. Drain off the water in the pan through a strainer, and return the quinoa to the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dishtowel, replace the lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes. If making for the freezer, uncover and allow to cool, then place in plastic bags. Flatten the bags and seal.

2. Meanwhile, place the finely diced cucumber in a colander, and sprinkle with salt. Toss and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Rinse the cucumber with cold water, and drain on paper towels. If using the onion, place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and drain on paper towels.

3. Combine the tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, vinegar, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Add the cucumber and onion, season to taste with salt, and add the quinoa and cilantro. Toss together, and taste and adjust seasonings. Serve garnished with sliced avocado and cilantro sprigs.

Yield: Serves six.

Savory Cornbread muffins

If you don’t know about Martha Rose Shulman who writes for the NY Times in the Health section, specifically Fitness, you will be happy to find her. She is the most prolific recipe writer I have ever read. I read her column weekly and it is always full of great recipes. I had been craving corn muffins and decided in the dark of the early morning to make these and they are just what I wanted!

1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferable organic stone-ground

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

3/4 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 T. finely chopped fresh sage or 1 t. rubbed sage (I omitted as I don’t like sage)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 T. honey

1 cup corn kernals

2 T. minced jalapenos, or serrano chiles

1/2 cup grated cheddar or jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil or butter 12 muffin tins.

 

Place cornmeal in a bowl and sift in the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in the sage. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk, oil and honey. Whisk or stir the cornmeal mixture into the liquid mixture. Do not beat. A few lumps are fine, make sure there is no flour on the bottom of the bowl. Fold in the corn, minced jalapeno and cheese. Spoon into muffin cups, filling just below the top. Bake 20 -25 minutes until lightly browned.