Mac & Cheese(ball)

So the other day my better half finally let me make her Mac & Cheese from scratch.  As a true loyal subject of the blue box Mac & Cheese this was a big step for her.  We have been taking packed foods out of our diet to have less chemicals and preservatives in our diet.  It has been working well for us.  The only thing she requested was that it taste like the cheese ball I make.  WOW not much of a challenge there!  we had it the next day for dinner.

INGREDIENTS

16 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces of bleu cheese crumbles
8 oz cream cheese
1T minced garlic
1T green Tabasco sauce
1T red Tabasco sauce
16 ounces heavy cream
1 pound of dry elbow macaroni (or other shape you prefer)

4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pasta as instructed on packaging.

While pasta is boiling, place heavy cream, cream cheese, 16 oz of shredded cheddar, bleu cheese, garlic and Tabasco sauces in a pan over medium low heat.  Stir the cheese mixture while it melts.

Once pasta is cooked, drain the water and add to the cheese sauce and mix thoroughly.  

Place the pasta and cheese sauce mixture into a baking pan.  top with the remaining shredded cheddar and bake in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes.

 

Antipasto Pasta Salad

I know!  It has been a while since I have had a chance to post anything new.  Life gets that way sometimes.

I started a new job and we had a going away party for one of the team.  I asked what they needed to fill in the meal.  I was asked to bring a pasta salad.  So off to the internet I went in search of ideas.  I got some ideas and then set to paper what I needed.  I knew I wanted it to be an antipasto type of pasta salad, and I like the color the tri color pasta brings.  Here is what I came up with.

With the holiday weekend upon us, this will go great with your BBQ’s and fireworks!

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tri color pasta
• 1/4 pound Genoa salami, chopped
• 1/4 pound pepperoni sausage, chopped
• 1/2 pound Asiago cheese, diced
• 1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 16 oz can artichoke hearts packed in water, sliced
• 1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style

Salad dressing mix

• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, pepperoni, Asiago cheese, black olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and artichoke hearts. Stir in the envelope of dressing mix. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

To prepare the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad, and mix well.

Have some fun with this!  You can garnish with sliced or diced Roma tomatoes, or add some of your favorite Italian ingredients.  Remember fresh ingredients for the parsley and oregano, dried will not deliver the same flavor.  

Building Nachos

So, post thanksgiving.  Lots of leftover turkey.  We have repeated the meal and had countless sandwiches.  Time to play in the kitchen and have some fun with the leftover turkey.

What better for lunch on a lazy Saturday than nachos?  I cut up some dark meat and white meat.  In a saute pan I put lemon juice, lime juice, trader Joe’s enchilada sauce, the cut up turkey and some diced green chiles.  I put that on medium heat and mixed it all together.

While that was heating up I laid out the chips on a pizza pan and coated them with refried beans.

I cooked the meat mixture until most of the liquid was gone and had flavored the meat.  Then i took it off the stove and spooned it onto each chip.

Top with Pepper Jack and Cheddar cheeses and you are ready to put it under the broiler.

I placed this under the broiler in my oven for just a few minutes.  just long enough for the cheese to melt and turn lightly golden on top.  I then transfer them to a plate and add some dipping sauce.  On this day I went with a sour cream salsa mixture.

I have been making nachos like this for years, each chip individually stacked with all the ingredients.  I like them better this way, less messy than a pile of chips with all the ingredients piled on top.  And you get every ingredient on every chip!

Baby Back Rib Hash!

I have been told I have not been posting enough lately.  I apologize, we have been entertaining a variety of friends and family and I have not had time to sit and write.

Last weekend we had a potluck with friends.  The theme was BBQ.  I have a rather large grill and a pool, it was in the 110+ degree range, so we hosted.  Well, we were left with a bunch of baby back ribs.  I love some ribs, but wow we had a lot.  So, after a few nights of leftovers I decided I needed to mix it up a bit.  I mean, really, these are baby back ribs, I could not let them go to waste.  I also had some leftover boiled potatoes from making the potato salad and my mind immediately went to making a hash.

Now before you ask why I am writing about making hash let me tell you this was a request.  Yes I take requests, challenges and the occasional dare.  I was telling a friend how good this was and he asked if I would post it on my blog.  Seriously???? Hash????  Diced potatoes, and whatever other ingredients strike your fancy sauteed up in a pan together?????  I guess there is only one way to explain his request.  He is an attorney.

So I grabbed a cutting board and my knife and set to it.  I diced the boiled potatoes and set them aside in a bowl.  Now, you may ask why I used boiled potatoes.  Well, good question.  First, I already had them.  Second, they are already cooked, so it will be faster to just dice them and brown them in a pan.  That being said, Had i not had them already boiled, I would have just peeled and diced some potatoes and cooked them in the fry pan, it just would have taken a bit more time.  I don’t like to waste food that I can use and it saved me time after a long day at work.

