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.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 large yellow onion

1/2 c. olive oil

6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced

3 cans (28oz) crushed tomatoes (I used Publix’s brand)

3 tbsp. fresh parsley

3 tea. dried oregano

1 tbsp. crushed red pepper

1 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. Italian Seasoning

salt

pepper

DIRECTIONS: 

Grate the onion. This will release more of the juices and give you smaller onion pieces. If you are not in the mood for it, by all means, chop it.

 Heat the olive oil and add onions until translucent. (3 – 4 minutes) Add garlic and cook for a minute or two longer.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust. Cook, uncovered for 15 – 20 minutes.

 Cook’s Notes: Personally, I like a little sweetness to my sauce but find your balance. I added more than the recipe I gave you. A little sugar is definitely needed to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. This isn’t needed when using jar sauce because there is a large quantity already in there…trust me. Well, you really don’t have to; check the label. Lol. Anyway, I used 3 to 4 tbsp if you wanna keep it fierce…lol.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds medium red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• Parsley
• 1 cup grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper

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. : )