Found it!

I found it!  My family is having a big get-together this weekend, and I have been searching for a baked macaroni and cheese recipe that I actually like.  You see, I love macaroni and cheese, but I have never really liked the baked versions much. They're always too dry for my tastes.  

I tried a recipe from a trusted blog recently, and I was highly disappointed.  I knew I didn't want to make that one for my extended family.  So, I decided to try a different one from another blog that I frequent.  I invited my friend Danielle over, and we gave it a try.  This one was excellent!  It was cheesy and comforting, and the cayenne pepper added just the right amount of heat.  Thanks for your help stirring, Danielle :-)

Classic Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Salt and pepper

1 pound pasta shapes

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2-1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3-1/2 cups milk

1 pound colby jack cheese, shredded

8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  To make the bread crumb topping, melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add in the panko and cook, stirring frequently, until the bread crumbs are a light golden brown.  Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside to cool.

2.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta to the water and cook just until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  Drain the pasta and leave in the colander.

3.  Return the pot to the heat.  Melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Stir in the garlic, dry mustard, and cayenne, cooking just until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds.  Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute.  Whisk in the chicken broth and milk and continue to heat, stirring frequently until the mixture bubbles and thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the cheeses, whisking until completely melted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir the drained pasta into the cheese sauce.

4.  Pour the pasta and cheese mixture into a lightly greased 9" x 13" baking dish.  Sprinkle with the bread crumb topping.  

5.  Bake 30-35 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden brown.  -OR-  Wrap dish tightly with foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days.  To serve, bake covered at 400 degrees until the filling is hot throughout, about 40-45 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue to bake until the breadcrumbs are crisp, 15-20 minutes more.    

Source:  Annie's Eats; http://annies-eats.net

Tuscan Cod and Pepper-Spiked Polenta

I may have already told you this, but just in case I didn't, I am not a huge seafood fan.  I will eat it on occasion, except for shrimp...I'll only eat shrimp if I forget that I absolutely do not like it.  I have been discovering some new fish recipes lately, and it has been very interesting trying them out.  I do not enjoy seafood when it tastes "fishy," like it just came out of the sea and landed on my plate.  I found this recipe for Tuscan Cod, and it was spicy and delicious.  It didn't taste "fishy" at all!  

I had heard of polenta before and had always wanted to try it.  It's basically a cornmeal mush.  Now, I know that does not sound particularly appetizing, but I thought it went really well with the Tuscan Cod.  It seemed to balance the spiciness of the fish a little bit and added an interesting texture.

  

Tuscan Cod

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion, separated into rings

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chopped tomato

1 tablespoon capers (omitted)

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 (6-ounce) cod fillets

Directions:

1.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes.  

2.  Add tomato and next 3 ingredients; cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes; stirring occasionally.

3.  Add fish to skillet, spooning sauce over fish.  Cover and cook 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.  

Pepper-Spiked Polenta

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

4 cups water

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.  Coat a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray; add water, cornmeal, salt and pepper.  Cover with casserole lid; microwave on HIGH 12 minutes or until thick, stirring after 6 minutes.

2.  Stir in cheese.  Serve immediately.

Source:  The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

Spicy Cheesy Rice

Holy-o risotto.  Did you know you can make risotto with beer and cheddar?!  This stuff was incredible!  I love rice, and this was only the second time I had made risotto, but I thought this was the perfect dish.  It was so creamy and super cheesy.  It was like macaroni and cheese but with a slight bite to it.  I loved that you could still smell the beer while you were eating it, but it didn't taste like beer.  Make this.  I dare you.

Beer and Cheddar Risotto

Ingredients:

1/2 small onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon butter

2+ tablespoons olive oil

2 cups Arborio rice

12 ounce bottle of beer, preferably not light beer (I used Honey Weiss)

49.5 ounce can of chicken broth

5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/3 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1.  Pour chicken broth into a medium saucepan.  Keep warm over low heat.

2.  Heat large saute pan over medium-low heat.  Add butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Heat just until butter is melted.  Add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes, until soft and translucent.  Turn heat to medium-high and add garlic.  Cook for 30 second to 1 minute, just until fragrant.

