Sam The Cooking Guy's Thai Chicken Curry

This recipe is so good. I'm especially intrigued by using pre-grilled chicken in the recipe so that it takes even less time. My mom cooked this for Lars and I last night and my only complaint is that it looks like baby poo. I mean, I don't know if I'd think that if I didn't have a baby that poos frequently. Its just curry, ya know? It doesn't smell like baby poo if that is any consolation. It smells like delicious fantastic curry.

...What? You want me to stop with the baby poo descriptions? Is this a people's blog or a bourgeois blog?

Okay okay here's the recipe taken from Sam the Cooking Guy.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1-14 ounce can coconut milk
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken, or lamb, or whatever you like
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam

Steps

1. Cook onion and garlic in oil until softened - but not too soft
2. Mix flour and curry powder together, and add to onion mixture
3. NOTE - if you want it spicy, this is when you would add the cayenne
4. Stir well for a minute, and begin to add about 3/4 of the coconut milk (add all if you like, it will just be a little thinner)
5. Stir in apricot jam
6. Add in chicken and allow all to warm through
7. Serve on rice and garnish with a little fresh chopped cilantro

Meatloaf - pioneer style!

I'm officially obsessed with the Pioneer Woman. You can read more about her on the blog, but I have come to love her recipes. They're simple, back-to-basics and sooooo yummy. The recipes are large, so we always have leftovers for lunch the next day. The best part is all the pictures! I just bought her cookbook and whipped up the first of many hits.

This meatloaf is slightly different from other meatloaf - because it's wrapped in bacon (to seal in moisture!) It does lend a slightly bacon-y flavor to the meatloaf so you could easily leave it off for a traditional meatloaf flavor. The BEST part is the sauce. There's lots of it and it's sweet and baked in. It's a big recipe (don't forget - she's feeding 4 kids...that she homeschools....and still has time for photography AND a blog!) so you could easily halve it. I baked the whole thing and saved some for leftovers.

Here's the list:

1 cup milk
6 bread slices (we used potato bread - is there anything yummier?)
2 lbs of ground beed (you could easily use turkey)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1//4 tsp Lowry's seasoned salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
4 eggs, beaten
8 to 12 thin bacon slices


Tomato gravy:
1 1/2 cups ketchup
6 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
dash or two of hot sauce - more if you like heat

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Pour the milk over the bread and allow it to soak in for a few minutes.
3. Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parm cheese, salt, seasoned salt, pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the beaten eggs.
4. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.
5. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat from the meat to drain. I line the pan with aluminum foil to avoid scrubbing later.
6. Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.
7. Next, make the tomato gravy: Pour the ketchup into a small mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and dry mustard, and splash in the hot sauce. I'm generous with it because I like spice.
8. Stir the mixture until well combined.
9. Pour one-third of the tomato gravy over the top of the meatloaf.
10. Bake for another 45 minutes then pour another one-third of the remaining tomato gravy over the meatloaf. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
11. Serve with the remaining tomato gravy on the side as a dipping sauce. Serve with PW's Creamy Mashed Potatoes or Olive Cheese Bread. Delicious!

Super Easy Sides: Roasted Veggies

Cook's note: this is much better without the side of thumb mine came with tonight but you can use any combination of fall/winter vegetables that you like, thumbs included. Especially easy if you can find the precut squash and potatoes and baby carrots in the store.

Preheat oven to 425/450 depending on how crispy you want your veggies.

3-4 medium Yukon Gold or Red potatoes, cubed
1 yellow onion cut in 1/8ths
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small Butternut Squash, cubed
2 medium carrots, cut in "thick" matchsticks
4 Tbs olive oil to coat
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper
* Chopped fresh rosemary--optional

Place cut veggies in pan (I like to use a deep sided baking sheet lined with parchment) and douse with olive oil, salt and pepper and herbs and stir to coat veggies. Bake for 20 minutes and turn vegetables and return to oven for another 20-25 minutes.

Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie

Yay for Autumn! One of the best things about fall is the bumper crops of apples. My food porn often involves apple pie, caramel apples, baked apples, apple slices with peanut butter--you get the idea: Ginny <3's apples.

My brother-in-law Chad and his girlfriend Sonja are visiting this week so I've been cooking up a storm for the guests. Also, Chad eats a lot. As he reminded me last night, I should have made a shopping list of what I thought I would need and then doubled it for him. Why the man is not 300 pounds is a complete mystery to me. Ryan can put it away too and is just over a buck fifty. Not fair.

Anyways, getting back to my original point. Apples are awesome, apple pie is even better and although I make a few modifications,this is one of the better recipes I've come across (on epicurious.com). I suck at pie dough but luckily Sonja makes a perfect crust. I include the recipe's pie dough here but you can sub in your favorite iteration of flaky pie crust. Traditionally, bakers use the granny smith which gets very soft when baked but I recommend that you use golden delicious apples. Apple pie connessieurs may be yelling "Blasphemy!" but golden delicious apples stay firmer and need less sugar and the resulting pie is more "appley" and less mushy. My version is below but you can view the original on epicurious.com here.

