A Proper Mac and Cheese

So, following the awful recipe that was the “Cauliflower Mac and Cheese”, we endeavored to find a recipe that would redeem Mac and Cheese once and for all. The Garlic X3 cookbook offered such a contender (Giatura made it once before, but this was my first chance to try it). So, without further ado, the recipe:

Macaroni and Cheese with Tomato Topping:

Serves 8

• 1 lb pipette (originally called for elbow macaroni)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (Colonna Italian Style)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, 1/2 tbsp dry (recipe called for 3 tbsp fresh) minced
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup frozen, chopped onions (called for 1 medium onion)
• 6 plump garlic cloves, pressed (called for 3)
• 1 fresh red chile, seeded and minced
• 3 tbsp bleached flour (calls for unbleached)
• 3 cups 2%, lactose free milk, HEATED (calls for whole milk)
• 3 cups mild cheddar cheese (called for sharp)
• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream (calls for whole cup – DO NOT USE NO-FAT)
• Kosher salt (a dash)
• Ground pepper (a dash)
• 1 tbsp fresh chives
• 2 tsp fresh thyme/1 tsp dried (we used dried)
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut in 1/4 inch slices

Giatura (Gia) started by liberally greasing the casserole dish with unsalted butter, while I began unwrapping and pressing the garlic.

This is an awesome garlic press. The pressing surface is huge, so more of the garlic gets pressed each time. The silver tab on the far right enables the pressing surface to swing out for easy cleanup. Yay GoodCook garlic press!!! ❤ Gia

She preheated the oven to 375°, and put the water on for the pasta. The pasta should be cooked to al dente, or to two minutes before the time listed on the box. Next, Gia combined the breadcrumbs and Parm, while I cut what little fresh parsley we had. Thankfully we had enough to mix in the 2 tbsp necessary for the breadcrumb/parm mixture.

The breadcrumb, Parmesan, and parsley mixture.

Gia melted 2 of the 6 tbsp of butter (medium heat), and added the garlic, followed by the onions (she defrosted, drained, and dried them first). That got covered, and allowed to cook for 3 minutes on a low heat. She separated the solid pieces from the liquid – the solids were set aside, and the liquid was poured into the breadcrumbs.

Next she melted the remaining butter (same heat), while adding the flour. I whisked that in, and it was then that we discovered the milk was supposed to be hot… and needed to quickly heat it up in another pan. It didn’t ruin anything in the end, so no damage done. The mixture was supposed to boil for a moment (happened), then thicken after having the heat turned down. This never quite happened, so we eventually added the cheddar, sour cream (which was interesting to scrape out of the container), salt and pepper, followed by the onions/garlic from before. The recipe called for MORE salt to then be added with the pasta, and we promptly ignored that. This got liberally stirred together.

Yummy Gooey Goodness

The mixture just fit in the casserole dish, with enough room to add the breadcrumb mixture on top. It then went into the oven for 35 minutes, was allowed to cool for maybe 2, and then promptly enjoyed. Gia says: Om nom nom nom!

Finally done! Om nom nom!

Impromptu Risotto-ish

Garlicturino86 (GT8) and I were hungry, so we decided to cook together. We took a look at the fridge and pantry and pulled out the items that were available for us to use. They were surprisingly limited: black beans, chicken broth (with vegetables and herbs), garlic, jasmine rice, pasta, a very small amount of frozen broccoli, fresh carrots, and milk.

“What can we possibly make with this?” I asked.

“Well, we can use the rice and chicken broth to make a sort of risotto,” GT8 replied.

I set to work peeling carrots and GT8 finely chopped 3 cloves of garlic. We heated 1.5 cups of chicken broth to a boil, then added 1 cup of jasmine rice and let it cook, covered, for about 15 minutes. I defrosted the broccoli and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Once GT8 had cut the carrots into bite-sized pieces we set them to boil as well, allowing them to cook for nearly as long as the rice. I also rinsed and drained a can of black beans.

Once the carrots were fairly soft and sweet, we drained them. We heated some olive oil in a frying pan, browned the garlic, then added the broccoli, followed a little while later by the carrots and the beans. By the time they were ready, GT8 had taken the rice off the heat and transferred it into a large bowl. I mixed in the beans and vegetables. The flavors all blended together marvelously, especially the rice and beans. This is definitely a meal we would both like to make again sometime.

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I’ve committed a grievous offense against the Italian cooking gods. Perhaps it was eating home-made tomato sauce and meatballs with pasta while watching the Superbowl. Or perhaps it was not paying 100% attention while removing said sauce from the refrigerator today. Whatever offense I committed, I can ask only that I somehow manage not to commit it again. Because the penalty was far greater than giving 5 yards to the other team or making poor use of a time-out.

