Grown-Up Mac & Cheese

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Sarah's Mom

2-1/2 cups uncooked mastaccioli or penne pasta
2 tbsp margarine or butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
dash nutmeg
1-1/4 cups half and half
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded fontina cheese
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded swiss cheese
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp dry white wine
1 tsp olive/vegetable oil
2 tbsp sliced green onions
2 roma tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 1-1/2 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the pasta to desired tenderness.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cook until bubbly. Gradually add half and half, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in the 3 shredded cheeses until melted (stringy). Stir in the wine. Drain pasta and add to the cheese sauce, stirring to coat.

 Pour into sprayed dish. Arrange sliced tomatoes around the outside of the casserole dish and brush with oil. Sprinkle the onions on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are bubbly.

Review

This recipe has been made in Sarah's family for a long time. In fact, when she was little, she actually didn't like the flavor the wine gave to the dish, so her mom would exclude it. But this is something that we would make a lot in college to satisfy missing home and still make quite often to this day. It is one of our absolute favorites!

Raspberry-Peach Chicken

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Cooking and Eating Healthy Magazine

1/2 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 small peach, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp peach brandy or apple juice
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Place raspberries, peach, brandy, and honey in blender. Cover and blend on high about one minute. Heat mixture in saucepan until hot. Reduce heat and keep warm.

Mix flour, salt, and pepper. Coat chicken in mixture and fry in oil about 10-14 minutes, turning once. Pour raspberry-peach mixture over chicken breast and serve.

Review

This recipe has been in Sarah's family for quite a number of years, and for a very good reason. It's a perfect twist to classic pan-fried chicken and very healthy too!  

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Cuisine at Home Magazine

Dressing:
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbsp minced shallots
1 tbsp cider vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Crusting Mixture for Chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4 breasts total)
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup coarse dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Minced zest of 1 lemon

Dipping Mixture for Chicken:
2 egg whites
2 tsp cornstarch
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salad:
8 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
4 oz mild goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl until blended; set aside.

Pound chicken breasts in a plastic bag with a little water inside. 

Whisk ingredients for the dipping mixture in a shallow dish. Combine all ingredients for the crusting mixture. Dip each chicken breast in the dipping mixture and then the crusting mixture. Let chicken rest on a rack in the refrigerator 20-30 minutes to set crust.

Saute chicken in 3 tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Carefully turn with a spatula, and transfer the skillet to the oven to finish cooking. Roast chicken just until done, about 8 minutes.

Toss greens, onion, and goat cheese with dressing (You won't need all the dressing). Divide greens among 4 plates. Top greens with sliced chicken. Sprinkle any toasted crumbs left in the pan on salads. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Tips/Tweaks

Salad

For the salad portion, we typically use a mixed bag of lettuce greens and add freshly sliced cucumber to the salad. We are not a big fan of raw red onion or goat cheese, so we typically omit these.

Review

The dressing for this recipe is amazing. We have made it several times for other daily salads. The dressing and chicken go very well together, rounding out this perfect healthy salad!

Apple and Butternut Squash Bisque

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Cooks.com

1.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Pinch of rosemary and majoram
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 quart chicken stock
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 egg yolks
1.5 cups half and half


Combine squash, apples, onions, herbs, salt, pepper, sugar, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer about 45 minutes.

Puree mixture in blender or food processor. 

Melt butter, add flour and stir until smooth. Add pureed mixture to the melted butter and flour a little at a time. Stir well with whisk. Bring to a boil. In a small bowl, beat eggs and half and half. Beat in a small amount of the hot soup and then wisk back into rest of mixture. Heat through but do not boil.

Tips/Tweaks

Easier Methods

To puree the mixture, we use our hand blender and leave it in the pot. We then melt the butter and mix with flour as instructed, but slowly pour this mixture into the soup pot, stirring. The rest we do as instructed.

Be very careful not to let the soup boil after the egg/half and half mixture is stirred in, it will become quite clumpy if you do.

