Benedictine Mac & Cheese with Caramelized Onions & Rosemary

If the way to someone's heart is really through his/her stomach, then this post is probably as good as a love potion when it comes to enchanting and delighting your beloved.  Although macaroni & cheese might be a bit heavy to serve as a Valentine's Day dinner, it's the perfect dinner for a chilly winter weekend when you can't think of anything better than snuggling up on the couch with a glass of wine and your lover.

Serve this delicious pasta with a crisp green salad and a glass of a nice full red wine. Either an earthy red Bordeaux or a spicy, fruit-forward Zinfandel would pair very nicely.

This post is featured as part of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's 2nd Annual 30 Days 30 Ways with Macaroni & Cheese. Be sure to give them a visit and check out all the other scrumptious recipes created by food bloggers around the nation using Wisconsin cheese. 
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If you conjure your fondest childhood memories of macaroni and cheese, what do you envision?

A steaming bowl of creamy stovetop pasta graced with American cheese?

Baked macaroni & cheese with scads of gooey sharp cheddar & a sprinkling of crispy bread crumbs?
Or how about a serving of that ever-popular electric orange macaroni & cheese from a box?

Regardless of your specific orientation to the dish, macaroni and cheese remains one of the most popular—if not the most popular—American comfort foods.

As a result, there are hundreds of recipes for mac and cheese out there.  And you must trust us when I tell you that we’ve tried most of them.  At heart, we’re big fans of simple, old fashioned macaroni and cheese.  However, we also really like venturing out and coming up with great new flavor combinations for this classic dish.  And this version is one of our favorites so far.

Imagine sweet slices of perfectly caramelized onion paired with the earthy and slightly piney flavor of fresh rosemary and the pleasantly toasted notes of whole wheat elbows. 

Now imagine those ingredients cloaked in a fantastically creamy sauce made from Carr Valley Benedictine cheese – a delightful and intensely nutty washed rind cheese made from a combination of sheep, goat, and cow’s milk.

While this somewhat inventive version of the popular dish will probably not take you back to your mom’s kitchen, I promise it will give you that same creamy dreamy comfort food feeling in the depths of your belly.

Benedictine Mac & Cheese with Caramelized Onions & Rosemary

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Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Make Ahead Meal: King Ranch Chicken Kickasserole

 
This is not the blog post where I tell you all the secrets to successful meal planning.  I won't tout the benefits of "once a month" cooking or give you a slew of time-saving tips to use on your everyday weeknight meals.  Because, generally, that's not the way I operate.

I am NOT a domestic goddess. I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kindofa girl when it comes to weeknight cooking.

It's not that I haven't tried.  I've given meal planning a whirl. Made the list. Clipped the recipes. And meticulously shopped for all the grocery items that I need to create exactly seven home cooked meals in a week. I've witnessed the money it saves, and the headaches it prevents. But, honestly -- when the rubber hits the road -- planning ahead to that extent simply doesn't work for me.  In fact, some of you will be surprised to hear that that level of planning actually starts to stress me out.  I like a little bit of flexibility in my evening plans... maybe even a bit of uncertainty when it comes to what I'll whip up for dinner.

So, I was a little bit surprised when I discovered the brilliance that is the King Ranch Casserole.

YES -- this is a bit like the Tex-Mex casserole dish that shows up in all the ghastly women's magazines.  And YES -- it's a throw-back from post-World War II cooking, when casseroles made with canned soups were the space-age cuisine (because they could be made quickly and kept for later use, casseroles liberated the modern woman from the slavery of cooking).

But, NO -- this is NOT the version that uses cream of *whatever* soup.  And I promise you, this isn't a trap.  But, it will give you at least a night off from cooking... if you do a bit of prep work ahead of time.

This dish does require you to think ahead -- because the flavor of the dish improves pretty dramatically over the course of a day... or three.  The flavors meld. The textures improve. And, although it will still take you an hour or so to bake it up for dinner on the night you serve it, it gives you what might be exactly the right amount of respite from actual cooking duties to renew your strength and energy.

The best part of it is, it doesn't even require a REAL recipe -- though I'm going to give you a bit of a cheat sheet you can use if you'd like to recreate this dish at  home.

Here's what you'll need (more or less)

• a package of corn tortillas (A pack of 12 works great. We like sprouted corn... )
• 2-3 cups tomatillo sauce (it helps to have a bit of this in the freezer, but you can make your own)
• 3 cups cooked chicken (again, nice to have this in the freezer)
• An onion 
• a few cloves of garlic
• a teaspoon or so of cumin and smoked paprika
• salt and black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 cup or so of chopped cilantro
• 8 oz sour cream
• 2-3 cups of grated cheese (Chihuahua, Monterey Jack, or whatever you have on hand)

Dice your onion and saute it with the garlic until everything is tender. Mix in the cumin, paprika, cilantro, pepper, salt, and chicken.   Provided you have your sauce and chicken together, this is all the cooking you'll need to do.

