Mac & Cheese

[AhZo]

Sorry, I have been 'taking' way too much here.
I do not have much to share, but will try to share what I can.
Unfortunately, I do not know enough about soap and stuff nor have enough experience to give proper support, but I am a picky eater and quite fat, so i think I can do something well.
This is NOT a recipe for cutting fat content - just the opposite.
Tonight I am serving with a loaf of homemade onion bread and probably a dry white wine.

This is what my Mac & Cheese recipe has morphed into:

500g dried pasta
2c milk
1/4c butter
1/4c AP flour
1-2c frozen peas
~4-8 slices bacon*, chopped
1 big *** yellow onion, diced
4-8 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced or minced (depending on your preference)
1/4c parmesan cheese
3-4c grated sharp cheddar, or gruyere (!) cheese
Chopped fresh tomato (optional)
Seasonings option Paprika & Crushed Red pepper
Seasonings to taste, Salt, Pepper

Pan fry the bacon. Remove the bacon pieces to a paper towelled plate when crispy, leaving the fat. Cook the onion and garlic in the bacon fat - timing as you prefer. We like the onions well cooked and the garlic toasty & crispy. Add the frozen peas and remove from the heat and let it all set out of the way for a bit.
Cook the pasta al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, make a bechamel with the butter, flour, and milk, Season with paprika and red pepper (the red pepper likes to be heated to release the capsaicin I think). At this point I end up playing around with the heat, generally removing the bechamel from the burner, but keeping it around in case I want to use a bit of extra heat to make sure the sauce is nice and creamy and the cheese melted. So, generally OFF the burner, whisk in the parmesan until smooth, then whisk in the cheddar, and season with S&P to taste.
Throw all that in a big serving bowl and mix it up: pasta, cheese sauce, bacon, onions, peas, garlic.
Top with chopped fresh tomato, fresh shavings of parmesan, and some fresh italian parsley if you have it.
Final step: Hide your bathroom scale.

And correct: we do not have KD in our home

Sharing this because I am making this tonight and it is off the top of my head. I have more complex recipes that I spent years getting to where I want (like a spicy southwestern sweet potato soup), but I am generally a lazy cook that demands intense flavours.
Tomorrow night is Julia Child's beef bourguignon recipe with french peas and fondant potatoes. We just finished a big vat of pozole, and made pork verde tamales for Saturnalia. So I guess this is the 'easy cooking'/quick meal break.

*Note: We buy bacon at Costco and then separate it into 4-6 slice packs in ziploc bags and freeze them. I find that having a few slices of bacon for this or that recipe is super easy that way. See also: aforementioned beef bourguignon, charro beans, weekend scrambles, etc.

 

[Ephemerella]

Okay, yummmmmmmm. As a lazy-plumper-than-she-should-be-demanding-of-intense-flavor-in-her-meals-and-knows-fully-that-fat-equals-flavor-and-the-ramifications-of-such-and-thumbs-her-nose-at-said-ramifications I'll give you a great big SISTER AMEN!

Amen to the bacon, the bechamel, the butter, and amen to the PEAS not enough people put peas in their savory buttery dishes, I'm sorry but that's the truth.

Spicy southwestern sweet potato soup? BRING IT ON!!!

And I will trade you a beef bourguigon for a cream of carrot bisque (its a 4x strained bowl of butter -- beurre manie to be exact which is just a more buttery and easier to obtain reverse roux -- and cream with carrot puree, who are we kidding?!?) and my thrice fried in fat brussel sprouts.

BRING IT!

Whoo hoo! Love another basted-in-butter chef!

 

[AhZo]

Okay, yummmmmmmm. As a lazy-plumper-than-she-should-be-demanding-of-intense-flavor-in-her-meals-and-knows-fully-that-fat-equals-flavor-and-the-ramifications-of-such-and-thumbs-her-nose-at-said-ramifications I'll give you a great big SISTER AMEN!

Amen to the bacon, the bechamel, the butter, and amen to the PEAS not enough people put peas in their savory buttery dishes, I'm sorry but that's the truth.

Spicy southwestern sweet potato soup? BRING IT ON!!!

