My Fav Mac

This recipe for a version of white cheddar mac n' cheese was morphed from one the HyVee Grocery chain uses. Once you taste this one, you will throw out all your yellow cheese. This is great on its own or as a side dish. It makes a lasagne-size pan full or you can mix and split in half. The guys in my life love love love this one.

INGREDIENTS

Pkg large elbow macaroni
4 cups sharp White Cheddar cheese, shredded (16 oz.)
8 oz shredded Gruyere cheese
8 oz shredded Asiago or Fontina cheese (both are great)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
4 1/2 cups 2% milk at room temp
1 cup low fat chicken broth
5 TBSP unsalted butter
5 TBSP Wondra
Kosher salt
Ground pepper

Boil pasta according to package, drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 425. In large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter and stir in Wondra to make a paste. Boil briefly. Slowly whisk in milk and broth. Add salt and pepper to taste (be generous) and heat until mixture thickens, about 5 min. Stir frequently. Add 3 cups White Cheddar cheese, 1 cup Gruyere, all the Fontina/Asiago and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Add more salt and pepper now. Whisk well and stir in the pasta.

Pour the mixture into one large baking pan or two smaller pans. Top with remaining cheeses and cover with Panko. Set pan on top of baking sheet to catch any drippings. Bake 30-35 min or til golden. You can also turn off the oven while you finish the rest of the dinner, it will keep nice n warm for 10 minutes at least.

Spot gives this 4 paws because she loves what a sloppy shredder I am. Yum yum for the pieces that land on the floor. I ask you, how many dogs do you know that like Gruyere cheese?

My First Beef Tenderloin

Oh. My. Gosh. After mentioning to a cooking friend that I had never attempted beef tenderloin, she emailed me her recipe. I tweaked it just a bit and have to say this is so moist and tasty you will want to make it more often than is affordable. It's not as expensive as prime rib, but it is right up there. I made this for our anniversary last week.

Serves 4-6 depending on portions.

A day ahead, kosher salt and pepper both sides of 3 lbs beef tenderloin and marinade in a ziplock bag with lite soy sauce

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
Fresh thyme sprigs
3 TBSP unsalted butter
3 shallots, thinly sliced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups merlot wine
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
4 cups low sodium beef broth

DIRECTIONS:
Let beef sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat oven to 250. Re-salt and pepper both sides, lay meat on top of fresh thyme in roast pan (let marinate liquid sit in bottom of pan), cover top with more thyme sprigs. Bake for one hour and check meat temperture. Using instant read thermometer, place in thickest part of meat. Continue to bake until temp rea
ds 130 for medium rare, approximately 30 more minutes.

RED WINE SAUCE:
Melt 3 TBSP butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in garlic and shallots until translucent, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Heat turned to high, add the wine and vinegar and boil til syrupy consistency, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add broth and heat another 20 minutes. (My friend's recipe called for the sauce to be strained, we didn't do that. It also called for more thyme to go in the sauce. We didn't do that, either.)

We sliced this thin and served it with garlic mashed potatoes, lemony green beens and red-tip lettuce with a vinegrette. I am salivating as I write this.

One of Spot's new fav's! 4 paws for sure.

Gourmet Mac N Cheese

This is a recipe I morphed off a cable talk show recipe that my son really digs. My hubby has even come to like it. A variation of mac n' cheese (using blue cheese) and sliced tenderloin or steak.

While your choice of meat is on the grill, prepare your mac:

Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

2 TBSP unsalted butter

3 cups heavy cream

1 TBSP minced garlic

1 lb hollow pasta (I use Ditalini or mini shells)

3/4 cup blue cheese (at least)

2 TBSP fresh chopped parsley

Melt butter with garlic, briefly cook. Add cream, heat and then simmer 20 minutes, covered. Stir in blue cheese, whisk til blended and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to use.

Cook pasta al dente. Toss with sauce and serve with slices of steak or meat. Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

This also makes a great party dish - serve it in martini glasses for fun. Of course Spot loves this one, meat is involved and no onions sizzled.

Swedish Meatball-iscious!

Here's the best recipe for Swedish meatballs I've ever seen and morphed into our own. We served it with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans that were drizzled with some unsweetened butter and fresh lemon juice. The meatball gravy is delish! One of the best things about this recipe is that it's a 2-for. You make half the mixture into meatballs and freeze the other half for next time.

I have made it four times in as many weeks with some alterations, too. You can add some warmed, frozen spinach to the mixture and replace bread crumbs with Panko. You can also use entirely ground beef and prepared garlic. Very forgiving (my kind of recipe) and delish every time!

Start 2 hours before you want to serve.

MEATBALLS:
1.5 lb ground beef
1.5 lb ground turkey
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup diced onion
6 cloves minced garlic
4 tsp Kosher Salt
3 tsp ground pepper
5 TBSP Wondra
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tsp Worshestershire Sauce
Up to 3 cups Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 egg whites

In large skillet over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in EVOO until tender (about 6 minutes). Add salt and pepper, whisk in Wondra and beat til smooth.  Stir in cream and Worchestershire Sauce, mix all. Pour contents into large mixing bowl and set aside to cool. (About 12 minutes). When cool, mix eggs together and add meat and eggs to bowl (use hands). Add in enough bread crumbs to make meat mixture firm but not over-breaded. I use at least 2 3/4 cups.

Form half of the meat mixture into 1 1/2" meat balls. Place them on parchment-lined jelly roll pan about an inch apart. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour. Place the remaining meat in a freezer container and freeze up to 6 weeks for another night.

Bake meatballs in preheated oven at 400 for 35 minutes.  Rotate during last ten minutes. Start your side dishes and gravy.

GRAVY:
Use the same large skillet you did for the onions - great seasoning! Whisk together:
4 TBSP unsalted butter
4 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups beef broth
salt
pepper

Bring to simmer, add cooked meatballs and let simmer and thicken for 15 minutes. Stir occaisionally so gravy covers meatballs. Serve with your side dishes, smack yer lips and rub yer belly.

4 Paws from Spot once those onions were done cooking! Why didn't I make this one for 2 years??