Presidential Mac and Cheese.

Macaroni and cheese has been around longer than 1937 when the Kraft Company put it inside a small blue and yellow box.  Traveling back in time to Italy again, remember, those Romans invented meatloaf, with two versions of the origin.

13^th Century Neapolitan cooks were using a recipe called “de lasanis”, sounds a lot like lasagna and for good reason.  Fermented dough sheets were cut into two inch strips, boiled in water, drained and tossed with grated Parmesan cheese.  Whole sheets were also used as a layer between other layers of cheeses and spices, an early version of lasagna.

However, Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Mary Randolph, is credited for making the American version of macaroni and cheese.  After visiting Italy, Jefferson brought back a pasta making machine, and a recipe for a pasta dish, using Parmesan cheese.  His daughter changed the recipe and substituted Cheddar, as Parmesan wasn’t readily available in Virginia.  Jefferson was fascinated with Italy’s culture and cuisine, and named his home Monticello (pronounced Mont-eh-chello (like the musical instrument – Cello).  Its translation is “hillock” or “little mountain; in 1888, founding residents of Monticello, Utah (there are 16 Monticello towns in the USA) adopted the name for their town, but its pronunciation is Mon-ti-sel-o.  What can I say, Americans are hooked on phonics!

Why do we love macaroni and cheese so much?  It goes back to basic needs for nurturing and comfort.  The taste, smell, texture allows our brain to remember memories long past of being held, comforted, protected.  Then again, put a load of chilies or hot sauce in macaroni and cheese to kickstart memories of wild times that felt just as good as the comforting ones.

Basic recipe for macaroni and cheese typically uses one cheese, but my recipes usually aren’t typical.  Depending on how creative I feel like being, it could be 2-3-4, even 5 cheeses; made in a pot on the stovetop, or baked in the oven for a slight browning and crisping on top.  No matter how many cheeses used, it always begins with the making of a roux (fat plus flour), adding milk to create béchamel sauce (white sauce), then the mixing in and melting of the cheese(s). 

The recipe I’m going to be giving is for the stovetop, but can always be spread into a baking dish for getting that browned, crispy topping.  I named this version of my mac n' cheese "Heart Attack Mac n' Cheese" for a very good reason; anyone who tried it said, "Eat this mac n' cheese every day, and you'll end up having a heart attack!"  I used a friend as a guinea pig, who shared some with her son; she asked if there was any way she could get more.  I considered that request a great complement in itself, so of course gave her another container full.  By the way, I break a rule on making the roux by not using equal parts fat with flour, but once you taste this, forgiveness is easily given.  One more thing, as I'm making the sauce I'm also cooking up the elbow macaroni; that way it all comes together piping hot and fresh.

Ready for a heart attack?

Heart Attack Mac n' Cheese

Ingredients:

16 Tbsp. salted butter

1 cup flour

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. fine sea salt

1 tsp paprika

4 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup crumbled goat cheese

2 cups shredded, extra sharp Cheddar cheese

6 cups cooked large elbow macaroni

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter on medium-high heat (make sure to watch and not let burn or brown); begin whisking in the flour until well incorporated.  Continue whisking for five minutes as the roux begins to turn a golden color.  Add in the black pepper, sea salt, paprika, heavy cream and milk; bring to a boil. 

Immediately add in the Monterey Jack cheese and begin whisking until smooth; add in the goat cheese, whisk until smooth; repeat with the Cheddar cheese, but one cup at a time.

If you took my advice and cooked the macaroni while making the sauce, drain it, but put it back into the pot it was cooked in.  Once you begin adding the cheese sauce, the heat from the pot will keep it from clotting around the drained pasta.

 

Mix it all together gently; you don't want to smash or break apart the macaroni.  Now serve it up and enjoy; and we found out that even eaten cold, it was delectable!  Servings?  Good question and I'm going to estimate 12 to 16.  While I could only eat a half cup before going into "this is so good!!!" shock, Roy was able to eat a whole cup full and still want more.

Mary Cokenour

A Salad is a Salad, or is it?

