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Macaroni and Cheese

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Macaroni and Cheese

The crispy topping and the Gruyère cheese really make this recipe special.

However, if you don’t have Gruyère on hand, feel free to experiment with other cheeses, just stick to the proportions.

  • 1 Quart whole milk
  • 8 tablespoons Unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 12 ounces Gruyère cheese (grated)
  • 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (grated)
  • 1 pound rigatoni or elbow macaroni
  • 1 cup corn flakes (crushed)
  • white pepper and salt ( to taste)
  1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.

    Grate both cheeses and reserve 1/4 C of Gruyère and 1/4 C of Cheddar to be used for the topping.

    In a zip lock bag, add the Corn Flakes and crush until you have fine crumbs. Add, the reserved cheeses. set aside.

    In a separate sauce pan or microwave proof container, heat the milk.

    In a large sauce pan , melt 7 T. butter. Add, the flour and cook over low heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in the heated milk, and continue to cook until mixture thickens. Remove the mixture from heat and stir in the Gruyère and Cheddar cheeses.

    Season with white pepper. Taste the cheese sauce to check the seasonings, if it needs salt add it now. Add the white pepper to taste.

    Stir in the cooked pasta until combined. Pour into a 3-quart buttered, baking dish.

    Sprinkle the corn flake and cheese topping over the pasta and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.

    Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Ham and Leek Quiche

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“Real Men don’t eat quiche”…until they’ve smelled this Ham and Leek Quiche baking in the oven!  When my husband entered our home to the aroma of this quiche baking, the temptation was too great for him and he had to give it a try.  He now requests that I bake him this wonderful quiche.  This recipe is slightly adapted from Williams Sonoma.

Ham and Leek Quiche

  • 1 batch basic quiche or tart dough
  • 1 T. Unsalted butter
  • 3 C. leeks (thinly sliced)
  • 1 C. smoked ham (diced)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C heavy cream
  • 1/4 C Gruyère cheese (finely shredded)
  • fresh ground pepper (to taste)
  1. Preheat oven temperature to 350°F.

    In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat until it turns golden. Add the leeks and sauté until wilted but still bright green, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl to cool. Sautee the diced smoked ham for 3 minutes. Add to the leek mixture.

    In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Season with the 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 or 2 grindings of pepper. Scatter the leek mixture evenly over the bottom of the pastry shell. Pour in the egg mixture and mix lightly with a fork to distribute evenly. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese.

    Bake until the custard is set and the top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. If the custard is set but the top has not turned golden brown, slip the quiche under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, watching closely. Let cool about 20 minutes in the pan on a rack before serving. Makes one 9-inch quiche.

Potato Leek Soup

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After baking a ham and leek quiche I found myself with extra leeks.  What to do?!?  I found this wonderful recipe by Alton Brown for Potato Leek Soup that was easy to make and more importantly… deliciously satisfying.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Potato Leek Soup

  • 1 Lb cleaned leeks (sliced thin)
  • 3 T Unsalted butter
  • heavy pinch kosher salt
  • 14 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes (approximately, 3 )
  • 1 quart vegetable broth
  • 1 C heavy cream
  • 1 C Buttermilk
  • 1/2 t white pepper
  • 1 T snipped chives
  1. In a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.

    Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.

Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake

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While finishing up a great lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Austin,  I was presented with the difficult decision on choosing which dessert to share with my good friend and fellow foodie Heather; Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake was the special of the day.  Honestly, I turned up my nose at the idea of a grapefruit cake!  Heather was shocked that I had not ever tried an olive oil cake and  insisted we order a slice but,  just to be safe we ordered a back up dessert!  Well, I took one bite and fell in love!

I ran across the following recipe which was adapted from Melissa Clark’s blood orange olive oil cake.   The cake has a great texture and isn’t overwhelmingly heavy or sweet. It is a wonderful treat to enjoy at mid-day with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

As I am an empty nester, a large bundt cake is just too much cake for the two of us.  I baked this recipe in three mini bundt pans; kept one at home and took two to the office to share with friends. These make beautiful edible gifts!

For the cake:
2 grapefruits
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
juice from one of the grapefruits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard bundt pan.

Zest the 2 grapefruits into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar to the bowl, and using your fingers, rub the zest and sugar together until they’re well-incorporated to infuse the sugar with the grapefruit essential oils.

Halve one of the grapefruits and squeeze its juice into a measuring cup. Add buttermilk to juice in the measuring cup until there is a total of about 2/3 cup of liquid (you may not need the entire 1/2 cup of buttermilk, depending on the size of your grapefruit).Pour the grapefruit juice/buttermilk mixture into the bowl with the zest and sugar and whisk well. Whisk in the eggs and olive oil.

In another bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, until it is golden brown on top until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. When done, remove the cake to a rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Run a knife around the edges and unmold the cake onto a cake platter.

For the glaze, halve and squeeze the juice from the remaining grapefruit into a small sauce pan.  Add the brown sugar and simmer just to dissolve the sugar.   Using a toothpick, prick the cake all over, slowly brush the glaze over the entire cake.

Enjoy!

Awesome Meatballs

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So my husband named this meatball recipe!  And, they are delicious!!
I love that these meatballs are baked in the oven, so they are very quick  to mix up and with minimal mess.  The recipe makes a huge batch, about 40 meatballs.  These freeze really well  and are always great to have on hand.  When I do make a batch, I have to keep it on the down low as my daughters (aka sticky fingers), will surely stop by and raid my freezer.  <3<3<3
This recipe comes from America’s Test  Kitchen with a few minor modifications.
My marinara sauce will be posted soon…

 

Awesome Meatballs

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 lb. ground veal
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2.25 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
  • 1.5 cup Buttermilk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 5 oz. Prosciutto (thinly sliced and chopped fine)
  • 3 oz. Parmesan Cheese (Grated about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 6 Tablespoons Parsley (fresh minced)
  • 3 cloves garlic (pressed through a garlic press – about 1 tablespoon)
  • 1.5 tsp Knox unflavored gelatin (dissolved in 3 tablespoons of water)
  • 1.5 tsp Salt
  • 1.5 tsp Pepper
  • 1.5 tsp Oregano (dried leaves)
  1. Instructions
    FOR THE MEATBALLS: Place wire racks in 2 foil-lined rimmed baking
    sheets. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions and
    heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine bread crumbs and buttermilk in large bowl
    and let sit, mashing occasionally with fork, until smooth paste forms,
    about 10 minutes.
    Add eggs, beef, pork, prosciutto, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, gelatin
    mixture, 11/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to bread-crumb
    mixture. Using hands, gently mix until thoroughly combined. Lightly form
    about ¼ cup mixture into 2-inch round meatball (about 2 ounces); repeat
    with remaining mixture to form approximately 40 meatballs.
    Spray wire racks with nonstick cooking spray and place meatballs, evenly
    spaced, on racks; roast until browned, about 30 minutes, rotating trays
    from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.

    As the meatballs come out of the oven, I drop them into a pot of my favorite marinara sauce.