Put a bit of tomatillo sauce on the bottom of a glass or ceramic baking dish, and start layering your ingredients:

1. 4 tortillas
2. a bit of sour cream (spread this over the top of the tortillas)
3. 1/3 of the chicken mixture
4. 1/3 of the tomatillo sauce
5. cheese

Keep layering until you've used up all of your ingredients -- ending with a nice layer of cheese on the very top. Cover the pan, and place it into the fridge.  Leave it there for 1-3 days. I promise you, it's worth the wait.

While you're waiting for your casserole to "age"  you can do all sorts of fun things -- go out, make a new friend, write a blog post or two, read other peoples' blogs and get new ideas for what to make for dinner NEXT week.

When it's time to bake the casserole, put the dish into a cold oven.  Set the oven to 375ºF and allow the casserole to bake for 50 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, whip off your apron and mix yourself up a nice stiff brandy old fashioned. You deserve it.  Make it a double.  After all, you'll have to wait almost an hour for the casserole to come out of the oven. Might as well make it worth your while.

When the casserole is all brown and bubbling, it's going to smell seriously good and you'll be tempted to slice right into it.  But, you should refrain for about 10 minutes just to let everything set up a bit.

One bite of this and the children will rejoice. Your significant other will sing your praises. And the dog will beg to lick your plate when you're done eating.

You'll feel liberated.
And modern.
And oh-so-very-savvy.

But you can thank me later.  In the meantime, take a bite of your casserole.

Quick Roasted Tomatillo Sauce


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Cowboy Stew Redux: Stellar Tamale Pie

Some people aren't really into leftovers.  But, I can hardly imagine a life without them.  Even though there are only two of us, I always cook for at least 4 people. Most of the time, we take the leftovers to work for lunch. On the rare occasion when I've cooked up more than four servings (or we don't need lunch the next day), I often throw the remainders into the freezer.

Even for those of us who take great joy from cooking, there are nights when we just don't feel like going through the effort.  These are the nights when most people order take-out (and trust me, we do that too).  But, it's such a joy to know that a delicious dinner is only a few steps away when you've got some leftovers on hand.

In this case, it was a tub of Pork Cheek and Black Eyed Pea Chili.  This stew-like concoction has big chunks of pork shoulder (or pork cheeks, if you can find them) and black-eyed peas that have been cooked in a combination of chicken broth and porter, and seasoned with plenty of Spanish smoked paprika.  This is the sort of chili that takes some time, but is well worth the effort -- especially since it makes plenty!  Its flavor also improves over time, like many other well-seasoned stews.

Since this particular chili is pretty meaty, and we tend toward the Veg-Head side of things, I decided to saute some kale & onions to add to the chili.  I cooked them right in my cast iron skillet so that I only had to dirty one pan.  When the onions were cooked and the kale was barely tender, I stirred in the chili and allowed it to reheat.

While the chili was reheating, I stirred together a quick cornbread topping -- whole wheat flour, cornmeal, some ancho chile powder, cumin...  I grabbed some shredded cheese to stir into the cornbread & scatter over the chili.  And then I spooned the topping onto the warm chili mixture.

Just 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven, and dinner was served! 

The pork was tender, the sauce rich and smoky. And the cornbread topping helped to sop up some of the juice from the stew and greens.

Even better than that, Peef declared it "one of the best dinners ever!"  Makes me wonder why we don't cook with leftovers more often.

Easy Tamale Pie


What are your favorite leftovers for repurposing?


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Chicken Caccia-touille

Eggplant and zucchini both come around during the heat of summer when long, slow cooking is pretty much out of the question. In most cases, I'm doing all I can to avoid heating up the kitchen unnecessarily. But, sometimes I've got to make an exception.

The trip to the farmer's market this week produced a bumper crop of great stuff, including a few delicious "eight ball" zucchini, and one of my very favorite summer delicacies -- fairytale eggplants.

These purple beauties are not only cute as a button (measuring an inch or two long, and about 1/2 inch at their widest point), but they cook up like butter. One of my favorite things to do is to pop their stems off and roast (or grill) them.

In this particular case, we were experiencing a bit of a break from the summer heat. And I was brainstorming how to use some of the farmer's market vegetables in conjunction with some chicken pieces I had thawing in the refrigerator. I was craving comfort food, and I happened to have a couple of sweet peppers available out of my own garden, so my first impulse was to make a cacciatore. But, a better plan seemed to be to take the zucchini and eggplant and throw them together into a summer ratatouille.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered what it would be like if I simply combined the two recipes into something completely different.

So, I took the vegetables and roasted them up nice and tender. And I threw together a chunky tomato sauce, fortified with sweet peppers, onions, and a liberal dose of red wine. Add to that a bit of herbs de provence (central to a good ratatouille)... and put the chicken on to simmer. When the chicken was tender, I tossed the reduced sauce with the roasted vegetables and called it dinner.

The resulting dish was far better than the sum of its parts. Succulent stewed chicken, tender-crisp summer vegetables, and a sauce riddled with wine and herbs.

This caccia-touille was one of the best things we've tasted in a very long time.

And we'll share. Cuz we're nice people that way!
Chicken Caccia-touille



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Totally Rad-icchio!

People tend to be most familiar with radicchio when it is peeking out from beneath the iceberg lettuce in a salad. People like me... who mistook this glorious vegetable for something that simply "added color" or "offered bite to a common salad."