I then went after the meat from the ribs.  I started with a boning knife but found it easier to pull the meat away from the bone with my hands.  After getting all the usable meat, I placed it in a bowl as well.

I took out my large teflon coated fry pan, turned on the heat to medium high and dropped in some margarine in to melt.  Once it was melted I added in the potatoes.  While the potatoes cooked I put more BBQ sauce on the meat and mixed it up.  I added some salt and pepper to the potatoes and stirred them up.

Once the potatoes were browned, I added in the meat.  Now, usually this dish is mostly potatoes, but these are BBQ Baby Back Ribs! so my meat to potato ratio was heavier on the meat side.  I mixed up the meat and potatoes to get a nice even distribution of ingredients and continued to cook until the meat was heated throughout.

Once it was well heated, this was ready to eat!  Place it in a bowl and dig in!  Of course, what goes with BBQ?  I served it with a side of watermelon.

Easter Brunch = Flambe Pan Perdu

We had a house guest over the weekend.  This guest is one of our many friends who are foodies.  She loves Las Vegas not only for the gaming, but because she enjoys all the dining options.  I knew she was coming into town so I wanted to make something nice for Easter Brunch.  Last time she was here I wowed her with lemon crepes.  This time it would be the only meal I cooked during her visit, so I went to the vault.  I pulled out a recipe from my alumni association magazine.  Dr. Jerry Chesser, FMP, AAC is an instructor at the Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona.  I get the magazine they publish twice yearly because, well, they know how to find me.  In the fall of 2008 issue there is his recipe for flambe Pan Purdu which I describe as the Louisiana way of making french toast.  If you know me, then you know I like to cook with alcohol and flame it up!  ALL OF THIS RECIPE IS DR. JERRY CHESSER’S.  The only change I made was to use a loaf of french bread from Trader Joe’s because, well, it smelled really good and they were out of Baguettes.

There are three parts to this recipe, the whipped cream which you make and refrigerate, the Pan Perdu and then the syrup. First you need to make the whipped cream:

Whipped Cream

Yield: 9 oz.

8 oz. cream, heavy

dash salt

1/8 cup sugar,powdered

1 oz.Whiskey (Jack Daniels if available)

1. Place cream in well-chilled mixing bowl

with well-chilled whip, and whip on high

until soft peaks form

2. Add salt and powdered sugar

3. Add whiskey

4. Whip until slightly stiff peaks form

5. Remove and store in refrigerator

Dr. Jerry Chesser’s Picture:

Pan Perdú

Yield: 4-5 servings

8-10 baguette slices

1 egg, large

dash salt

1/4 cup sugar,granulated

1/2 cup cream, heavy

pinch cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter, clarified

1. Place egg, salt and sugar in mixing bowl

and whisk well

2. Add heavy cream, cinnamon and nutmeg

blending well

3. Place baguette slices in custard mixture

4. Heat butter to just below smoke point

5. Place baguette slices in hot butter and

cook until golden on both sides

6. Remove to plate lined with absorbent

paper

I need to add a warning to this next section.  When doing a flambe be very careful! You are lighting the alcohol in the pan on FIRE.  Be sure that you do not put in too much and that there is room for flames above your stove!  If not then do not flambe the dish, just cook it until the alcohol cooks out, the syrup will have a nice flavor.

Pan Perdú with Grand Marnier Syrup

Yield: 4-5 servings

1/2 to 1 tangerine/orange

1 oz. butter, clarified

1/8 cup sugar,granulated

8-10 Pan Perdú slices (see Pan Perdú recipe)

1/4 cup Grand Marnier

1. Cover tangerine/orange halves with

cheesecloth

2. Melt butter in small fry pan

3. Add sugar and cook slightly to begin

melting

4. Squeeze the juice from tangerine/orange

into mixture, stirring constantly

5. Place Pan Perdú slices in pan, basting

with syrup

6. Add Grand Marnier and flame, continuing

to baste Pan Perdú slices

7. Remove slices to serving dish

8. Serve with whipped cream

After plating the Pan Perdu, I like to spoon the extra syrup in the pan over it.  I served it with some breakfast sausage and sliced melon.  It makes a great meal!

Cubano Style Sandwich

Well this post is long overdue!