And I will trade you a beef bourguigon for a cream of carrot bisque (its a 4x strained bowl of butter -- beurre manie to be exact which is just a more buttery and easier to obtain reverse roux -- and cream with carrot puree, who are we kidding?!?) and my thrice fried in fat brussel sprouts.

BRING IT!

Whoo hoo! Love another basted-in-butter chef!

OMLOG OMLOG OMLOG
GURL - come sit next to me
Brussel sprout recipes in demand here!
Hubby likes 'em. I have only had them *once* when I liked them, and I think that was roasted and tossed with a balsamic reduction or something.

I wanted to live in France for a few months to learn more about French cooking...and wine(!)...so beurre manie: bring it!
Funny, because I am so much more of a Mediterranean & Mexican aficionado before that.
So, not to change gears, but our Sweet Potato Soup recipe is actually Vegan - unless you garnish with sour cream (which, depending on your choice of peppers, might be necessary). It started a recipe from online, but over 5 years morphed into...'this':

7 Huge sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
16c water
~12 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 big *** yellow onion, rougly chopped
3 veggie bouillon cubes
2/3c olive oil
2 Tbls cumin
2 Tbls cinnamon
1 bunch celery, roughly chopped
3 med red bell peppers, roughly chopped
186ml can of chipotle in adobo (I know, I should be using dried chipotles and I have them...and I hate using convenience stuff, but...this is where I am at)
1-4 super hot peppers*
Salt & pepper to taste (started this recipe on a "do not add any salt" binge, so I do not list any salt. YMMV)

Throw it all in a vat and cook it slow all day.
When it is all falling apart and the smell is just amazing, use a stick blender to grind it all smooth.
Serve with sour cream to help cut the heat if necessary.
We use Ziploc freezer containers that are about 1litre to freeze some when we make it.
This goes *great* with homemade croutons which, if you make your own bread is fairly common, I think...maybe...?

*We were using 1-2 Carolina Reapers (home grown) but have started using habanero. We grow our superhots in the summer, freeze some, and others we dehydrate, grind, and mix with cumin, etc to make our own super-hot chili powder blend. Habanero are our 'basic' spicy peppers, since jalapenos are like pickles here. We also grow a lot of serranos and keep them in the freezer.
Funny again: That sweet potato soup recipe is years old (the latest write up is dated 2020 - I sort of keep a 'log' of recipe changes). It doesn't seem as complex as what I tend to cook now.

 

[janesathome]

OMLOG OMLOG OMLOG
GURL - come sit next to me
Brussel sprout recipes in demand here!
Hubby likes 'em. I have only had them *once* when I liked them, and I think that was roasted and tossed with a balsamic reduction or something.

I wanted to live in France for a few months to learn more about French cooking...and wine(!)...so beurre manie: bring it!
Funny, because I am so much more of a Mediterranean & Mexican aficionado before that.
So, not to change gears, but our Sweet Potato Soup recipe is actually Vegan - unless you garnish with sour cream (which, depending on your choice of peppers, might be necessary). It started a recipe from online, but over 5 years morphed into...'this':

7 Huge sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
16c water
~12 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 big *** yellow onion, rougly chopped
3 veggie bouillon cubes
2/3c olive oil
2 Tbls cumin
2 Tbls cinnamon
1 bunch celery, roughly chopped
3 med red bell peppers, roughly chopped
186ml can of chipotle in adobo (I know, I should be using dried chipotles and I have them...and I hate using convenience stuff, but...this is where I am at)
1-4 super hot peppers*
Salt & pepper to taste (started this recipe on a "do not add any salt" binge, so I do not list any salt. YMMV)

Throw it all in a vat and cook it slow all day.
When it is all falling apart and the smell is just amazing, use a stick blender to grind it all smooth.
Serve with sour cream to help cut the heat if necessary.
We use Ziploc freezer containers that are about 1litre to freeze some when we make it.
This goes *great* with homemade croutons which, if you make your own bread is fairly common, I think...maybe...?

*We were using 1-2 Carolina Reapers (home grown) but have started using habanero. We grow our superhots in the summer, freeze some, and others we dehydrate, grind, and mix with cumin, etc to make our own super-hot chili powder blend. Habanero are our 'basic' spicy peppers, since jalapenos are like pickles here. We also grow a lot of serranos and keep them in the freezer.
Funny again: That sweet potato soup recipe is years old (the latest write up is dated 2020 - I sort of keep a 'log' of recipe changes). It doesn't seem as complex as what I tend to cook now.

OK, @Creepy, I’m a going to start following you because I need more of your recipes.

 

[AhZo]

Oh, the onion bread recipe I used is for bread machines from BreadDad and it is amazing!
I was just starting to learn how to make bread but lost the use of my hands in a way that I needed to knead and stuff. Plus, our oven went out at the beginning of the pandemic and we just have not replaced it (we have a really nice bbq!), so I use a bread machine.
Maybe I will post my recipe for orange-walnut-clove swirld bread.

OK, @Creepy, I’m a going to start following you because I need more of your recipes.

Please do!
It is as close as I will ever get to cooking for everyone!

 

[Ephemerella]

mmmmmmmm! I am so going to make that soup!

Ok, my famous Thrice-Fried Brussel sprouts:

Brussel sprouts
rinsed, end of the sprout trimmed just a little bit, otherwise the leaves will fall off, and halved
(I generally do smallish batches, around 2-3lbs)

Butter
About 1TB per pound of sprouts

Panchetta (or bacon)
About 2oz per pound

Chicken bullion
1 cube per pound

Water
1/2 Cup for 1lb, 3/4 cup for up to 2.5lbs, 1 cup up to 4 lbs.

Black or white pepper to taste
NO SALT Between the bullion and bacon, there is plenty. If your bacon is extra salty, or you like less salt, cut back on the bullion.

Wooden spoon/spatula (or another strong spoon/spatula that won't scratch)
Slotted spoon
Heavy-bottomed skillet/sautee pan with a tight-fitting lid
Measuring cup for water/bullion
Pyrex bowl for hot fat

Heat your heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat until it's hot but not smoking. Dice your pancetta or bacon into smallish pieces, about the size of a dime, and toss in the pan to start cooking. You want to turn your heat down, but not too low. Render as much grease as you can without burning the meat. Bacon will go fast, about 5-7 minutes, and pancetta will take a while, about 15+ minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse and trim the sprouts, and keep all the fallen leaves. They turn into butter-covered, bacon-flavored chips. They're the best part!

Dissolve your bullion in the measuring cup and keep it ready by the range.

Once rendered, using the slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bits to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour all the fat into a pyrex bowl, but don't wipe the skillet. Leave all the bits and trace fat. Return 1TB fat per pound of sprouts. Heat until almost smoking (but not quite), then turn it down to medium. Put the sprouts in. Just do one layer first, all of the sprouts face down, then dump all the rest on top. Let them sizzle for about 2 minutes (fry #1). The faces of the bottom layer should start to blacken (a little brown is not enough, fully black is too much... you want somewhere in between).

Then use your wooden spoon to get the bottom layer to the top and the top to the bottom. All the little leaves will filter down and cook.

Keep moving them around until there is decent browning on most of the sprouts.

Turn the heat up to almost as high as it will go, drizzle one more TB of fat per pound over the top and shake the pan almost constantly so nothing sticks and burns. Shake and heat aggressively for not quite 2 minutes. (fry #2)

Then pour the melted bullion and water over the top, dont' worry if the bullion lands in a blob in the middle, and don't try to stir it. Just put the lid on as fast as possible and turn the burner down as low as possible. You want to trap that initial shock of steam to blast the sprouts.

Braise the sprouts for about 10 minutes for 1lb (15 for 2, 20 for 3). You can check for doneness with a fork. You want them still pretty firm as there is more to do, but don't lift the lid more than once. You need the steam.

Once done, take the lid off, let the lid drippings (there will be plenty) fall back into the skillet, and turn the heat back up to medium-high. Cook off the liquid, and use your wooden spoon to scrape up anything stuck.

Once most of the liquid is gone, drop the butter on top. Mix around until the butter is melted and starts to sizzle again (fry #3). Turn the heat down, toss in the reserved pancetta/bacon, stir lightly, pepper if you need it, and serve. It will heat and reheat multiple times, so it's good for all-day festivities, and it makes awesome leftovers. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Amazingly, for the whopping amount of fat added, they are light and buttery, not greasy at all.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Ok, my famous Thrice-Fried Brussel sprouts: Mmmmmmmmmmm.

takes Brussels Sprouts out of fridge….. literally right now…. to make these

 

[AliOop]

Back in the nineties, the saying was that the best (tennis) doubles team in the world was John "You can't be serious!" MacEnroe + anyone else.

Applied to the cooking world, the best recipe in the world is butter + bacon + anything else. Including Brussels sprouts.

 

[Ephemerella]

The three secrets to french cooking.... butter, butter and more butter

 

[AhZo]

mmmmmmmm! I am so going to make that soup!

Ok, my famous Thrice-Fried Brussel sprouts:

Brussel sprouts
rinsed, end of the sprout trimmed just a little bit, otherwise the leaves will fall off, and halved
(I generally do smallish batches, around 2-3lbs)

Butter
About 1TB per pound of sprouts

Panchetta (or bacon)
About 2oz per pound

Chicken bullion
1 cube per pound

Water
1/2 Cup for 1lb, 3/4 cup for up to 2.5lbs, 1 cup up to 4 lbs.

Black or white pepper to taste
NO SALT Between the bullion and bacon, there is plenty. If your bacon is extra salty, or you like less salt, cut back on the bullion.

Wooden spoon/spatula (or another strong spoon/spatula that won't scratch)
Slotted spoon
Heavy-bottomed skillet/sautee pan with a tight-fitting lid
Measuring cup for water/bullion
Pyrex bowl for hot fat

Heat your heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat until it's hot but not smoking. Dice your pancetta or bacon into smallish pieces, about the size of a dime, and toss in the pan to start cooking. You want to turn your heat down, but not too low. Render as much grease as you can without burning the meat. Bacon will go fast, about 5-7 minutes, and pancetta will take a while, about 15+ minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse and trim the sprouts, and keep all the fallen leaves. They turn into butter-covered, bacon-flavored chips. They're the best part!

Dissolve your bullion in the measuring cup and keep it ready by the range.

Once rendered, using the slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bits to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour all the fat into a pyrex bowl, but don't wipe the skillet. Leave all the bits and trace fat. Return 1TB fat per pound of sprouts. Heat until almost smoking (but not quite), then turn it down to medium. Put the sprouts in. Just do one layer first, all of the sprouts face down, then dump all the rest on top. Let them sizzle for about 2 minutes (fry #1). The faces of the bottom layer should start to blacken (a little brown is not enough, fully black is too much... you want somewhere in between).

Then use your wooden spoon to get the bottom layer to the top and the top to the bottom. All the little leaves will filter down and cook.

Keep moving them around until there is decent browning on most of the sprouts.

Turn the heat up to almost as high as it will go, drizzle one more TB of fat per pound over the top and shake the pan almost constantly so nothing sticks and burns. Shake and heat aggressively for not quite 2 minutes. (fry #2)

Then pour the melted bullion and water over the top, dont' worry if the bullion lands in a blob in the middle, and don't try to stir it. Just put the lid on as fast as possible and turn the burner down as low as possible. You want to trap that initial shock of steam to blast the sprouts.

Braise the sprouts for about 10 minutes for 1lb (15 for 2, 20 for 3). You can check for doneness with a fork. You want them still pretty firm as there is more to do, but don't lift the lid more than once. You need the steam.

Once done, take the lid off, let the lid drippings (there will be plenty) fall back into the skillet, and turn the heat back up to medium-high. Cook off the liquid, and use your wooden spoon to scrape up anything stuck.

Once most of the liquid is gone, drop the butter on top. Mix around until the butter is melted and starts to sizzle again (fry #3). Turn the heat down, toss in the reserved pancetta/bacon, stir lightly, pepper if you need it, and serve. It will heat and reheat multiple times, so it's good for all-day festivities, and it makes awesome leftovers. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Amazingly, for the whopping amount of fat added, they are light and buttery, not greasy at all.

Thank you for the detailed recipe!
I am trying a new med this week, but hope I can remember when I am functional enough to cook again.
mmmm
The hubby will be sooo happy if I semi-regularly cooked brussel sprouts.

 

[AhZo]

The three secrets to french cooking.... butter, butter and more butter

I am still learning and enjoying it.
I love how so far the recipes I have made have been simple ingredients, but many steps, and much technique. I have yet to master all of the mother sauces, but when even my errors are delicious, no one seems to be complaining!