First off, let me say that I am OPPOSED to the Bears Ears National Monument.  Taking almost half of San Juan County, making a monument which would destroy the lives, and livelihoods, of its resident is vile.  With my travel blog, The Southwest Through Wide Brown Eyes,  I have shown time and time again the beauty of San Juan County; and perfect examples of why it should be open to all.  The chosen few who believe themselves above the residents DO NOT LIVE HERE  AND ARE CLUELESS!!! 

Why do I feel I need to make this statement here?  A female restaurant owner, in Blanding, has slandered (said in front of witnesses) me by stating to others, "This woman from Brooklyn is an "environmentalist" and is pushing for the monument."  Really???  I would like to see proof of this, since I have written, on social media, many times that I am AGAINST the monument.  As to being an "environmentalist", that is way too much work for me to even learn how to spell correctly. Then again, this is the same woman who verbally attacked (again, witnesses) me at my first job in San Juan County and stated, "You are an outsider!  I don't want you touching my money, looking at my accounts, and you are not allowed inside my restaurant!"  

Well sweet cheeks, lets get something straight, you may think of yourself as royalty; but I'm a Goddess, and you need to begin bowing to me!!!  So, lets get off the topic of females with no brains, and onto today's topic; side salads.

The idea of, one day, owning one of those old fashioned roadside diners, and serving up a variety of comfort foods to traveling motorists, truckers, or folks just out for an adventure, is always on my mind.  Roy loves the idea, but finances are not our friend when it comes to the idea of starting, owning and maintaining a business.  With each new presidential election year I hear, “The tide is turning” which usually means we’re personally about to be hit with a tsunami. 

Ah, the true purpose of this post is, however, salads; not the greens and veggies type, but wondrous concoctions known as side salads.  It’s not just the main ingredients of pastas, rice, vegetables, grains that make a side salad, but the dressing which brings me to Miracle Whip.  It's called a salad dressing, but basically it is mayonnaise with sugar (and lots of preservatives) added in.  Personally, the taste of it is quite nasty, but then again, I wouldn't eat plain mayonnaise either.  Roy loves it on sandwiches, and I don't know how many times I have felt insulted by his putting a blob of it upon my luscious....yes, luscious, meatloaf, or freshly roasted beef. 

I do use the product in my macaroni salad, coleslaw and deviled eggs.  Why are deviled eggs called deviled in the first place?  I mean, if you really look at them, they should be called "bloody, mutilated chicken fetuses" with all that red paprika sprinkled over the yellow gob.  So, I make mine really "deviled" by adding ground cayenne pepper to the mixture, but this post is not supposed to be about all that.

All I’m saying is that Miracle Whip should stick to salad enhancing, and mayonnaise should be, as it has always been, versatile, all purpose.  Sort of like with elections; politicians should say what they mean, and mean what they say.  Don’t sprinkle it with sugar and hope no one notices.  That being said, here's my recipe for "Amish Macaroni Salad":

 

Amish Macaroni Salad

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. elbow macaroni

½ cup each carrots, onions, red bell peppers, finely diced
5 hard-boiled eggs, diced
2 cups Miracle Whip salad dressing
¼ cup white vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

Preparation:

Cook macaroni; drain, let cool in a large bowl.  Gently mix in the carrots, onions, peppers and eggs.

Whisk together Miracle Whip, vinegar, sugar and mustard to make the dressing; gently fold into the macaroni mixture, making sure all macaroni is covered by dressing.  Cover and let sit overnight.

Makes 10 – 1 cup servings.

Mary Cokenour - foodie, adventurer, photographer, writer.  NOT an environmentalist and definitely OPPOSED to the Bears Ears National Monument.

Casserole Topped with Crescent Dough.

I stopped buying boxed meal products a long while ago, mainly because I discovered I can make it better, without all the preservatives, and add more fresh ingredients.  So there I was, going to make one of my own "hamburger helper" type meals, when I spied the canister of Pillsbury crescent rolls.  I like keeping dough products like biscuits, crescent rolls, even pie crusts in stock for those spur of the moment ideas. If I have to suddenly make dough, chances are I'll get frustrated and give up the idea altogether.