Crust

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup frozen solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons (or more) ice water
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Filling

• 3 1/4 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Topping

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• Vanilla ice cream

For crust:
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter and shortening; rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Mix 3 tablespoons ice water and vinegar in small bowl to blend. Drizzle over flour mixture; stir with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch; turn edge under and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate while preparing filling and topping.

For filling:
Mix all ingredients in large bowl to coat apples.

For topping:
Blend first 5 ingredients in processor. Add chilled butter cubes; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles wet sand.

Toss filling to redistribute juices; transfer to crust, mounding in center. Pack topping over and around apples. Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 40 minutes (cover top with foil if browning too quickly). Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until apples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 45 minutes longer. Cool until warm, about 1 hour. Serve with ice cream.

Corn and tomatoes

I made this on Friday and this on Saturday. Yum. And we felt so healthy!

We love the Bittman salad - my mom had made it for us when we were on vacation - and I think it will become a regular part of our rotation. We use turkey bacon. Also, I couldn't find Thai peppers so I just used some random kind. Make and love this salad.

I modified the Smitten Kitchen cornbread salad - not on purpose but because that's life and cooking. I didn't have the inclination to chase down the various types of greens (trader joes i love you but i hate your approach to produce; really - all those wasteful plastic containers and more of one thing than i ever need?) so I just used a mix of greens. I couldn't find a Vidalia onion either so I just used some type of sweet onion. For no good reason I am afraid of putting my skillet in the oven so I didn't use the cornbread recipe provided. I planned to use TJ's cornbread mix (forgive me), but they were out so I ended up making the Joy of Cooking's Northern Cornbread. I think it might have been better to have the sweeter TJ cornbread because it would have contrasted with the bite of the onions and the dressing. Despite my tweaks, it was good.

I wasn't going for a theme, it just looks like it. Both were very easy and yielded leftovers that we enjoyed today. Excellent.

Chicken Tequila Fettuccine (CPK Knockoff)

My friend Minal had my mom and I over for dinner and made this fabulous little recipe...after we had dinner I wanted to know what it was and she said she just did a little google search on a knockoff recipe for CPK Chicken Tequila Fettuccine. I love the lime and cilantro flavor in this. Also, am loving having people cook for me and hope to get back into the swing of things myself soon. You can only eat so many burritos from BTB (Big Ten Burrito) before it loses its allure.

Ingredients

• 1 lb dry spinach fettuccine (or 2 lbs fresh) .
• 2 tbsps minced fresh garlic .
• 1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced .
• 2 tbsps gold tequila .
• 2 tbsps minced jalapeno peppers (seeds & veins may be eliminated if milder flavor is desired) .
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced .
• 2 tbsps freshly squeezed lime juice .
• 3 tbsps soy sauce .
• 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced .
• 1 1/4 lbs chicken breasts, sliced 3/4 inch .
• 1/2 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced .
• 1 1/2 c heavy cream .
• 1/2 c sliced fresh cilantro (2 tbsps reserved for garnish or finish) .
• 3 tbsps unsalted butter (reserve tbsp per sauté) .
• 1/2 c chicken stock (preferably homemade)

Instructions

Step #1 Prepare rapidly boiling, salted water to cook pasta; cook this until al dente, 8 to 10 mins for dry pasta, approximately 3 mins for fresh.

Step #2 Pasta may be cooked slightly ahead of time, rinsed & oiled & then "flashed" (reheated) in boiling water or cooked to coincide with the finishing of the sauce/topping.

Step #3 Cook 1/3 c cilantro, garlic & jalapeno in 2 tbsps butter over med-heat/flame for 4 to 5 mins.

Step #4 Add stock, tequila & lime juice.

Step #5 Bring the mixture to a boil & cook this until reduced to a paste like consistency; set aside.

Step #6 Pour soy sauce over sliced chicken; set aside for 5 mins.

Step #7 Meanwhile cook onion & peppers, stirring every once in awhile, with remaining butter over med-heat/flame.

Step #8 When the vegetables have wilted (become limp), add.

Step #9 chicken & soy sauce; toss & add reserved tequila/lime paste & cream.

Step #10 Bring the sauce to a boil; boil carefully until chicken is cooked through & sauce is thick (about 3 mins).

Step #11 When sauce is done, toss with well-drained spinach fettuccine & reserved cilantro.

Step #12 Serve family style or transfer to serving dishes, evenly distributing chicken & vegetables.

Kung Pao Chicken

...ANOTHER Cooking Light recipe. Sometimes when I make this and then I overeat I'm like "hey but its cooking light". Awww the food addict's dilemma.

Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
4 cups broccoli florets
1 tbsp ground fresh ginger, divided
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (more to taste)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp coursely chopped salted peanuts

Instructions
1) Heat 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and tsp ginger to pan, saute 1 minute. Add water. Cover, cook 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Remove broccoli from pan, keep warm.
2) Heat remaining 2 tsp of oil in pan and add remaining 1 tsp of ginger, crushed red pepper, and chicken. Cook 4 minutes or until chicken is lightly browned, stirring frequently.
3) Combine broth and next five ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl and stir with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan, cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Return broccoli to pan, toss to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Chile-Cheese Corn Bread

Would you believe this is from a "lighten up" section of a magazine? Me neither--but its really quite good! We had it with Miracle Chicken Tortilla Soup last night. Seems perfect for the harvest season, too...with a good chili or perhaps some bean surprise?

Chili-Cheese Corn Bread

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat extra sharp cheddar cheese (or more to taste but that defeats some of the "lighten up" aspect to the recipe, no? mmm cheese).
1 (14 3/4 oz) can cream-style corn
1 (4 1/2 oz) can chopped green chiles undrained
Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) Combine softened butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg substitute, nonfat buttermilk, and eggs, beating at low speed until well combined.
3) Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking power and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture, stirring until combined. Fold in shredded cheese, corn, and green chiles. Pour batter into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in pan. Yields 16 servings.

Bean Surprise*

Ok, folks. Here is quite possibly, THE easiest dinner you can make. It's loaded with protein, and even if you want to go totally veggie and leave out the chicken, there's plenty of protein left.

Seriously...got a can opener?

1. Poach chicken and cut into cubes.
2. In a saucepan, combine the chicken, 1 can of refried beans, 1 can of pinto beans (do not drain), 1 can of red kidney beans, 1 can or jar of salsa.
3. Stir until mixed well.

This is actually Roger's recipe, and he came up with it back in the oooooold days of bodybuilding. There's virtually no fat, and it's got tons of protein and fiber. We mix this up lots of different ways - serve in a bread bowl or over rice, add garnishments like cilantro or green onions, sour cream and tortilla chips, wrap it up in a tortilla, etc. I actually just make a bunch and freeze it to use later. It's hearty!

** You've probably guessed what the 'surprise' is by now, right? Ahh beans, the magical fruit. :)

Chicken Couch Divine

My mom cooked up a storm for us when she came right before Bjorn made his grand debut. A lot of what I requested was comfort food and this is one of the recipes specifically. I've never made HER recipe before--only the one in my Crate & Barrel cookbook. This one is hands down better. Maybe its the cup of mayo that goes into it...yikes. I like to think all the chicken and broccoli counter the negative effects of the mayo.

...this is like its straight from the Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1950s. Straight up with 7-Up Salad and SO good.

Chicken Couch Divine

Ingredients:

• 5 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and cut into small pieces (or the easy way is to buy a store cooked roasted chicken)
• 2 packages of fresh broccoli to steam in microwave...or 2 packages of frozen broccoli, cooked and drained (about 20 ounces total)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (you can add a little more to taste)
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese (again, a little more to taste) grated

Mix sauce ingredients and simmer until warm, and the cheese melts. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in bottom of shallow baking pan (9x13).

Place broccoli in bottom of pan. Cover with some sauce. Layer sliced chicken over sauce and add remaining sauce to cover. You can smash up some croutons to place on top if you want to add a little crunch. Cook 30 minutes in 350 degree oven. Can be prepared a day ahead...increase baking time if casserole has been refrigerated or frozen.

Other recipes still to come from mom's venture to Ann Arbor:

• Kung Pao Chicken
• Chicken Tortilla Casserole
• Chicken Fettucini Alfredo
• Spanish Chicken Breast Bake
  

My favorite marinade

Our new kitchen is unfortunate. Tiny, no counter space, no fan/exhaust system over the stove. Cooking dinner turns the main living floor into a sauna. And as Kate can attest, it's been oppressively sticky hot in the northeast for the last week so I've been doing a lot of grilling. Here's my favorite, no fail marinade that works for just about everything: chicken, beef, pork and veggies. Our favorite use is for chicken and beef (flank steak) kabobs because kids will eat anything on a stick. Adapted from Creme de Colorado by the Junior League of Colorado (I know, I know.)

1 cup of oil
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of worsteshire
1/4 cup of dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
A little salt and pepper

Mix it all up and toss in your meat of choice and let marinate for 8 hours to overnight. Grill or broil until desired doneness.

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I saw this on Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics show on the Food Network and it looked so good and so easy to make. I haven't tried it, yet, but I'm hoping maybe to get a certain mom who is visiting in two days to make some and freeze some for leftovers when BBJ arrives. It seems like it might even be good in the summer...we shall see, though. I have majorly escaped the heat of the summer of 2009 with this pregnancy.

This would probably be so good with warm sourdough bread. Or in a sourdough bread bowl. Nom nom nom.

Ingredients
* 1 pound French green lentils
* 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)
* 4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks)
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
* 1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks)
* 3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
* 3 quarts chicken stock
* 1/4 cup tomato paste
* 2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
* Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

I had this crazy momentum yesterday evening at 7pm.  Usually Lars and I will go out to dinner on Saturday night--but I was totally craving a night in so took it upon myself to look up a recipe on my iphone via the epicurious app after impulsively buying Tess of the D'Urbervilles at Borders to try and find something quick and easy to make for dinner.  I think I may have been manic, but the results ended up quite nice!

This was VERY easy to make and had a lot of kick to it.  Lars wished it was a little sweeter.  He likes the SWEET and the SPICY but to me it was just right.  I think, what he was really wishing for, was that I discovered the secret recipe for Chang's Spicy Chicken at PF Chang's and made that.  Yeah, good look with that, honey buns.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice or long-grain white rice (10 to 11 ounces) 3/4 cup orange juice 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper 1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips 1 8-ounce package stringless sugar snap peas

Preparation:

• Cook rice according to package directions. Cover to keep warm; set aside.
  
• Meanwhile, whisk juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch in medium bowl until cornstarch dissolves. Mix in orange peel.
  
• Heat oil in large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onion and crushed red pepper. Stir-fry 30 seconds. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to wok and stir-fry until onion is crisp-tender and chicken is just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add sugar snap peas and juice mixture. Toss until sauce thickens and comes to boil and peas are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.
  

Fake Bakes=My New Best Friend

Sometimes you forget a recipe--and then you remember it--and then you remember that you liked it and so did your husband and that it provided ample leftovers. This is that recipe. We made it this past week and it was sooo good. Its from a Rachael Ray show I saw eons ago (don't be a hater until you've tried it!). I think the first time I made it tried so hard to follow all the directions it took a lot longer than expected (as with most of her recipes). Once I got the hang of it, though, I feel like could make this as a very quick week-night dinner with leftovers for probably 2-3 more days (depending on how hungry Lars is)....

Chicken, Sausage, Pepper & Onion Pasta Fake Bake

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni
• Salt
• 1 pound cooked chicken sausages (we use jalapeno-flavored from Trader Joe's)
  
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
• 1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and sliced (if I can't find this, I just use another bell pepper)
  
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock, a couple of glugs
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, (recommended: San Marzano)
• Handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, 10 leaves, torn or shredded (I also just shake in a couple dried herbs if I don't want to go out and get fresh basil)
  
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus some to pass at table

Directions

Place a pot of water on the stove to boil for pasta. When the water boils, salt it and cook pasta to al dente, with a bite to it.

Prick sausages with a fork. Place chicken sausages in a large skillet and add 1 inch of water. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet, 1 turn of the pan. Bring water to a boil then reduce heat a little. Allow all the liquid to cook away then brown and crisp the casings, 5 to 6 minutes.

Preheat broiler.

While pasta and sausage cook, heat a deep skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the peppers, onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper. When the sausages are cooked through, slice them on an angle and add them to the peppers and onions. Cook together until peppers and onions are tender and sliced sausages are crisp at edges then deglaze the pan with white wine or chicken stock. Stir in crushed tomatoes and bring to a bubble, reduce heat to low.

Drain rigatoni and return to warm pot. Add ricotta cheese, salt and pepper, parsley and basil and half of the Parmigiano, a couple of handfuls, stir to combine.

To assemble the "fake bake," place half the sausage, peppers, onions and sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Top with all of the pasta and then the remaining sausage and sauce. Cover the top of the dish with the grated Parmigiano and place until broiler 2 minutes to brown cheese and set pasta.

Keen-wah

Given recent TPIW quinoa enthusiasm, I have to share the Peruvian Quinoa Stew I made yesterday. I love it, especially because it seems pretty healthy and it's easy. This seemed a little blander than I remembered, but I would just add pepper to taste, and bump up the cheese and cilantro. We had it with yummy summer peaches, strawberries and fancy chocolates.

From Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water

2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (i used olive b/c it was at the front of the cupboard)
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, cut on the diagonal into 1/4 inch-thick-slices
1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup cubed zucchini
2 cups undrained chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
2 cup water or vegetable stock (ok, i used chicken stock b/c that's what i had)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch of cayenne (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dried)

chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
grated cheddar or jack cheese (optional)

Using a fine sieve, rinse the quinoa well. Place it in a pot with the water and cook, covered, on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, until soft. Set aside.

While the quinoa cooks, in a covered soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the celery and carrots, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and water or stock. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, coriander, cayenne, and oregano, and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Stir the cooked quinoa into the stew and add salt to taste. Top with cilantro and grated cheese, if you wish. Serve immediately.

Special thanks to Sarah for holding baby G while I did the prep work!

OMG. That was way too easy.

Yesterday I cooked what will probably be our last real meal here at Black Walnut: pan fried rib eye steak, spinach salad and...creme brule. Ryan and I luv us some creme brule and we pretty much order it for dessert at every restaurant that has it on the menu. I've never attempted it at home but decided to give it a try because it's Ryan's favorite and it was Father's Day.

It was SO easy that it's a little scary. Will I be tempted to make creme brule for dessert all the time now? Only time will tell.

This recipe makes 6 smaller servings or 3 larger servings. Our ramekins are on the bigger side and it was pretty rich, especially after the rib eye, but I was still trying to surreptitiously lick the bowl when no one was watching. Adapted from a recipe on epicurious.com.

Creme Brule
6 egg yolks
6 tbs of sugar
1 vanilla bean with the seeds scraped out
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
More sugar for the carmelized topping.
Hot water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Whisk eggs and sugar. Add vanilla bean seeds and whisk to combine. Gradually add the whipping cream until well mixed. Divide evenly among 6 small (or 3 large) ramekins and put into large roasting pan. Add hot water to the pan until it comes about halfway up to the ramekin dishes, being careful not to splash water into the dishes. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand in the water an additional 30 minutes. Chill for at least 4 hours.

After the custards are thoroughly chilled, sprinkle sugar (about a teaspoon?) over the tops and swirl the dishes to evenly coat with sugar. We used one of those torches to burn/melt the sugar on top but you can also use the broiler of your oven. (Put rack on the highest position and broil for just about a minute, keeping an eye on the tops to avoid over burning.) Refrigerate for another two hours and serve with fresh berries and mint.

Cusp of Summer Dinner-Pesto, Watermelon, Chicken Sausage & Ginger Cooler

I have been pretty uninspired lately on the cooking front. Its mostly been "hey what goes with cut up watermelon?"...

Well, that was kind of the case tonight except I went a little crazy and made homemade pesto, grilled up some chicken sausage, cut up some watermelon AND made a "Lemon-Ginger Tea Cooler" (which was actually the hardest part of the dinner but SO worth it). I have made this Kate before....like FOUR YEARS AGO. This recipe has been in hibernation for far too long.

Lemon-Ginger Tea Cooler

Ingredients
1 Lemon Thinly Sliced
1 1/2 cups of water
3 Regular size red zinger tea bags
3 (1/8th of an inch) slies peeled gingerroot
1/4 cup of sugar
2 2/3 cup of ginger ale, chilled
Ice cubes

Prep: 5 Minutes; Chill: 1 Hour
1) Reserve 4 lemon slices and set aside. Combine remaining lemon slices, water, tea bags, and gingerroot in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Let cool completely; chill at least 1 hour.

2) Strain tea mixture, discarding tea bags, lemon slies and gingerroot. Stir in gingerale. Place ice cubes and reserved lemon slices in glasses and poor tea over ice. Serve immediately.

So refreshing and kind of feels like an indulgent drink I'm not supposed to have right now---gin & tonic anyone? Anyone? I mean, it doesn't taste like a gin & tonic but its a fancy summer drink so a girl can dream, right?

Cinnamon Bun Ebelskivers

I broke down and bought the Ebelskiver pan from Williams-Sonoma because these just looked so fun and delicious. We brought them out post-community garage sale and the neighbor kids gobbled them up. I know you girls have limited kitchen space but these are as fun and tasty as they looked--so go get the pan!
A few notes: I would recommend halving the recipes for the filling and icing. They are both pretty sweet and we found that a little went a LONG way. I did not get a chance to take pictures but you can sneak a peak here. The recipe is on the Williams-Sonoma site and is a little more labor intensive than I bargained for, not difficult but there were a lot of steps. I tried to reduce some of the calories by using fat free milk and reduced fat cream cheese with good results.

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon filling:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes,
at room temperature

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 to 4 Tbs. milk

For the pancakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. granulated sugar

4 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking

Directions:

To make the cinnamon filling, in a bowl, still together the granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and, using the back of a spoon, mash the butter into the flour mixture until all of it is absorbed into the butter, forming a paste. Set the cinnamon filling aside.

To make the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, reduce the speed to low and beat until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add 3 Tbs. of the milk and beat until combined, about 1 minute. The frosting should be thick but still pourable; add more milk if needed to thin it. Transfer the frosting to a small bowl; set aside.

To make the pancakes, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 Tbs. melted butter. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/8 tsp. melted butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well. Spoon 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon filling into the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Using 2 skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the pancakes to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling.

Drizzle the pancakes with the frosting and serve immediately. Makes 35 to 40.

Quinoa...Where Have You Been All My Life?!

Probably hiding in Co-Ops and Health Food Stores...

In any case, I had my first quinoa salad today and it was SO SO excelent and not that unhealthy to boot. I liked it because it didn't taste so much like yucky grain but had a really neat texture without being too aggressively healthy. You know that health food that you eat and it just TASTES like health food and its totally unsatisfying...yeah, that was not it. Anyway, I was inspired to try and find a recipe and I think I will try this bad boy on for size.

Maybe its just a pregnancy fad and by the time I make this I will hate it again. True story.

Ebbing and Flowing and Cooking and Not Cooking

Here's a recipe for you that essentially describes my will to cook ever since Easter.

• Buy a packet of tortellini from the grocery store (or two packets if you live with a Lars).
• Boil water
• Put tortellini in the water until done
• Serve with sauce from a jar that you microwave because you're too lazy to even heat it up in a sauce pan.
• Sometimes cut up cucumbers to eat as your "vegetable accompanient" but mainly just consider the tomato sauce as your vegetable serving.
• Cry for your to-be-borned child's already pitiful nutritional existence.
• Eat some frozen yogurt and be a little happier.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

She cooked!

Well, baked. For Easter, I made Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake, recipe from The Cottage cookbook (thank you, Jensens!):

16 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped OR 8 oz semisweet plus 8 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
9 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and line with parchment paper a 10-inch springform pan. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water. Remove from the heat and cool to a lukewarm temperature. Stir in the vanilla. In a medium bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and the color is light. Fold in the cooled chocolate. In a separate below beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center is barely set. Cool and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Makes 10 servings.

Yes, I typed it correctly and you read it correctly. There are NINE eggs in the recipe and the chocolate comes out to somewhere around 3 cups. Makes the half a pound of butter sound pretty ok.

It's rich, but v yummy. Some lessons - I baked it for 30 minutes because my gas (boo) oven usually takes extra time for baking, but I wish I'd stopped it at 25. The center is gooey wonderful, but the outer edges, while fine, are not as moist as I would like. Also, I would serve it with raspberries or strawberries because it's very rich. Steve likes it with chocolate ice cream. Somehow, in his world, this cuts the intense sweetness. The best part? It's quite easy to make and could look pretty impressive with some berries, a platter and very little effort. Of course I forgot to take pictures before it was all sliced up.

Easter Dessert-Turtle Cake!

Well--since I made my great grandmother's spaghetti for Easter Dinner, it only seemed fitting that I made my other great grandmother's turtle cake for Easter Dessert. Neither of them are very "Eastery"-but that's okay. I guess I just wasn't really in the mood to experiment with something I have never cooked before. Hello, Lazy Bones.

Here it is in all its glory...

Turtle Cake

1 box of German Chocolate cake mix
1 14 oz package of caramels
½ cup evaporated milk
1 cube butter
1 package of chocolate chips
1 cup pecans

Prepare cake mix according to box instructions. Pour ½ of batter in a 9x13 greased pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Unwrap and melt in microwave caramels and ½ cup milk and 1 cube of butter. Stir until creamy.

Remove cake from oven and sprinkle top with 1 package of chocolate chips and 1 cup of pecans (chopped). Pour caramel mixture over pecans and chocolate chips. Then top with remaining batter. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Date with a cupcake

NYC's best cupcakes
Om nom nom. I am seriously jonesing for a cupcake now!

Erika, when you get back to SD we have to try that new cupcake place at UTC. Perhaps we should all start scoping out the best cupcake places in our respective (present and future) cities for the blog too. "Turning paper into cupcakes!"

Ginger Cookies

Now, I realize that Ginger Cookies are generally a "harvest" treat--something to be enjoyed over the holidays with some nice glog...but when it snows in April sometimes you just gotta regress and bring back that nice ginger cookie smell into the house before you go insane from all the white stuff outside.

I tried this recipe. I was hoping they would be chewy. They were not but they were still good.

Good enough to eat. Nom Nom Nom.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/ginger-cookies-recipe2/index.html

(YES IT IS A PAULA DEEN RECIPE. DON'T JUDGE ME, PLS).

Okay speaking of dessert-like things...does anyone have any good suggestions for a dessert to make for Easter? We're hosting and while I already gave the caveat that I will not (NOT!) be making ham or lamb (Easter Spaghetti anyone?)...I was hoping to make a nice springish dessert.

O M G

Taking Macaroni & Cheese to a new level. I double dawg dare someone to make this and (more importantly) eat it and (even MORE importantly) live to tell the tale...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/ladys-fried-mac-recipe/index.html

HOW/WHY DO YOU FRY MACARONI AND CHEESE?

As my friend Geoff says:
Chest seizing. White light. No, wait, not light -- white chedder? Take me lord!

Chicken Tortilla "Miracle" Soup

Here is the soup that my mom made for me and worked miracles when I was sick. I like it SPICY with many a jalapeno.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2-3 tablespoons diced jalapenos (canned Ortega)
3 zucchini, diced
4 tomatoes, diced
4 cups, cooked and diced chicken (just get a rotisserie chicken from the market and shred the breast meat)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

2 boxes of Swanson chicken stock or enough to cover chicken and vegetables to your liking.

Tortilla strips
1 avocado, diced
Cheddar cheese, grated

Heat oil in a saute pan. Add onion and carrot and saute until tender. Add garlic, jalapeno and zucchini and saute for 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer then add tomatoes, chicken, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Cut corn tortillas into strips. Fry until brown and crispy. Drain well on paper towels.

Shred cheese. Dice an avocado.

Ladle into soup bowls and top with tortillas strips, avocado and cheese.

Eat and sleep for 10 hours

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I am a bad food blogger this past week. Its because my mom has been in town and she has been cooking EVERYTHING for me. Are you jealous? You should be! We have a fridge stock-piled full of chicken tortilla soup, mint brownies, chicken enchiladas, homemade spanish rice. Nom Nom Nom.