I really never thought much of radicchio.
"Ah," you say knowingly, "Apparently, you've never had GRILLED radicchio."
And it is true. I hadn't. Until the other day.
Having now experienced the full glory of radicchio, I now feel compelled to tell you all about what you've been missing. In fact, my advice would be to run out immediately and buy yourself a nice head of radicchio to grill up for dinner. Splashed with balsamic vinegar, it would make an incredible side for that steak you've been craving.

Or, if you're feeling a bit more ambitious, you can do what we did and make a baked pasta dish.

Pasta before being baked:
Pasta AFTER being baked:

Mmm.

I can't say enough good things about this pasta dish. It, quite possibly, has the most flavor of any recipe I've tried in the past year. The radicchio grills up sweet, smooth, and slightly smoky. The tomatoes (albeit being canned) provide a pleasant acidity to the dish, while the cream smooths everything out and offers up a bit of mouth feel. And you can't forget about the mozzarella here. Pick a good one -- because its melted, browned goodness will be part of what you'll remember for hours after eating this.

We ate our pasta with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio on the side. And we (really) enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day. Even after being reheated, this dish held its own. Best of all, it made fellow coworkers swoon (and what's better than that?).

BTW, you don't need to use Radicchio Treviso for this recipe to be a stand-out. Once the radicchio is grilled, it's perfectly sweet and mild no matter which variety you choose. So, I stick with the standard (and more affordable) variety here. This time around, we found some Chioggia at the farmer's market -- and it was totally awesome!

Baked Pasta with Grilled Radicchio and Mozzarella


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Cheesy Colcannon with Leeks

As St. Patrick's Day approaches, we've been pulling out our favorite cabbage and potato dishes.

While not exactly health food, this is a lovely one-dish potato & veggie casserole. Boiling the garlic cloves with the potatoes mellows their flavor, and the leeks lend a lovely sweetness (although you can substitute sauteed onions if you like) against the bite of the Irish cheddar cheese. We like to eat the leftovers for breakfast topped with a couple of fried eggs, over-easy.



Cheesy Colcannon with Leeks



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Cabbage and Leek Gratin with Mustard Cream

This recipe is phenomenally delicious, and distinctly savory. We made a variation of it with local artisanal horseradish white cheddar and some of the perfect leeks we found at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago. Perfect for a cool autumn evening.



Cabbage and Leek Gratin with Mustard Creamfrom Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen

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Pastitsio

We were inspired by the bounty of eggplant this week -- a few Japanese varieties from our CSA, as well as an Udalumpet and a Florida Highbush from our own garden. So, we decided to make a Greek-inspired main dish casserole. For those of you who can appreciate moussaka, this will be a real treat (it's what inspired the dish -- so its resemblance is no accident). Vegetarians can add zucchini and tofu crumbles in place of the lamb for a vegetarian main dish (we'll do that another day, for sure!).

Pastitsio
This Greek pasta dish is reminiscent of moussaka
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS:
2 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 T + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 T dried oregano ( 2 T fresh, chopped)
Black pepper
Salt
¼ cup Italian flatleaf parsley, chopped
28 oz tomatoes, in their own juices
1 lb ground lamb
1 cup red wine
6 T olive oil
6 cups eggplant, cubed (2 medium)
1 medium red pepper, chopped

CUSTARD:
2 cups milk
½ stick butter (2 oz)
3 small garlic cloves
¼ cup flour
¼ cup feta, crumbled
1 cup Gruyere (Swiss) cheese, grated
¾ cup cottage cheese, drained for 20 minutes
1 tsp nutmeg, ground
5 large eggs

8 oz penne (or other tubular pasta), preferably whole wheat
½ cup dried bread crumbs

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft (about 5-6 minutes). Add ground lamb. Cook until lightly browned. Add red wine and boil until reduced by ½. Add tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minuites. Add cinnamon, allspice, oregano, pepper, salt, and parsley. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until almost all liquid is evaporated.

While sauce is simmering, heat 3 T olive oil in large skillet. Saute eggplant until golden brown, in batches, until all is cooked. Drain on paper towels. Saute red pepper until tender. Set eggplant and pepper aside.

Mix feta, gruyere, and cottage cheese together with nutmeg. Set aside.
Beat eggs with whisk until light yellow and frothy.
Preheat oven to 350ºF

Melt butter with garlic over medium heat. When melted, add flour and stir until golden, about 2 minutes. Add milk ½ cup at a time, stirring until combined after each addition. Bring to a boil. Take off heat. Add cheese to milk mixture. Stir until cheese is melted. Add 1/3 egg mixture to milk mixture. Whisk until incorporated. Then, add remainder of egg mixture. Stir to combine.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; mix pasta with lamb mixture.

Grease 9x13 baking pan or casserole dish. Add ½ eggplant mixture to pan. Pour lamb/pasta mixture over top. Layer rest of eggplant over top of lamb mixture. Pour egg/milk/cheese mixture over top. Top with bread crumbs.

Bake at 350º for 50-60 minutes, or until custard is set. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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