Mac n Cheese...

I finally made a decent batch of mac n cheese. After quiet a few flops. You can use light cheese in this recipe from the April issue of Cooking Light. I used whatever I had on hand. No light cheeses. It came out great. We finally enjoyed a nice bowl of creamy mac n cheese. Finally.

Although compared to this one from way back, anything is an improvement :)

We needed to actually scrape it off the plate.

 But this one was light, creamy and cheesy. Perfect. and it had a nice toasted bread crumb topping.

Easy Mac and Cheese

original recipe from Cooking Light, April 2013

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

1 box elbow macaroni
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
dash of ground red pepper
3/4 cup Velveeta cheese, cut in chunks, or shredded
2/3 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more or less to taste
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I used brioche)

Preheat broiler.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

While the pasta cooks, combine milk, flour, and red and black peppers in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; keep stirring, cook until thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add cheeses and salt; stir until smooth. Add pasta, and stir to coat. Spoon mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over top; broil 2 minutes or until browned. Watch carefully so the breadcrumbs don't burn.

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Onion Soup

There is nothing like a good bowl of French Onion Soup, topped with gooey cheese, melting over the toasted bread, soaking up that delicious broth. When I saw Rita's version over at Sage Cuisine I dropped my plan for lentil soup and went with the onion. This one was a little sweeter than the French Onion Soup I had made previously. We loved Rita's recipe. It was a HUGE hit. 

Thanks, Rita, your recipe is a keeper!

Normally I'm not too safety conscious, hence the two good slices I gave myself with a handheld mandoline a while back. My friend Renee mentioned these cutting gloves that fisherman use and I thought I'd give them a try. Kind of goofy looking and they stunk after 7 big onions, but my fingers were intact. I'm a convert. They worked well for me. Thanks Renee. All ten of my fingers thank you!

Blade X5 Cut resistant gloves

And just to let you know, the gloves, they are machine washable!

Good as new.

I made a few changes to the recipe because of what I had on hand, I didn't feel like going out for more beef broth, and mixing chicken stock with the beef broth worked nicely in the past. And I used a little more Sherry. I used low-fat Jarlsberg and a little less butter. The kids had Mozzarella. I need to look for Gruyere. I loved the addition of a bit of sugar and the balsamic vinegar.

French Onion Soup

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: Sage Cuisine

Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups onions, sliced

1 shallot chopped

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons Sherry

4 cups beef stock

4 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

4 slices of toasted French bread

Gruyere cheese or any good melting cheese you like

Heat butter and oil on medium heat; add onions, salt, sugar and shallot. The onions will very slowly caramelize, stir regularly, you are looking for the onions to become golden brown. This will take over thirty minutes or more. You don't want the onions to burn, so keep an eye.

Deglaze the pan with the sherry, and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes.

While the onions are almost done caramelizing, add the chicken and beef broth in a stock pot; add the balsamic vinegar and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

At this point you can store it the fridge or the freezer.

To serve:

Preheat broiler for 5 minutes.

Toast bread in toaster or under broiler until golden brown; set aside.

Place 4 ovenproof soup bowls on baking sheet or pan. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with toast slices. Add cheese evenly over top.

Place tray of bowls under broiler; broil for about 3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden. Be very careful, the bowls will be extremely hot.

Joining 

 Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

Souper Sundays (soups, salads and sandwiches) @ Kahakai Kitchen

with the

 Souper Sunday weekly round-up of recipes

 

 Mosaic Monday  at the Little Red House

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Cincinnati Four Way Chili

We finally tried Cincinnati Chili the other night. Four way. Spaghetti, Chili, Cheese and Onions. I forgot to get the oyster crackers. I saw it on Food Jaunts, it looked so good and that was that, I had to make it. It's nothing like the chili I normally make, which is more like Texas Chili but I do use beans. Miss Picky likes them and when it comes to food if she's asking for something good for you, I'm throwing it in there. So much for authentic. Those real Texans who say beans don't belong in chili never had to feed my picky teenager. And I finally found something that went really well with whole wheat spaghetti. The chili. I needed to use up that last box. Whole wheat spaghetti just didn't go over well with marinara at my house. But it's perfect with Cincinnati 4-way Chili. Just perfect.

and leftovers are even better!

Cincinnati Style Chili

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: http://foodjaunts.com/cincinnati-style-chili

Printable Recipe

2 lbs ground extra lean ground beef (at least 95% lean)

2 onions, finely chopped

2 cups water

2 cups beef stock

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

4 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 bay leaf (fish it out before serving)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 dashes Tabasco or similar sauce

2 teaspoons paprika

shredded cheddar cheese

chopped onions

red kidney beans

oyster crackers

spaghetti, cooked according to package directions (I used whole wheat and it was good with the chili!)

Bring the water and beef stock to a boil and add the ground beef. Stir until the beef is separated. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 to 3 hours or until thickened.

Serve over the spaghetti and top with cheese, kidney beans, onions and oyster crackers.

Joining 

 Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

 Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter 

 

 

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Roasted Mushrooms

Here's another winner from the book All About Roasting by Molly Stevens. Quick-Roasted Mushrooms with Pine Nuts and Parmesan. Usually I stuff mushrooms or saute them but this time I roasted them, it gave plain old white button mushrooms a lot of flavor. A little something different. This was outstanding.

Of course the recipe called for something I didn't have on hand, cremini mushrooms. But white buttons worked out so well in this, I'd use them again. The whole dish took less than twenty minutes using the high heat method. Funny but high heat usually means burnt in my case. Not these, they came out perfectly fine, there were no leftovers, and the smoke alarm never went off. You can also serve on toasted baguette slices, just chop it a bit.  And it would be nice chopped on top of some whole wheat pasta.

Roasted Mushrooms with Pine Nuts and Parmesan
Source: All About Roasting by Molly Stevens
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon pine nuts (I used a bit more)
1 pound cremini or button mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or use less dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Toast the pine nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Watch them carefully, they tend to burn rather quickly. Transfer to a plate to cool. Chop them if you like. I left them whole.

Put the mushrooms in a mixing bowl and drizzle with melted butter and olive oil. Sprinkle with the chopped thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the mushrooms to coat. Spread the mushrooms in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Place in the preheated oven and roast for about 10 minutes. Turn them and then roast for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the mushrooms to a serving dish and toss with the pine nuts. Grate the cheese over and serve. 

Joining 

Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

and

 Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter 

 

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Stuffed Zucchini

Tomatoes and zucchini go so well together. Add some cheese and bread crumbs and you've got one fantastic dish! This was excellent. And so easy. I was looking forward to leftovers, but there weren't any. So I made them again.

Zucchini Boats
Source:  Proud Italian Cook

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

3 zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise, ends trimmed

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

plain bread crumbs

fontina, provolone or mozzarella (or any good melting cheese), diced

a little white wine (optional)

olive oil for drizzling

basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine the garlic, oil, salt and pepper.

Scoop out the seeds of the zucchini in the center with a spoon. Brush the surface with the oil mixture. Arrange the tomato halves down the center of the zucchini, pour a little bit of white wine in the dish, then sprinkle with the bread crumbs.  Bake for about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and place the cheese in between the tomatoes. Turn broiler on and place them back in the oven. Broil until golden and bubbling. Remove and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan. Garnish with chopped basil.

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 Mosaic Monday  at the Little Red House.

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Baked Brie with Pasta and Spinach

This was good. Really good. Beyond good.

 No kidding!

When I saw this one in Jamie's Food Revolution, I bookmarked the page with a bright Post-it arrow. This was a must try. Then I saw it again on the girlichef blog and there was no way I wasn't having this at some point. 

No one in my family would eat Brie, they are cheese challenged, so I had to cut the recipe down to make it just for me. With leftovers for another day. Instead of a round of Brie, I used a wedge. Trimmed the rind off, melted it as the recipe said, and then poured it off into the pasta pot to mix it up with the rigatoni and the spinach.

and wouldn't you know it? The picky one loved it. Go figure out teenagers. I can't. I need to make this one again. And soon!

Baked Brie with Rigatoni and Spinach
Source: Heather @ girlichef blog, original recipe adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution (Baked Camembert Pasta)

Adapted There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 (8 oz) round of Brie
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves only
olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
16-oz uncooked rigatoni (or any other pasta)
1 bag of baby spinach (6 oz)
freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Line a sheet pan with foil. Score a circle in the top rind of the Brie, leaving a 1/2 inch border.  Trim back the circle of rind and eat or discard. Sprinkle the garlic over the exposed cheese. Crack some pepper over it. Sprinkle a bit of coarse salt on, too. Scatter the rosemary leaves over it and then drizzle the whole thing with a bit of olive oil.

Place the whole thing on the sheet pan and slide into the oven for about 25 minutes or until it melts. In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a boil. (Try to time this to coincide with the last ten minutes or so of your Brie's time in the oven.) Salt the water and cook your pasta according to package directions. Add spinach to water during the very last minute of cooking time. Drain, saving 1 cup of your cooking water. Return pasta and spinach to pot, drizzle with a bit more olive oil, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and grate some Parmesan cheese over it, toss to combine.

Divide pasta mixture among serving bowls and serve with the baked Brie, passing it so that everybody can scoop or pour as much as they like over their individual servings of pasta. Or you can mix the baked Brie in the pot with the spinach and the pasta, adding a little of the reserved pasta water to thin it down to make it more of a sauce.

I loved the book, and bookmarked a number of recipes. Next time I'm definitely trying the lasagna.

Joining Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.

Join Mary at the Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Stop by the Little Red House to see more mosaics!

!

There's a pasta party going on at I Heart Cooking Clubs. Stop by and join the fun!

And at Carole's Chatter celebrate cheese with Food on Friday

  

 

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