So as you all know, I am a fan of Macaroni and Cheese and Mac n Cheese recipes. While there is such a thing as a bad dish of it, there are soooo many combinations and opportunities for fabulous ones! Before they flip the switch on the chair, there are two things I am requesting. First, this Macaroni and Cheese (on the finest of China, of course!) and a slice of the Kicking Key Lime Pie! Okay, okay…the whole pie. HEY! I’m dying I should get as much as I want! *side eye* After those two, I will repent and go in peace.
Anyway, this recipe calls for making a béchamel sauce. Basically, you’ll be making a roux (some type of fat i.e. butter, shortening, oil + flour) and then combining that with milk and cheese. Piece of cake!

Ingredients

Macaroni & Cheese:
4 oz grated white Cheddar cheese
4 oz finely cubed Fontina cheese*
4 oz grated Gruyere cheese*
8 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or other good-quality parmesan cheese (about 2 c)
1 lb penne pasta (or your preference such as elbow)
1 tea minced garlic
7 T butter
4 T flour
2 c half and half
3/4 tea salt
1/4 tea ground white pepper

Topping:
1/2 c bread crumbs (fresh if possible)
1/2 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or other good-quality parmesan cheese
2 tea dried parsley
1/4 tea of white pepper

*Note: I get my cheeses from Publix’s deli and I rarely find the Fontina and Gruyere hard enough to get a good grate out of them. They are much softer than the cheddar and parmesan. When you ask for them at the counter, ask for a large brick of each instead of sliced cheese.

Directions

In a heavy, medium saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over low heat. With whisk in hand, add the flour and combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. It will look like corn meal and will be wet but thick.
Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half and half little by little. (Big splash, whisk, big splash, whisk…) It should take you about 5 minutes to whisk it all in. There should never be a point when the liquid isn’t instantly absorbed into the flour/butter mixture. Take your time. As you’re adding it, it will start looking like the paste we used for the paper Mache projects from elementary school. Unlike in school, please try to resist the urge to eat it we need it for the dish. O_o Lol Cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper and 4 ounces of the grated parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt to taste and, while stirring, add the macaroni. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to a low boil and cook for about 5 minutes, or until macaroni is very al dente (slightly undercooked). DO NOT OVERCOOK! The macaroni will continue to cook in the oven. (IMO, one of the worst things you can do to a mac n cheese is to overcook the noodles; that and leave out the cheese. lol) Drain in a colander and return the macaroni to the pot. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and the garlic and stir to combine. Add the béchamel sauce and stir until well combined. Set aside.
Using the remaining tablespoon of butter, grease a 3-quart baking dish or casserole and set aside.
In a large bowl combine 4 ounces of each, the parmesan, cheddar, fontina and gruyere cheese. Toss to combine.
In another small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and set aside.
Depending on the size/deepness of your dish, you may be able to do three layers which I think works better. However, my casserole dish (pictured) is very shallow and wide so I only have 2 layers. You’ll be able to tell once you spread a third of the noodles in the dish and seeing if it completely covers the bottom or not. If not, switch to two layers….still amazing don’t worry. So after you have your first layer (completely covering the bottom) add a 1/3 (or 1/2 if doing 2 layers) of the mixed cheeses. Go on to your next layer of noodles, followed by the next layer of cheeses…..etc. Once all of your macaroni is in the dish, cover with the topping mixture.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the macaroni and cheese is bubbly and hot and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Voila! That is it! I defy you to find one that is better….but please do because I want it!!!

On most days of the week, I send my sister off with food to help her (and a few of her fellow RN buddies) get through the long night shifts. She doesn’t know it, but I leave my phone on just so I can get the call from her telling me how awesome the food was.   Last night, I sent her with a new Mac n Cheese recipe I tinkered around with. She saw me as I was packing the food and I could tell that she was a little skeptical about it. It was understandable. After all, it was a white sauce recipe, involved rigatoni pasta (extremely large, ridged, tubular noodles) and panko bread crumbs. A far cry from the bright orange and yellow dish with macaroni noodles to which she’s accustomed. To add insult to injury, when she questioned the “green stuff” I’d mixed in, I told her that I thought a few scraps of the uncooked collard greens from my mom’s dish would be a “good touch”. You should’ve seen her face!! lol. I could not bring myself to tell her that it was actually parsley. In spite of my laughter, I took her scrunched up nose as a challenge.

I got my phone call around 1:42 a.m., pretended that I hadn’t been sleep since 10 and listened. A smile crept across my sleep-deprived face as she recounted  how she began apologizing to her friends for my experimentation on them; promising that there was a bottle of hot sauce on hand to mask my mistakes if needed. She said that she was cursing me for the embarrassment she was sure to suffer even up until she placed it in the microwave. She watched its rotations with indifference and was happy she had the other dishes on hand. But 2 minutes into the warm-up, she noticed the dish was different. It bubbled, gooed and oozed and suddenly she was squirming, writhing and salivating. (She didn’t say that but I know that’s what really happened) Of course, once tasted, it did not disappoint. In fact, she claims it “MURDERED ALL MAC N CHEESES BEFORE IT.”(o_O  Given her profession, I will accept that idiom as high praise, lol)  Her friends went on and on about it and I could hear it in her voice that she was as proud as a 7 year old whose mom brought cupcakes to the school on her birthday. She ended our phone call with “…and the collard greens WERE a good touch, ZINA! Gurl you good!”

poor child…smh.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Rigatoni Pasta, cooked according to package (salt the water)

1 1/2 c. Panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 lb extra sharp white cheddar, freshly shredded (stop being lazy)

1/2 lb deli sliced fontina

1/2 lb deli sliced gruyere

2 1/2 c. heavy cream

2 1/2 c. half n half

2 tbsp. minced garlic (I had some roasted minced garlic in the fridge)

3 tbsp. parsley

1 tea. Kosher salt

1 tea. Black pepper

Butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13 casserole dish. Spread the cooked pasta into the dish. (I don’t need to tell you to drain it, right? lol) Take half the breadcrumbs and spread them over the noodles. Add the parsley and toss it all to get a good mix. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat the cream, half n half, garlic, salt and pepper and cheddar (freshly shredded, right?) on medium. As it starts to melt, grab the other cheeses and break off pieces to toss into the pot. The fontina is too soft for shredding and the gruyere is a pain to work with and I’ve found that it’s gonna melt regardless of how it started. (Yep, figured that out all by myself). Incorporate all the cheese and continue to heat on medium until it is melted and has the consistency of a sauce. Pour sauce over the pasta and stir it a little to “slaquer it” all over every noodle and in every crevice allowable. (I coined that term myself….I’m on a thinking roll today hunh?) Once every noodle is coated, toss remaining bread crumbs over the entire dish and pop that baby in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until bread crumbs are lightly toasted.

Emeril’s Stew Beef (well, my take on it. Minus the tomato paste, a little extra flour, and beef stock. IDK where he thought I was getting “veal” stock from, lol) and..I didnt use emeril’s seasoning…lawry’s with a little paprika and cayenne was just as good.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound button mushrooms, quartered
2 cups roughly chopped yellow onions
2 cups sliced carrots, (1-inch slices cut crosswise on a diagonal)
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups veal or beef stock, at room temperature
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3 to 4 cups 1-inch dice russet potatoes
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Steamed white rice or buttered egg noodles, for serving

Directions:

Set a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the pot and season the beef with the salt, Essence and black pepper, being sure to toss the meat well to evenly cover with the spices. Add 1/3 of the beef to the pot and cook until browned on all sides, 2 or 3 minutes per side. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil to the pot along with half of the remaining meat and cook again until browned. Set aside and repeat with the remaining tablespoon of oil and remaining beef. Set aside.

Add the butter and mushrooms to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, carrots and celery and saute until onions are softened and lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Add the stock, tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, allspice and browned beef and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover the pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender, about 1 hour. Add the potatoes to the stew and partially cover the pot with a lid. Continue cooking until the potatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the lid and discard the thyme and rosemary stems. Add the peas and parsley to the stew, stir well to combine, then remove from the heat. Serve hot, with either steamed white rice or buttered egg noodles.

Emeril’s ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Dish Ingredients:
8 chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 bunch thyme
1 bay leaf

Dumpling Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tbsp baking powder
1 ½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons salted butter
1 ½ tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
1 ½ teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups onions
3 cups carrots, big chunks
3 cups ribs celery, big chunks
3 cloves finely chopped garlic

Directions:
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
In a skillet, pan fry breasts in Olive oil, remove from pan, and set aside.
In a very large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine chicken broth, thyme, and bay leaf to cover. Turn on heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. (Usually, this meal is done with a whole chicken and the chicken is cooked with the stock but since I did boneless white meat, I decided not to risk overcooking or drying out) After it cools, cut into large bite-sized pieces. Add broth from pan to dutch oven.
Discard the thyme and bay leaf.

Homemade Dumplings:
Add flour, salt and pepper, to taste, and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk together. (You should be able to see the pepper. It makes a HUGE difference in the flavor of the dumplings. ) In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, butter and herbs to a low simmer then add to the dry ingredients. Stir with a rubber spatula until combined. Using your hands, form dough into dumplings.

Reheat skillet used for chicken over medium heat and add oil. Once oil is hot, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Season veggies with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft, 7-10 minutes. Add vegetables to dutch oven. Add dumplings 1 at a time into the simmering soup. Cover pan with a lid and cook for 30 – 40 minutes. Add chicken to soup (just to reheat) and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste, if necessary. Garnish with parsley flakes.

Note: I’ve done this once with skinless chicken thighs (at the request of my diners) and I recommend baking it rather than poaching it. It retained that good juiciness that only the pleasure of thick thighs can give you. : )