We had a Superbowl party.  And by Superbowl party I mean an excuse to have friends over and do some cooking.  I had the standard requests for stuff I have posted here previously, and did all that.  But, I also like to have something from where the game is being played.  In this case Miami.  Miami has a large Cuban population, so my mojitos made by the pitcher were served.  But one of the most popular items is the Cubano sandwich.  I went online and found that everyone makes it their own way.  With that in mind I decided to have my own go at this popular sandwich.

So first, I roasted a pork loin.  I did this the day before the game.  I rubbed it with a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  I placed it in a baking dish and added 1 can of beef broth.  Then i took frozen ginger root and grated it over the top.  I roasted this in a 350 degree oven until it was 160 degree inside.  I took it out of the oven and let it cool a bit, then I removed it from the baking dish, put it in a ziplock back and placed it in the refrigerator.

I went to the store and got fresh baked Italian Ciabatta, I do not have a local Cuban bakery so this would substitute for Cuban bread.  Then I picked up Gruyere cheese, dill pickles (stackers) and some Guldens Brown Mustard.

Before our guests started arriving, I sliced the cold pork loin as thin as I could by hand.  I sliced the bread lengthwise and spread mustard on both sides. Then, using a cheese pull, I sliced the cheese into strips.  Now I was ready to build the sandwich.

I assembled the sandwich in this order from the bottom:

• Bottom piece of bread with mustard on it
• Sliced roasted pork loin, chilled
• Stackers dill pickles
• Sliced gruyere cheese
• Top piece of bread with mustard on it

Here is the end product:

Just slice this sandwich up into serving sizes and enjoy.  We sure enjoyed it!

We ended up eating 1 and a half of these during the game, and the leftovers did not make it through the week.

And for those of you wondering a traditional Cubano sandwich is on Cuban bread, is sliced ham and sliced roasted pork with mustard, swiss cheese and pickles.  I saw recipes with melted mozzarella, a variety of breads, etc.  So I just left the ham out, upgraded the cheese, made sure to use a mustard that would stand up to the other ingredients, and went with the best bread I could find locally.  It was great.

Sweet Potato Muffins

So I make these muffins using sweet potatoes with a brown sugar topping.  I take a bread recipe and blend it with my sweet potato pie recipe and boom muffins!  Well many people have been asking for the recipe, including the Mom-In-Law.  how do you deny the Mom-In-Law?  So today I went about making these and writing it down so I could share it.  It is better that I write it down, I mean my memory is not going to be getting any better!

Ingredients:

1 Cup white sugar
1/2 Cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 Cup sour milk  (1/2 Cup milk + 1  t.  vinegar)
1 Tablespoon baking soda
2 Cup flour
1 1/2 Cup Mashed roasted Sweet Potato
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

TOPPING:
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

Instructions:

Pierce potatoes with fork. Cook in microwave on high until tender, about 6 minutes per side.  Cut open; cool completely.  Scrape potato flesh into bowl; mash until smooth.  Measure enough potato puree to equal 1 1/2 cups.

An alternate method is to oven roast the potatoes until tender, then peel, scrape and mash.

Cream sugar and shortening, beat in eggs.

Add mashed sweet potato.  Mix until incorporated.

Add sour milk and baking soda alternately with flour.

Pour batter into lined muffin pan. I use a ladle to make this easier.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

Sprinkle top of muffins with topping mixture prior to putting in the oven.

Bake at 350° F. for 25 minutes.  Test by inserting a clean toothpick into a muffin, if the toothpick comes out clean they are done, if not cook for additional 5 minutes and test again.

These have been an instant favorite.  Great as a breakfast muffin or dessert muffin.

Inspired by a sandwich

Locally here in Las Vegas is a chain of sandwich shops that serves a sandwich they call “The Bobbie”.  This sandwich is very close to the Thanksgiving leftover sandwich my wife would make me.  Theirs has turkey, stuffing and cranberry.  My wife made me a sandwich with turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry.  I thought hmmmm, I wonder how this would all taste in a pot pie.  I obsessed on it.  I talked about it.  I am sure my coworkers are sick of hearing about it!

So today I set forth to find out.  Armed with leftover white and dark meat turkey, leftover mashed potatoes, leftover stuffing and leftover cranberry sauce (this was no store bought sauce out of a can it was — Cranberries boiled in simple syrup – water and sugar).  I was out of leftover gravy, but had plenty of turkey stock since I used all 3 turkey carcasses to make stock.  I made a quick gravy and set to it.

First the crusts needed to be made.  To make the pot pie crust, you can buy small disposable pie tins in the grocery store.  I use this recipe from Ina Garten on the Food Network for the crust. I roll the dough thin, line the tin and cut away the excess dough.

Then the layering begins.  First a layer of mashed potatoes.

Next a layer of gravy.

I added some fresh cracked pepper onto the gravy, then added the turkey layer.

I fried a turkey, roasted one in the oven and due to oven constraints roasted one in the gas BBQ.  This is leftover roasted white meat and leftover fried dark meat.  On top of that goes the stuffing.  My Mother-in-law makes a killer sage stuffing.  Nothing fancy but really good.  I put that on top.

And the last item before closing it up, the cranberry sauce that my Wife made.

Time for that top crust.  I wet the exposed crust in the tin before putting the top on so that the 2 pieces of dough will seal to keep the juices in.  Then I coat the top with egg wash, some sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.

I cut a slit in the top for a vent, and put on a pan just in case it spills over.  These go into an oven that is preheated to 350 degrees.  They will be in there for about an hour.  you will know they are done when the crust is a golden brown.

As you can see a bit of cranberry leaked out of the vent hole.  Now to transfer them to something to eat them out of.  I put a plate on top of the pie, flip it over, remove the tin, put a bowl on the upside down pot pie, then flip it right side up.  It ends up looking like this:

This was like eating a Thanksgiving dinner pie!  Next time I will use more gravy but they came out great.  The nice thing is you can make extras like I did and put them in the freezer to bake another day.

This was a fun way to use Thanksgiving leftovers and to store them for future use.

Mini Cake Challenge

My wife had a potluck at work to kick off the football season.  I took this as a personal challenge to finally find a good Red Velvet Cake recipe and make some mini cakes with it.  I wanted to make them football shaped because the cake is the right color to look like a football and put some white laces on!  So I went in search of a good oval pan to make the mini cakes in.  Store after store, restaurant supply store after restaurant supply store, no luck. I didn’t have time to get to a high end kitchen store, who probably would have had this. I finally called a friend who works at a restaurant supply company and had them order me one.  Knowing it would arrive on time I started my search at my 2 favorite recipe sites, FoodNetwork and Epicurious.

I found exactly what I was looking for and was on my way.  I printed out the recipe and made a shopping list of items I would need and I was on my way.  The pan arrived and I washed it, then whipped up the batter.  I used a ladle to pour in the batter and kept checking the first batch in the oven to figure out the cooking time, this recipe was for a full size cake and i was making 2″ by 1″ cakes!

I used the good old fashioned toothpick test to make sure they were fully cooked.  Then I removed them from the pan using the dump method and tasted one to make sure it was moist enough and fully cooked.  Once that was determined I was on my way!  I continued on until I was out of cake batter.  Once they were all cooled I placed them into an airtight container to maintain that moistness.

Now it was time to make the frosting!  My wife likes Key Lime Cream Cheese frosting with the red velvet, so I took the frosting recipe that came with the cake recipe and instead of vanilla extract I used fresh squeezed key lime juice.  Those little limes were no match for my hands! I squeezed them through a fine mesh strainer so the seeds and pulp would not get into the frosting.  I used about 2.5 Tablespoons and whipped it into the frosting.  Then into the fridge it went to set up overnight (1 hour would have been fine).

The next morning i set up the pastry bag with a tip, cut the mini cakes in half and piped a layer of frosting then put the top back on and piped on the laces.  I wanted to have a layer of frosting because the top was only going to be laces. then I put them into the refrigerator as the cream cheese frosting needed to set up again.

Red Velvet Mini Cakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese frosting

I hear they were yummy.  They did not last long after I delivered them to her work.  I like these because for a potluck, with so many items this is a nice taste without being too big that you have to pass on other items.  Try these at your next football party!

Party Time!

Looking for something to bring to a party and not sure what to bring?  I took these to a party recently and they were a big hit.  This was great for an evening party around a friends pool.

Tabasco Cheese Ball

This is a recipe I modified from the Tabasco Web site.  I changed it up a bit by doubling the garlic and rolling it in chili powder instead of nuts and parsley.  Serving it with Wheat Thins has always been a hit.

All that cheese deserves a cocktail!  Perhaps what I call the JoeTai, it is a change up on the classic drink the Mai Tai.  You can read about the original Mai Tai here at the Trader Vic’s website.

“Joe” Tai

If you are going to a party you need to bring a batch of drinks, this is a nice way to make drinks by the pitcher!

Mix:

1 64 oz. can pineapple juice

1/2 cup Amaretto di Sarrono

1/2 cup triple sec

Fresh lime juice to taste

Fresh mint

Mount Gay Eclipse Rum

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

Combine mix ingredients into a container you can pour from.

To make individual drinks:

fill glass with ice, add 1 oz. Mount Gay Eclipse Rum, fill glass with mix and top with 1/2 oz. Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum.

Garnish with sprig of mint.

Using the Amaretto gives this drink an added punch!

Enjoy the summer!