Add-Ins

The soup does have a sweet taste to it, so we usually top it with cooked bacon. Everything is better with bacon!

Review

Although this soup is a little labor intensive, it truly is worth it! The apple and brown sugar gives the savory butternut squash a sweet twist, perfect for cold days!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Taste of Home

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin
1.5 cups canola oil
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 

In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into two greased 8-inch x 4-inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Review

This bread is so moist and flavorful, it is one of our favorite recipes. As you can see from all of the ingredients, this is not a very healthy bread and there really are no substitutions you can make for this recipe. It's just one of those things you have to indulge in every once in a while!

 

Potato Chips On a Stick

THE RECIPE

Courtesy of Food Network (probably)

1 Potato, most any variety will do
Salt, or your favorite seasoning

Wash potato thoroughly.

Peel if desired.

Cut the potato into thin slices (using a mandolin may help).

Arrange potato slices onto a bamboo skewer.

Sprinkle with salt or your favorite seasoning.

Suspend the potatoes over a microwave safe dish. 

Microwave on high for 5-7 minutes or until the potatoes are golden.

REVIEW

I love this recipe! It's fast, easy and very healthy. No oils, or fats, and if desired, no salts or sugars. If you had some meat rubs they would probably be very good on the chips. It you want more flavor on your chips, lay them out when you sprinkle them with seasoning, then skewer them.  Also, Make sure they are browned when you take them out, or they could be a little soggy.  If they are not done all the way through, just microwave for a minute more. 

These chips a great for a quick snack, or trying to get your kids to eat healthier.

Posted by Joshua. 

Broccoli-Cheese Soup

Joshua here!  This is the first time I've posted anything to this blog, or to any blog for that matter. I hope that I am not a horrible blogger, because I really want to share this recipe with you.
     Since Sarah and I don't have cable, we watch whatever cooking show we can find, if its good.  So far, America's Test Kitchen is our favorite non-cable cooking show.  To sum up the show, its "A show that experiments with cooking products and techniques, and addresses culinary challenges." So, of course, any recipe they have to offer up has been thoroughly refined and perfected.  Knowing this, when I saw their show with the Broccoli-Cheese Soup, I knew I had to make it.  Here is what they say about it:

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

We were after a soup with pure broccoli flavor that wasn’t hiding behind the cream or the cheese. Overcooked broccoli has a sulfurous flavor, but we discovered when we cooked our broccoli beyond the point of just overcooked—for a full hour—those sulfur-containing compounds broke down, leaving behind intense, nutty broccoli. Its texture was fairly soft, but that was perfect for use in a soup. Adding baking soda to the pot sped up the process, shortening the broccoli’s cooking time to a mere 20 minutes. A little spinach lent bright green color to the soup without taking over the flavor. After adding cheddar and Parmesan, we had a soup so full of flavor and richness that it didn’t even need the cream.

And here is the recipe!

Serves 6 to 8

To make a vegetarian version of this soup, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

INGREDIENTS

• 2tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2pounds broccoli, florets roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces, stems trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1medium onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 1/2teaspoons dry mustard powder
•  Pinch cayenne pepper
•  Table salt
• 3–4cups water
• 1/4teaspoon baking soda
• 2cups low-sodium chicken broth (see note)
• 2ounces baby spinach (2 loosely packed cups)
• 3ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3/4 cup)
• 1 1/2ounces Parmesan cheese, grated fine (about 3/4 cup), plus extra for serving
•  Ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Heat butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add broccoli, onion, garlic, dry mustard, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and baking soda. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.
• 2. Add broth and 2 cups water and increase heat to medium-high. When mixture begins to simmer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer half of soup to blender, add cheddar and Parmesan, and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer soup to medium bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to Dutch oven, place over medium heat and bring to simmer. Adjust consistency of soup with up to 1 cup water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing extra Parmesan separately.
  thanks to americas test kitchen!
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