Instead of making a regular cheeseburger skillet meal, I prepped the ingredients and pulled out a 4-quart casserole dish.  I layered items in the dish in a manner I thought would work; and yes it did!  What I really liked was the perforations of the crescent rolls helped with serving sizes.  I used a pie server, since the servings were in the form of a wedge; each held together without making a mess.

Over the weekend I made a chicken pot pie and a baked turkey broccoli casserole; once again used the crescent roll dough to see how it compared to pie crust.  Good stuff!  Same old, same old?  Nah, play with your food and have fun experimenting.

Cheeseburger Crescent Bake

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground beef

½ cup diced onions
½ cup diced red bell peppers
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. salt
6 cups cooked, large elbow macaroni
1 package (8 oz.) shredded, sharp Cheddar cheese
1 can (8 oz.) crescent roll dough

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 4 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, brown beef part way; add onions and peppers; complete browning the beef.  Add tomatoes, Worcestershire, pepper and salt; mix thoroughly and remove from heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a large bowl, combine cooked macaroni with beef mixture; spread out into casserole dish.  Spread Cheddar cheese overall; bake for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove dish from oven; remove crescent roll dough from can and unroll over mixture in casserole dish.  Do not separate the dough into individual pieces.  Return dish to oven and bake additional 15 to 20 minutes; until dough browns.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting along the perforations of the dough.  Use pie server to lift up wedge serving.

  

 

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Macaroni and Cheese That Even Paula Deen Would Envy.

Even though I make a mean Macaroni and Cheese, I'm always trying to improve my own dishes. Most of the time it's to impress my husband, Roy, who is a hard working man and a most excellent husband indeed. To surprise him after a long stint at work, I decided to make one of his all time favorites, Beef Brisket, but what side to go with it was the question. Something that would complement the beef, mix well with the spices of the rub and the barbecue sauce I added onto the meat afterwards, something rich and satisfying; nothing else would do, but homemade macaroni and cheese.

Now I named this version of my mac n' cheese "Heart Attack Mac n' Cheese" for a very good reason; anyone who tried it out said, "Eat this mac n' cheese everyday, and you'll end up having a heart attack!"  Oh they loved it for sure, but once they learned what the ingredients were, out came the statement.  I used a friend as a guinea pig, who shared some with her son; she asked if there was anyway she could get more.  I considered that request a great complement in itself, so of course gave her another container full.  The amount you get from the recipe I'm going to post is enough to share with lots of folks.  By the way, I break a rule on making the Roux by not using equal parts fat with flour, but once you taste this, forgiveness is easily given.  One more thing, as I'm making the sauce I'm also cooking up the elbow macaroni; that way it all comes together piping hot and fresh.

Ready for a heart attack?

Heart Attack Mac n' Cheese

 

Ingredients:

16 Tbsp salted butter
1 cup flour
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
1 tsp paprika
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 cups shredded, extra sharp Cheddar cheese
6 cups cooked large elbow macaroni

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter on medium-high heat (make sure to watch and not let burn or brown); begin whisking in the flour until well incorporated.  Continue whisking for five minutes as the roux begins to turn a golden color.  Add in the black pepper, sea salt, paprika, heavy cream and milk; bring to a boil. 





Immediately add in the Monterey Jack cheese and begin whisking until smooth; add in the goat cheese, whisk until smooth; repeat with the Cheddar cheese, but one cup at a time.

If you took my advice and cooked the macaroni while making the sauce, drain it, but put it back into the pot it was cooked in.  Once you begin adding the cheese sauce, the heat from the pot will keep it from clotting around the drained pasta.

 

 

 

Mix it all together gently; you don't want to smash or break apart the macaroni.  Now serve it up and enjoy; and we found out that even eaten cold, it was delectable!  Servings?  Good question and I'm going to estimate 12 to 16; while I could only eat a half cup before going into "this is so good!!!" shock, Roy was able to eat a whole cup full and still want more.


I made fried chicken a couple of days later, and you guessed it, this was a perfect side dish.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour