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??

Forget Pizza Delivery

I've been on a basil kick lately. That's what makes this bake-yourself at home pizza so delish... and super easy on a busy night! Not only that, with a nice salad you've covered all the health basics. Variations include adding cooked chicken pieces. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 roll refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
1 grocery package of fresh organic  basil leaves
1 jar Alfredo with cheese sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 3/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced thin
Fresh ground pepper

Steps:
1. Bake dough in preheated oven at 400 on jelly roll pan til golden brown, about 9 minutes
2. Slightly cool dough and reduce oven heat to 390
3. Cover dough in this order: Alfredo sauce, mozzarella, basil leaves, tomato slices and then the parmesan and ground pepper
4. Finish baking until cheese has melted to your liking, approx 10 more minutes. Don't let crust burn.

Spot loves this meal cuz there's no onions to frighten her. 

World's Best Onion Rings

Why pay big bucks in a restaurant when you can make these at home for fresh!? I've played around with recipes and here's one that is a great side dish every time.

INGREDIENTS:
1 large white onion, (sliced and seperated into rings) per eater
2 cups flour
2 TBSP Wondra
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 - 1 1/2 good pale ale at room temp
Mediterranean salt to taste
Vegetable oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS:
Slice onions, set aside. Using large bowl, mix all ingredients except beer. Add one beer slowly and stir til lump-free. Add more Wondra if needed to thicken, or more beer to thin out. You want the batter to cling to the rings, not run off.

Using a fondue pot or deep fat fryer, heat vegetable oil to 350. Drop rings into batter to coat. Shake off excess and cook in hot oil til golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Turn only once. Drain on layers of paper towels and lightly salt.

You can make this batter several hours ahead and it will keep overnight if you want to do a re-run the next day since you already made your house "smell". That's what we do!

Spot gives this FLEEING PAWS because her number one fear in life is the sound of onions cooking. Forgetting Spot, these are delish!!

Yummy Chicken Tenders

Ingredients

Boneless skinless chicken tenders
Sea salt and ground pepper
Whisked egg
Italian bread crumbs

Instructions

Sprinkle small plate generously with salt and pepper, place egg in pie plate, bread crumbs in large zip-lock bag. Take each tender and coat with s & p, dredge in egg, shake and cover with crumbs. Press crumbs into tender. Return to s& p plate one more time. Place on a separate dinner plate and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This is the key to the recipe.

In medium high skillet, fry each tender til golden on each side. This will take just a couple of minutes.

For fun, you could add flat leaf parsley or even Parmesan. We like to serve with spinach angel hair pasta nests. Except our teenage son eats the tenders as they come off the skillet so I make 10 tenders for just 3 of us.

Spot heard the sizzling and ran for the hills. Once all was quiet, she slithered back in and waited at our feet. That is about a 3-paw rating.

Orzo Chicken Lemon Soup

This is one of my favorites and sooo easy to make! We serve it with toasted crusty bread. You add a nice leafy green salad to make it a complete meal.

Ingredients

2 cooked chicken breasts, cut in small pieces
8 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup orzo
3 eggs
2/3 + cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 TBSP lemon zest
Mediterranean salt, ground pepper to taste
4 TBSP chopped fresh rosemary

In large saucepan, brink stock to boil over medium heat. Reduce to medium low, add orzo and cook uncovered until tender, about 15-20 minutes. About 5 minutes before pasta is done, add the chicken pieces.

Place eggs in a mixing bowl, whisk will adding in lemon juice. Stir in zest. Keep whisking and slowly add a ladleful of the hot stock to the egg mixture. Slowly add the egg mixture to the stock in saucepan and stir. Stock should thicken slightly.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley.

Spot didn't give a paw rating because she thought we were cooking onions. Once she realized we weren't, she sat at our feet with high hopes.

Rosemary Walleye Pike and Au Gratin Potos

Even though I haven't posted lately, I've been cooking! We relocated six months ago and in the process, posting has fallen off the radar. Not any more, I miss this too much, so buckle your seatbelts...

Tonight's menu was morphed from my dear friend and second mom Dorothy who served me Walleye Pike last week while I was in Mpls. It was so yummy I determined to make it in my new town for my hubby and son, but alas this fish is not available in Iowa. So hubby drove it down special.

Here's the menu:

Rosemary Au Gratin Potos (begin 1 hour and 20 minutes prior to desired eating time):

- Thinly slice 3 lbs red potatoes, cover and bring to boil with 5 diced garlic cloves. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer til tender but not mushy. About 8 more minutes.

- In oblong baking dish and using slotted spoon, layer half the poto slices. Cover with fresh pepper and sea salt to taste. Pour 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream over all.
Sprinkle 3/4 cup each of shredded Gruyere and Fontina cheese over this layer. Repeat. On top layer, add an additonal 1/4 cup of a shredded hard cheese (Parmesan, Manchego) and sprinkle a few pieces of Rosemary over all.

- Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Keep warm til Walleye is ready.


Dorothy's Walleye Pike Prep while potos are baking, takes 10 minutes to fry:

- Dip Walleye fillets in 1 beaten egg, then crushed saltine crackers (we used 1 gallon zip-lock bag for 1 sleeve of saltines to cook 4 fillets)

- Fry fish with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in medium high skillet til medium brown on both sides. Sprinkle with more Rosemary.

Serve with a half lemon on the side of your plate for personal flavor. A side salad and some crusty bread would make this complete. We were distracted by watching the new series on the History Channel called THE BIBLE, so the latter items weren't included.

Spot gives this no paws cuz she runs when things sizzle. My "boys" love it!!