I plan on getting these recipes out of her because they were so extremely excellent and not terribly hard to make. However, until then--here is a token BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe which is Lars favorite dinner that I make. True story. I got this recipe from my friend Colin during an "experimental" phase he was going through with pizza making...



INGREDIENTS

• Two tablespoons of green onions, chopped
• Cilantro leaves
• Quarter of a yellow pepper
• One tomato, thickly diced
• A bone-less half breast of chicken
• Stubbs BBQ sauce (OR Trader Joe's)
• Trader joe's corn meal pizza dough (Or your garden variety pizza dough)
• One quarter bag (or less) Trader joe's four-cheese italian shredded blend (mozerella is not sharp or salty enough)
• About one and a half table spoons of finely crumpled gorgonzola or plain goat cheese (im trying cotixa next)

Preheat oven to 350

Salt and pepper chicken. Coat all sides with BBQ sauce, leaving ample
on the top to carmelize.

Bake chicken for 25 minutes.

Butter pizza pan.

Remove dough from the fridge and flatten immediately (dissregarding
instructions on the packaging). Turn dough between your hands and let
gravity spread it out. Finish at about an eighth of an inch thick.

Top flattened dough with bbq sauce, just a little bit more than you'd
need to glaze it. Use the back of a large spoon.

Top with thin layer of cheese, not obscuring all of the sauce.

Slice pepper lenghwise, in thin strips. Arrange in rough cris-cros
across pizza. Add tomatoes.

Remove chicken from oven, and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting.
Reset oven to 450.

Cut chicken lengthwise, and again across into pieces no thicker than
the flattened dough. Place chicken pieces on the pizza, wedging them
in between the vegetables. Refridgerate remaining half of BBQ chicken
for tomorrow's pizza.

Top with green onions, gorgonzola (or goat cheese) and a handful of
shredded cheese, just for binding.

Top with cilantro and then a half handful of more shredded cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minute, or until the crust crisps brown. Remove, cool
fot 5 minutes and then eat. With a spoon.

Butter makes everything better or Basic Scone Mix

This recipe is courtesy of my restauranteur neighbors Tommy and Eddie Golden (original owners of the Beachgrass Cafe and Parkhouse, now they operate Iris in Del Mar). Most scones are tough and dry but these are so tender and yummy you will never buy another one from Starbucks/Peets etc. I like mine plain with fresh fruit (mangos and berries sweetened with a little vanilla sugar) on the side but you can probably add your favorite ingredient as long as you are careful not to over mix the dough.

Some helpful hints:
Make sure your butter is very COLD.
Use a food processor on the pulse setting to mix in the butter, it gets the right consistency in a fraction of the time so the butter doesn't warm up before you need to mix in the wet ingredients.
DO NOT OVERMIX once you add the buttermilk and eggs, just mix until the dough just starts to hold together. Roll it out onto a floured surface and work just a little bit before shaping.
Another secret from Tommy: keep a small container of sugar with some vanilla bean skins in your pantry. The resulting "vanilla sugar" is a great addition to coffee, berries etc.

3 1/2 cups of Flour
1 tbs Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 lb of chopped butter, chilled (yes, that's right a CUP of butter, hmmm butter...)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs beaten, plus one egg beaten for egg wash
2 tbs of turbinado sugar (raw cane sugar)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients then add chilled butter and cut in.
Butter and flour mixture should resemble small crumbs when done.

Mix wet ingredients then add to flour mixture till dough just holds together.
Roll onto flat floured surface and cut into desired shape. (I usually shape it into 2 rectangles, maybe 9 inches long, 3 or 4 inches wide and about an inch + thick.)

Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I use silpats), brush with egg wash and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the tops. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Crepes for breakfast, lunch AND desert!

All I craved while I was pregnant was crepes. I made them every weekend, so now it's a tradition. The best part is that they will refrigerate/freeze really well. So I'd keep them on hand throughout the week, and serve them for lunch or dinner (with chicken, rice & salsa) and then for desert (helloooo bananas, chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream!)

Super easy (hey, that's my thing!) ingredient list:
1 cup unbleached flour
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
3 eggs
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Heat nonstick griddle pan until VERY hot. Mix batter ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Pour crepe batter into middle of the heated pan, and roll the pan until the batter gets flat. Wait for air bubbles to appear consistently throughout crepe, and flip with a wide spatula (usually takes me under a minute).

As soon as you can loosen the crepe by rocking the pan, it's done (it should slide right off).

NOTE: don't do anything else while these cook. This is a very fast process, and if you get distracted, your crepes will burn. I cooked the whole batch in less than 5 minutes. So I recommend you cut up all your fruit/toppings before hand.

Panko Salmon

This is nothing special, but it's very easy and quick! I had a little help from my friend Trader Joe. I kinda winged it on this recipe, and there are lots of opportunities to vary the salmon (add toppings, sauces, etc.)

Ingredients:
wild salmon
1-2 cups Trader Joe's panko crumbs
Seasoning salt
frying oil
1-2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
Heat oil in frying pan. Beat the eggs in a wide bowl, and fill another wide bowl with Panko crumbs/seasoning mixture. Coat salmon pieces thoroughly with egg batter on both sides, and then transfer to the Panko mix and coat thoroughly on both sides. Add salmon pieces to hot frying pan, and cook until one side is browned. Flip, and cook until the other side is browned and fish is no longer pink (or however you like salmon) : )

Like I said - SO easy!! I served this with Jasmine rice, steamed aspargus and topped it in low-sodium Soy sauce. That's it!!

Fab

I love this! It will be fab. However, I no longer cook. I plan to start again once school is out. A newborn baby won't come between me and my mixer, right? Meanwhile, I'll try to post a bit about the ice cream cake that was actually a pie. Because it was fine.

Poulet Provencal

I am not a big fan of handling a whole raw chicken but I love roast chicken recipes because I can get multiple meals out of just one dish. We recently tried this one from Gourmet magazine, via epicurious.com and it was delicious--way better than those rotisserie chickens you can get at the market. If you're like me and hate handling the whole bird, you could probably use some skin-on chicken breasts instead with okay results. But seriously, if I can get over my squeamishness so can you and the payoff is pretty damn good.

• 1 pound tomatoes (3 to 4 medium), cut into wedges
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges, leaving root ends intact
• 1/2 cup drained brine-cured black olives, pitted if desired
• 1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges
  
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced, plus 1 teaspoon minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)

Preheat convection oven to 400°F for regular oven to 425°F with rack in middle.

Toss together tomatoes, onion, olives, fennel bulb, sliced garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 13- by 9-inch or other 3-quart shallow baking dish. Push vegetables to sides of dish to make room for chicken.

Stir together minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, remaining teaspoon herbes de Provence, and remaining tablespoon olive oil.

Remove excess fat from chicken and pat dry, then rub inside and out with seasoning mixture. Tie legs together with string, then put chicken in baking dish.

Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170°F, about 1 hour in convection oven; 1 to 1 1/4 hours in regular oven.

Let chicken stand 10 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables and pan juices.

Oh, the pressure!

Something healthy? Something decadent? To post pics or not? Witty instructions or keep it simple stupid? Complicated ingredient list, or useful pantry stand-bys?

I love a challenge. And cheers to yet another blog we can all stalk. Where would we be without you, blogger?

Sinful Macaroni & Cheese.

It only seems appropriate that our first shared recipe post be macaroni and cheese. Why? Because if you don't like macaroni and cheese, then get the hell outta this blog. I kid I kid. I mean, really though. How do you not like Macaroni & Cheese? What did it ever do to you besides clog your arteries with this cheesy goodness?

I think it would be great to post photos but that requires a whole new level of organization that I'm a little afeared to tread into...we shall see, though!

Recipe Ahoy!

Classic Macaroni and Cheese--serves 6-8 as a main course or 10-12 as aside dish (trust me--if you make the entire thing, it will last for days!)

Its crucial to cook the pasta until tender--that is, just past the "aldente" stage. In fact, its better to overcook rather than undercookthe pasta. Whole, low-fat and skim milk all work with this recipe.The recipe may be halved and baked in an 8 inch square, broiler safebaking dish, If desired, offer celery salt or hot sauce, such astabasco, for sprinkling at the table.

BREAD CRUMB TOPPING:
6 slices good quality white sandwich bread torn into rough pieces
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into
6 pieces

PASTA & CHEESE:
1 pound elbow macaronisalt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all purpose flower
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
5 cups milk
8 oz monterey jack cheese shredded (2 cups)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded (2 cups)

1) For the bread crumbs: Pulse the bread and butter in a foodprocessor until the crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch--ten to fifteen1--second pulses. Set aside.

2) For the pasta and cheese: Adjust an oven rack to the lower middleposition and heat the broiler. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rollingboil in a Dutch Oven over high heat (I have made this in a big souppot AND a dutch oven and it really doesn't make much of a difference). Add the macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt and stir to separate thenoodels. Cook until the pasta is tender. Drain in a colander and setaside.

3) IN the now-empty Dutch Oven/Pot, heat the butter over medium highheat until foaming. Add the flour, mustard and cayenne (if using) andwhisk well to combine. Continue whisking until the mixture becomesfragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly,gradually add the milk; bring the mixture to a boil, whiskingconstantly (the mixture must reach a full boil to fully thicken), thenreduce the heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, untilthickened to the consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off theheat, whisk in the cheeses and 1 tsp salt until the cheese are fullymelted. Add the pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirringconstantly until the mixture is steaming and heated through--about 6minutes.

4) Transfer the mixture to a broiler safe 13 x 9 inch baking dish andsprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs. Broil until the crumbs aredeep golden brown--3 to 5 minutes--rotating the pan if necessary foreven browning.
Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.