I dropped the plastic container with the leftover sauce and it shattered, causing the majority of its contents to splatter on the floor and in the refrigerator. I was in shock. I think if I hadn’t been so surprised by it I would have cried.

In The Callahan Chronicals, Spider Robinson explains an Irish belief that spilling or otherwise wasting alcohol is a mortal sin. When you die every drop of which you’re guilty is gathered in a container of some kind and you’re suspended upside down in it. “And if you die, to hell with ya!” It wouldn’t surprise me if Italians have a similar belief regarding tomato sauce (or gravy, the term preferred by some). If they do, my soul is in mortal peril. I spilled enough today that another mishap could cost me an eternity of eating macaroni and cheese that tastes like cauliflower.

So, it seems most wise to make some attempt at appeasing the Italian cooking gods, just to be on the safe side. Perhaps it is time I repent of my recent pasta-avoiding ways and eat more of it, preferably with garlic. Perhaps I must attempt my mom’s sauce recipe by myself (and blog about it, of course). Perhaps I must resist the temptation of cream cheese and jelly sandwiches and re-dedicate my efforts to advancing the culinary arts.

I pray that the Italian cooking gods will guide me in this quest. (Suggestions from readers are also more than welcome.)

Day 2 of Cooking Adventures

The gathering mentioned in my previous 2 posts was quite a success (A Day of Cooking Adventures, Part 1 & Part 2). In addition to the olives, roasted peppers, and shrimp, I also made oven-roasted garlic and a soup with vegetables, garlic, beer, and cheese.

The roasted garlic was very straightforward – each head gets a tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkling of water, then they are covered with foil to roast in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes. Uncover and roast for an additional 15 minutes or “until golden.” Of course, GT8 did not realize they were supposed to be covered with foil until they’d been roasting a while, and after the 1 hr 15 min they came out, beautiful and golden. They were a huge hit, particularly spread on Italian bread. I would be enjoying the leftovers, except that my stomach demanded a respite from consuming vast quantities of garlic.

The soup was a more complicated recipe that I followed as well as I could while socializing with guests. It called for items to be added in stages, with about 10 minutes of cooking time in between. I was referring to the cookbook between steps because I had not yet internalized the recipe. So, the whole thing probably cooked a lot longer than it was supposed to. This relaxed approach to the timing worked well, though. I was also able to reverse the order of adding the cheese and the ingredients due to come after it, so a friend who does not eat cheese could enjoy some of the soup. The end result was less creamy and cheesy than I had expected, but had a very nice flavor. Those who tried it liked it, so I was pleased.

The biggest success of the evening was certainly the shrimp. They disappeared rather early in the night. The recipe created way too much of their dipping sauce, even though it was also fairly popular. That portion of the recipe can be quartered (at least!) and still produce plenty of sauce for the shrimp. I’ll probably double the shrimp portion of the recipe if I make it again for a gathering of this size. And, I’ll leave out the thumb nail.

The olives were tasty but the vinegar taste is extremely strong, to the point of overpowering the other flavors. I think I’m the only one who really ate them. If I follow their recipe again, I will use 1 part vinegar to 3 parts olive oil, instead of the 1:1 ratio recommended by the recipe. The peppers were slightly more popular. I was exceedingly pleased with their flavor, especially when spread on the Italian bread with a clove or two of roasted garlic. They also make fantastic leftovers.

The Aftermath:

The 2011 holidays hit my waistline very hard. Between the tasty food I cooked and treats that others brought, I spent the entire day eating. Add to that the consequences of several other gatherings throughout the month of December, and it is no surprise that I gained 9 pounds!

A Day of Cooking Adventures Part 2

Our culinary adventure (see Pt. 1) began with the decision to turn Spicy Mediterranean Olives with Garlic & Herbs (p. 42 of Garlic, Garlic, Garlic) into non-spicy olives by eliminating the chile peppers. We also had to half the recipe because we had only acquired 2 cups of olives. I measured out the oil, vinegar, ground black pepper, and fennel seed, then attacked a lemon and an orange for their zest. I also minced the zests even though that’s not part of the recipe. Oops! I also cut each garlic clove more than once, so there are several slices in the marinade. The ingredients (except for the olive oil) all went in a pot to boil and then simmer for a few minutes.

The color – and the smell! – were amazing.

Once that mixture was ready, I added the olive oil, followed soon-after by the olives themselves. I had to double the amount of vinegar and oil in order to make sure the olives were covered by the marinade. I then learned that I did not have the rosemary the recipe calls for, so I sprinkled on a blend of Italian herbs: oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and sage. This concoction was then well stirred and placed in a sealed container to marinade for 24 hours. We’ve been taking turns stirring it periodically.

Next up were the Marinated Roasted Red (Orange, and Yellow) Peppers with Garlic and Anchovies (p. 62). Garlicturino86 (henceforth to be referred to as GT8) had a blast smashing and mincing 5 garlic cloves.

GT8 smashes a clove of garlic under his knife while soon-to-be victims watch on

I measured the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. GT8 passed me bell peppers and I placed the in the oven to roast. I doubt the contents of the oven have ever been so colorful!

They don’t know what they’re in for …

While the peppers roasted, and later cooled, we set to work on the third and final recipe for the evening: Beer-Braised Shrimp with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce (p. 56). Sadly, this recipe was not without injury. GT8’s eyes were too irritated by the process of mincing the shallot, so I took over. Somehow I managed to catch my thumb nail with the knife, removing part of it! (Thank goodness it was just a shallow cut, and the rest of the thumb remained intact.) I now have a raw, red spot where I used to have a nail; it is extremely sensitive to the touch. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more painful cut, and the worst part is that completely random movements that are normally painless hurt horribly.

This minor setback did not deter our cooking insanity, however. The beer, garlic, shrimp, and other ingredients all went into the pot. GT8 informed me that regular salt is stronger than the Kosher salt the recipe calls for just in time for me to use only 3/4 the amount the recipe calls for. We brought our concoction to a boil and let it simmer until the shrimp turned pink. When I removed the cover I was greeted with the fantastic smell of beer and garlic, oh, it was amazing!

It smells even better than it looks!

The recipe also calls for a creamy dipping sauce of yogurt and sour cream mixed with 2 different types of mustard, garlic (of course!), Worcestershire sauce, and the whole zest of a lemon (minced – I let GT8 do that). Mixing that mess together was rather entertaining, but the results were well worth it: nice and tasty, with quite the kick! The dipping sauce and shrimp in their beer mixture went into the refrigerator to chill overnight. I felt very proud as I cleaned the edges of the bowl for the dipping sauce and contemplated serving the dish the next day.

Finally, we had the gooey and slimy task of removing the skins from the roasted peppers. It was gross and fun at the same time. As I removed the skins, GT8 cut the peppers, removed their innards, and laid them on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. He sprinkled smashed and minced garlic over them, followed by half the oil and all of the balsamic vinegar. We baked them for 10 minutes, then added julienned basil. After a quick photo shoot, they went into a bowl with the remaining oil to marinade overnight. Two of the slices most certainly were not stolen, and they weren’t absolutely delicious!

Finally complete, the roasted peppers are as delicious as they are beautiful.

Now it is the next day. Guests should begin arriving soon. And there’s more cooking to do! This should be quite entertaining …

A Day of Cooking Adventures

Today garlicturino86 and I had some rather crazy cooking-related adventures. They began with going through the cookbook: Garlic, Garlic, Garlic and discussing which recipes would and would not be practical for a gathering planned for the next day. I had already picked recipes I was interested in trying. I then narrowed down the options based on my comfort level and the needs and preferences of my anticipated guests, some of whom have food allergies. Further discussion eliminated recipes such as the garlic walnut bread with rosemary, a recipe that calls for equipment I don’t have, and confirmed the ones that would be best for our gathering. Even the confirmed recipes required modifications or substitutions. I was surprised by how much work went into simply deciding what to cook for my friends.

Once we had looked at the ingredients for each recipe and created a shopping list, garlicturino86 and I ventured forth to a new grocery store! There we found our way through previously-unexplored aisles of various items, mostly selecting ones that were relevant to my goal of filling an entire neighborhood with the savory aroma of garlic (and other tasty things). We were able to find everything we needed … except for the cerignola olives I wanted to be part of my Spicy Mediterranean Olives with Garlic & Herbs (p. 42). I’d tasted some black cerignola olives at a holiday party and absolutely loved them. So, they seemed well worth traveling out of my way to visit a specialty Italian store.

This is where things started getting interesting. garlicturino86’s mom suggested one store, which seemed excellent but only had one small jar of red cerignola olives. I was hoping to find black ones, so I decided to try somewhere else. So, I searched for a store on my trusty GPS (which really should have the GLaDOS voice) and traveled a couple of miles in the opposite direction, just to find that the store was closed.

Not to be deterred, I searched for another store. Avoiding tolls, the route my GPS suggested would have taken far too long. So, I searched allowing tolls, and found a considerably shorter route. Then next thing I knew I was going over a bridge with a $12 toll and entering another state! That was completely unacceptable, but the only thing I could have done about it was make a highly illegal U-turn across multiple lanes! So instead I yelled and became positively determined not to leave my new location until I was in possession of olives.

garlicturino86 then discovered that a fourth store, which we had previously ruled out due to its location, was actually located a stone’s throw away from where we had come off the bridge. We drove, parked, and hurried up to it – to discover they were in the process of closing. “No, please let us buy olives before you close!” we called, rushing into the store. The gentleman there only had green cerignola olives, but I gladly bought them mixed with other olives as part of a medley. One bite was enough to satisfy my olive craving. We had completed our quest! garlicturino86 invited me to celebrate with him by sharing the prosciutto bread he had just purchased at the same store.

By the time we arrived home we were exhausted and laden with a million groceries. They found their homes surprisingly quickly, and then we embarked on a culinary adventure. I would love to share that adventure with you, reader, but garlicturino86 wants to sleep for some odd reason.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!

I must apologize for not updating in such a long time. This semester was extremely busy. On top of all the academic work, I also moved (about 30 minutes away, within the same state) earlier this month. That was fun and exciting and the actual move itself went surprisingly smoothly and quickly because I had several friends help. They were awesome! But it did throw a bit of a monkey wrench in the works.

I cooked many tasty things when I went to visit my best friend in November. We worked together on them, myself mostly following her lead. They included chicken with roasted potatoes and whole cloves of garlic, a delicious stew with turkey meat and vegetables, and apple pie.

I haven’t cooked as much as usual since Thanksgiving, but I did get to bake about a week ago. I followed the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe (a lifetime favorite that I’ll be repeating with my mom in several hours – our yearly tradition). I left out the nuts, but added a shot of Frangelico to the dough around the time I also added the chocolate chips. The result was absolutely delicious – and quite popular at the 2 parties I attended that weekend.

I spent Christmas Eve with my best friend and her family. She and I played viola and sang at the services at a church where we’ve known the choir director for years. It was so wonderful to play music with an extremely talented and dedicated group!

When we got back to her parents’ house we exchanged presents. One of the gifts she gave me was Garlic, Garlic, Garlic: More than 200 Exceptional Recipes for the World’s Most Indispensable Ingredient. It has more information than a chef could ever want about garlic, as well as recipes that range from starters to pasta and seafood to even dessert!

I just might have to follow in Julie Powell’s footsteps and cook my way through this book.

The Stir Fry

This past weekend my close friend and best man came up to hang out. As is usually the case when he comes around, my kitchen gets invaded, and I get bumped down to sous-chef.

Thankfully, he’s a good cook, and we work well in the kitchen together, so the takeover is not a big deal.  One of the other usual things that happens is that a stir fry is one of the meals that gets cooked.

Our typical stir fry uses a store-bought teriyaki sauce. This weekend’s was different though.

Ingredients:

About 2lbs of Beef, cut into small strips (we used mostly a stir fry mix that was already the right general size, and only needed to be cut up a little).

1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice (makes 3 cups cooked)

About 1/2lb Bell Pepper Strips (frozen)

General Tso’s Sauce and Orange Ginger Sauce (Shoprite’s brand… surprisingly good – and I’m sure at least one of them contains garlic)

Soy Sauce (Reduced Sodium)

Fresh ground black pepper

Butter flavored grilling oil (leftover by an ex-roommate)

Preparation:

(Hours before – we marinated the beef in a mixture of the sauces and black pepper. As usual, the amount of each was a bit random – very much in my nature of “a dash of this” and “a pinch of that”)

I started by getting the rice cooking, since we figured it would take the longest, then started the peppers thawing process. We goofed on the timing a bit, so the rice finished just as the first portion of the meat hit my deep walled frying pan. We also managed to goof on proportions, so much so that we needed to cook the meat and peppers in batches.

Speaking of the peppers, they were simply sauteed in the butter flavored grilling oil. They were cooked until they just lost their crunch. The meat was cooked to well-done.

Once everything had finished, we served each item in its own bowl, letting each person present to choose what they wanted in their meal.

Conclusions:

Normally, I would have used one pan for everything but the rice (and even that might eventually get put into the pan toward the end), and I would have sauteed the peppers in olive oil and some chopped garlic. The butter grill oil gave the peppers a nice richness they normally don’t have, and the meat was perfect. All that remains of the meal is a small serving of the peppers, which will find their way into another dish soon.

The “Mixed Pasta Bowl”

Giatura has listed several of her comfort foods so far, so I figured it’s about time I posted one of mine…

There are times when I frankly don’t feel like cooking. This dish is perfect for those times, since I still have yet to master the art of making only one serving dinner at a time. As a result, I end up making enough to comfortably feed a family of four – which means anywhere from three to four meals worth of food for me.

The ingredient list always has three constants – garlic (usually around two to three cloves), olive oil and some shape of pasta. The shape doesn’t matter that much – it really depends on what I want at that given moment.

The other ingredients vary depending on what I have in the house. Usually, it ends up looking something like this:

• A meat or two (chicken, beef, occasionally shrimp)
• At least one frozen veggie (broccoli and green beans are typically what I have around)
• Various spices – I have a decent assortment in my spice closet, and what I use depends on whether or not I plan on using a sauce or not. If I am, I conform my spices to what will be good with the sauce. Common spices usually include black pepper, sage, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg. Occasionally, I’ll opt for no sauce, and simply use sage and seasoned salt.
• Occasionally, some type of cheese (Parmesan, shredded mozzarella, or shredded provolone)

The actual cooking process is easy – after the garlic has been finely chopped, it cooks until just golden in olive oil. The pasta water has been going for awhile by this point (always salt it a little – partly for taste, and I’m convinced it lets the water boil faster). The meat goes in at an appropriate time, timed to finish about when the pasta is nearly done. This means occasionally I need to wait to actually start heating up the oil – but I’ve done this dish enough times to know roughly when to this.

The veggies get tossed in when the meat is mostly cooked – they don’t really need a lot of time, just enough to get to the right consistency. The one vegetable I’ve found that needs to be cooked in a particular way is carrots – boil them first in some water to make sure they’re not too crunchy.

Finally, when the pasta is done (usually to al dente or slightly more cooked – this depends on whether I’m cooking for myself or for Giatura), I drain it and toss it into the pan that everything else has been cooking in. This is when I’ll add a sauce if I’m using one, and the cheese, giving everything a few minutes to really cook together. By the end of those few minutes, the flavors have combined nicely, and the cheese is nice and melted in.

Then, it’s simply a matter of serve and enjoy! I do tend to put away my leftovers as I’m serving my portion into one of my glass bowls, and clean the last few dishes that need to be done (like the pan, pasta pot, etc).

Crisp Noodle Cake with Stir-Fried Greens and Shrimp

On Sunday garlicturino86 and I cooked a recipe in Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook, a collection of recipes designed to help people eat healthier (including a high ratio of vegetables to meat). The Crisp Noodle Cake with Stir-Fried Greens and Shrimp can be found on p. 236 and calls for an Asian green, rice/soba/wheat noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, ginger, garlic, shrimp (or tofu), scallions, and salt and pepper. According to Mr. Bittman it takes 45 minutes to prepare, but we disagree. This was our second time attempting the recipe and it still took us at least 90 minutes. His claim that the recipe makes four servings is accurate, however.

Allow extra time for chopping up the garlic, scallions, bok choy, etc.

We decided to use bok choy and soba noodles, both of which work extremely well for this recipe. The bok choy provides two very different textures: the stems come out crunchy and absorb the flavor well (especially from the ginger), while the leaves come out tender and mix extremely well with the noodles and shrimp. The soba noodles were rather sticky, but that characteristic made forming a cake a lot easier than it had been with the rice noodles we used on our first attempt. They also have a very distinctive, almost nutty taste and satisfying texture. We were extremely pleased with the results.

Before

After

The adventure came when we decided to make two noodle cakes, because we both love this recipe so much and don’t want to fight over left-overs. Making the cakes was relatively easy – once the bottom had browned, I put a plate on top and used that to flip it over, added more canola oil to the pan, then slid the cake back on. But we quickly found that one frying pan had no hope in hell of containing all of our bok choy! The stems alone filled the first pan. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a second pan, transferred half the contents of the first pan to it, and asked garlicturino86 to likewise divide our remaining ingredients.

We needed to work at the stove simultaneously.

Once the “crisis” was averted, it was simply a manner of cooking down the greens and letting the shrimp turn a healthy shade of pink. Our doubled recipe made 8 servings, two of which were delicious that night. I’ve been enjoying my share of the leftovers as convenient, healthy meals.

Buon Appetito!

In addition to enjoying the large serving of vegetables and wheat noodles featured in this recipe, women (or at least prepubescent girls) can reduce their risk of breast and cervical cancer by avoiding meat and milk from animals that have been treated with hormones. Please read “A Letter that All Chefs (and Anyone Who Eats) Need to Read” posted by Mark Bittman.