3.  Add rice and saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly until opaque, adding more olive oil as necessary to coat the rice.

4.  Pour in beer, turn heat up to high until it starts to simmer.

5.  Turn heat back to medium-low and add the chicken broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until liquid dissolves.  You may not need to use all of the chicken broth - risotto should be creamy and just slightly al dente.  This should take 30 minutes or more.  

6.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses and cayenne pepper.

Source:  Made in Melissa's Kitchen, http://www.madeinmelskitchen.com

Fluffy Pancakes

The recipe for these pancakes claimed that they were similar to the pancakes at Perkins Restaurant and Bakery.  It lied.  While I did not think they were even close to the Perkins version, I did think they were very fluffy!  They weren't incredibly sweet, but that just meant that I could pour even more maple syrup on them :-)

They were simple to make and really quite good.  I would make them again.

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery Pancakes

Ingredients: 

4 cups baking mix

3 extra-large eggs, beaten

2-1/2 cups club soda, at room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, melted

Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

1.  Place the baking mix in a large bowl.

2.  Add the eggs, club soda, and melted shortening.  Using a wire whisk, mix until there are no lumps, but do not overmix.

3.  Preheat a griddle over medium-high heat.

4.  Fry the pancakes, using about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil on the griddle for each pancake; use 1/2 cup batter for each pancake.

5.  Flip the pancakes over when you see open bubbles appear on the surface and the edges of the pancakes look dry.

Source: America's Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes from Your Family's Favorite Restaurants, Ron Douglas

Blueberry Scones

I had always wanted to make scones.  I love them.  I buy them all of the time at coffee shops, but I had not yet attempted them at home.  We had an abundance of blueberries the other day (they were on sale, ya know?), and I found a recipe that seemed pretty simple.  I learned a few things while baking them:

1.  If you bake immediately after waking up, you will inevitably make at least one mistake.

2.  The little metal thingy on the parchment paper box that you use to tear the parchment paper is quite sharp.  It WILL cut you.

3.  You will worry about getting salmonella in your bloodstream while working with raw dough after you cut yourself on said parchment paper box.

4.  Summer vacation might almost make up for everything else teachers have to deal with during the school year :-)

These scones were so good, especially right out of the oven.  I would recommend sprinkling some extra sugar on top of the scones right before you bake them.  Mmmm, yummy.

Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon cold butter

1 egg

3/8 cup (Half of 3/4 cup) milk plus 1 Tablespoon milk, divided

3/4 cup fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  In a bowl, whisk egg and 3/8 cup milk; add to dry ingredients just until moistened.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead in the blueberries.

2.  Pat dough into an 8-inch circle; cut into eight wedges.  Place on greased baking sheets.  Brush with remaining milk.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.  Serve warm.

Source:  Taste of Home, www.tasteofhome.com

Better Than Frozen Pizza

One of my newest obsessions is BBQ chicken pizza.  It is so delicious, but the frozen ones I have tried recently haven't been living up to my expectations.  I decided to make one myself after seeing the recipe on multiple websites and blogs.  

Most of the recipes were pretty similar, so instead of following a specific recipe, I just based my pizza on the Pioneer Woman's version of California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Pizza.  I didn't follow the recipe exactly though, as I preferred to buy a pre-baked crust and use shredded mozzarella cheese.

The final product was AMAZING!  I absolutely loved it, and it was so easy to make.  If you're not a cilantro lover, leave it off.  I thought it added a little "freshness" and color to the pizza though.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

1 pre-baked pizza crust

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

BBQ sauce

1/2 medium red onion, sliced

1 cup shredded mozzarella

Chopped cilantro, as much as desired

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and cover with BBQ sauce.  Turn chicken in sauce to coat the chicken.  Bake chicken for 25 minutes.  Cool chicken and then dice into small pieces.  

2.  Place pizza crust on a pan.  Spread a few tablespoons of BBQ sauce on crust.  Sprinkle with 1/2 of mozzarella.  Distribute as much diced chicken as desired evenly over crust.  Top with red onion slices and rest of mozzarella.  Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes.  

3.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. 

Source:  Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking