Day 39, Quarantine Kitchen, Mac and Cheese

Today was a beautiful day, in the 70's and it was time to take the covers off the patio furniture, as well a few cleaning projects.  As I get to the end of the week, my enthusiasm for cooking kind of hits a wall; I'm a little tired of eating my own food, and I'm not really enthused about any of our take out options.  So, tonight, I finally decided that Mac and Cheese was going to be our dinner.  It's not really the Mac and Cheese that is key here, it's the salad, which balances the creamy cheesy mac.  So, let's get to it. 

Mac and Cheese

Serves 6

One pound cavatappi, or elbow macaroni, cooked 2 to 3 minutes short of al dente

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

13/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups milk, heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

few drops tabasco and salt

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and coat the inside of a 3-quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a saucepan, melt the butter, and saute the onion, until it is translucent.  

                                              Add the flour, and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes.  

                                                    Add the broth, and bring to a boil.  

Add the milk and Worcestershire.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheddar cheese, Tabasco and season with salt if necessary.  

Add the pasta, and stir to combine.  

Transfer to the prepared pan, sprinkle with Parmigiano, and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the mac and cheese is bubbling.  

Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.  

A few Cook's Notes:  You can change up the cheeses here, Pepper Jack, Asiago, and aged Gouda, are all great choices.  Sometimes, I just use up what's in the cheese drawer, mixing them.  

I use broth as about 1/2 of the liquid, it tends to lighten up the sauce. 

I use DeCecco pasta, and highly recommend it.  It's generally more expensive but worth it.  Cook it 2 to 3 minutes short of al dente, since it will cook again in the oven.  

  

So, yeah, it was delicious, but the balance of the salad on the side sends it into All-Star territory. 

Curried Dressing

Makes about 2 cups

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.  

This dressing is great over butter lettuce, romaine, and field greens. It is also delicious when stirred into chicken salad, or rice salads. 

As we are all hanging on, I hope that you are safe and well.  Take care of yourself and your family.  

More Soup, Day 13, Quaratine Kitchen

Day 13 and I've got the slow cooker out.  It's a good day to make some soup, possibly for dinner, and then enough to freeze, or give to friends.  We still haven't decided if this is a take-out night.
I had grilled polish sausage for lunch the other day and had leftovers so they are the basis of the soup, along with a mirepoix, a bit of chicken broth, some thyme, and salt and pepper.  You can change this up and use lentils, split peas, or black-eyed peas.  I've made this soup without any meat, or I've made it with bacon, when there hasn't been any sausage to add.  This entire vat of soup can be made for under $5 and will give you at least 8 cups of soup.  Pair that with bread and salad, and you've got a great meal for your family.

Diced polish sausage, onion, celery, carrot, split peas and thyme; ready for broth

Split Pea Soup

Serves 8

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 to 3 cups diced polish sausage, kielbasa or bratwurst

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

3 medium carrots, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 pound (16 ounces) dried split peas

6 cups chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil, saute the sausage until it begins to color.  Add the onion, celery, carrots, and thyme, and saute until the onion is softened.
Rinse the split peas, and pick over for stones.  Add to the vegetable mixture, and stir in the broth.  

Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, adding more broth if needed.
Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.
Slow-Cooker Savvy: Saute all the ingredients, transfer to the slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients, and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.

We had the soup with some cornbread; the rest will go in the freezer, and we'll enjoy it another day. 
Stay safe and stay well.  

Rainy Day Pressure Cooker Stock

Never, ever go to Costco when you are hungry; the smell of roasting chickens mixed with the smell of the baked goods will drive you mad, plus with the ladies and gents handing out free samples, you'll end up buying everything you don't need.  I make an exception with this rotisserie chicken, at $4.99 or thereabouts, it's cheap, it's huge and it's pretty tasty.  Costco sells about 100,000 of them per day and about 90 million a year.  The best thing about this classy chick is with just two of us here at home it will feed us for several meals in different iterations.  Editor's note, if you don't live near a Costco, Sam's Club also sells rotisserie chickens. 

San Diego has been rainy this past few days and my choices for dinner have been comfort foods.  I had bought a Costco rotisserie chicken earlier in the week, and once we'd had that for dinner, I saved the leftover carcass and juices, and today put them into the pressure cooker with some aromatics, and made stock.  If you have an Instapot or a pressure cooker this is the easiest way to get chicken stock in less than 40 minutes.  Once you have chicken stock, there are so ways to use it in recipes, but today I made chicken orzo soup.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock

Makes about 4 cups

1/2 onion, not peeled, coarsely chopped*

3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

3 ribs celery, coarsely, chopped

1 chicken carcass and any accumulated juices

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 1/2 cups water

Put the onion, carrot, celery and carcass into the pressure cooker or Instapot.  Add the thyme and water, secure the top. 

Simple ingredients

Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes.  Allow the pressure to come down naturally, remove the top and strain the solids out, and skim off any fat from the top of the stock. 

Season with salt and pepper.  At this point you should have 4 cups of stock which you can refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. 
Cook's Notes:

If you decide to change this up for a Mexican flavor, substitute 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, and 1 lime, cut into quarters for the thyme. 
For an Italian soup:  Substitute 2 minced garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary for the thyme.  

I usually don't save the chicken from the pressure cooker since its limp and given up all its flavor for the stock.  Cut off all the meat you want to use in the soup before you put the carcass in the pressure cooker, you should have a good 2 cups if you are making soup.
*Don't peel the onion, it adds color and nutrition to the stock.

Chicken Orzo Soup

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

3 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 teaspoon finely chopped sage or thyme 

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup cooked orzo pasta

2 cups finely chopped chicken

salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil or butter, saute the onion, carrot, celery and sage for 3 to 5 minutes.  

Add the stock, orzo and chicken.  

Simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 

Soup is good food

The rain storms are blowing East, so if you are in the path of this storm, you'll be getting snow, and this is the perfect soup for a stormy day.  If you aren't using your Instapot or pressure cooker to make stock you aren't taking advantage of these great appliances.  Click here for a link to my pressure cooker book, it's got over 350 recipes to use in your pressure cooker or Instapot.  Enjoy your weekend, Ciao for now.