Macaroni & Cheese

As many recipes as I've tried for macaroni and cheese, I finally decided that the only one that I ever want to make is the one I first made with my mom. No baking, no crumbs, no fancy cheeses...and no trying to make it better for you! Just good, classic mac & cheese.

Macaroni & Cheese

1 lb. elbow macaroni (other short pastas work also, but I've tried them all, and macaroni is the best!)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
pinch cayenne (optional)
pinch or two salt
pinch white pepper or black pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (In a pinch, when I've had only mild cheddar, I subbed out some of the cheddar for parmesan or swiss.)

Set a big pot of water on to boil. Enlist an assistant to grate the cheese while you measure the other ingredients. In making the sauce, it really helps to have the milk warm, or even hot, but at least room temperature. I usually stick it in the microwave for that.

Okay, once the water has boiled, throw in a big tablespoon of salt and the macaroni, stirring so that they don't stick to each other or the bottom of the pot. Set a timer for however long the package says so you can pay attention to the sauce. Do stir it occasionally, though, to make sure they're not sticking.

Right. Now that the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and stir to incorporate the two, smoothing out any lumps. Before the roux (butter/flour mixture) has a chance to get brown, drizzle in the warm milk, stirring constantly, giving the roux a chance to absorb the milk as you add it. As soon as all the milk has been added, dump (or sprinkle, whichever you like better) in your seasonings. Simmer until it thickens a bit. Turn off the burner and add the cheese, stirring to melt. I've made my sauce a little grainy sometimes, I think by either cooking the roux too much or accidentally letting the cheese boil in the sauce or maybe from using too much cheese. I don't really know. You probably won't have this problem.

Meanwhile, your macaroni's probably done by now. Drain it and dump it back in the pot. If you drain it by putting the lid on so that there's a space for water, but not noodles, to escape, then you can skip this step. Scrape the sauce over the macaroni and stir to coat. At this point, my family considers it perfect mac and cheese. Divide evenly between bowls, counting the number of noodles so that no one gets less than anyone else.

Linguine alla Carbonara

I'd never heard of carbonara until I cracked open jamie's italy when I received it last Christmas, but it immediately appealed to me.  Eggs and pasta...what's not to love?  In the ten months between the initial inspiration and finally making an opportunity to whip it up, I had a couple of chances to try some other renditions of pasta alla carbonara.  I was not impressed.  But I was confident that Jamie and I could turn out a more appetizing product than the bland, sticky versions that didn't do much to recommend themselves.

That said...I didn't follow Jamie's instructions to the letter.  In fact, I drastically, and accidentally, altered the sauce/pasta ratio by failing to notice, when doubling the recipe to serve eight, that the original called for a whole pound of pasta rather than the eight ounces that I assumed would feed four people.  But really, this was not too much sauce and I seriously wonder why anyone would make it with less.  In addition to the inadvertent reduction of linguine, I ended up making a few substitutions due to not having shopped with this dish in mind, most notably, using bacon instead of pancetta and a mixture of half and half and milk instead of heavy cream.

Overall, I found the changes wholly successful and would make this again without any curiosity as to how it is supposed to turn out...with one final tweak: I would completely omit the lemon zest.  You may like the bright citrus zing, (as my mom does) in which case, you should definitely leave it in, but my tongue considers the addition of lemon in savory dishes out of place.  I would compare it to finding a banana in a box of books.

Linguine alla Carbonara
adapted from Jamie Oliver's linguine alla carbonara di salsiccia
serves 4-8, depending on how much you like pasta, how hungry you are, and whether the moon is waxing or waning (not really on the moon bit)

4 Italian sausages
8 slices of bacon, sliced
salt and pepper
1 lb. linguine
8 large egg yolks
1 cup half and half
7 oz. freshly grated parmesan, divided
zest of 1 lemon (like I said, not a fan. middle sister and little brother agree)
a sprig of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (I admit it. I didn't want to go out in the rain to harvest a sprig of parsley, so I left it out. No one noticed, but it would certainly bring a fresh scent, especially if you decide to forego the lemon)

Strip the sausages from their casings and, with wet hands, shape them into marble-sized meatballs.  Set a large pot of salted water to boil.  Heat a large frying pan and cook the bacon until most of the fat has rendered out and the bacon is at the pleasantly chewy stage.  Scoop it out and set it aside, leaving enough fat in the pan to fry the meatballs, and draining the rest.  Gently fry the meatballs in a single layer, in batches if necessary, removing cooked meatballs to be set aside with the bacon.  If subsequent batches start sticking, you can add a little olive oil.  Add the linguine to the boiling water and cook according to package directions.

In a large bowl, whip up the egg yolks, half and half, half the parmesan, lemon zest, and parsley.  At this point I scooped out some of the pasta water and drizzled into the egg mixture, whisking it as I poured, the idea being to slightly temper the eggs and lessen the chance of scrambling the eggs when they get tossed with the pasta.  Not sure if it did anything.  You can skip that if you want.  When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, and immediately toss it quickly with the egg mixture back in the pasta pot.  Add the hot sausage meatballs and toss everything together.  The egg will cook delicately from the heat of the linguine, just enough for it to thicken and not scramble.  The sauce should be smooth and silky.  If the pasta becomes a little sticky add a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water to loosen it slightly.  Sprinkle over the rest of the parmesan, season if necessary, and eat immediately!  Plates optional.

Banana Coconut Bread

"Can you make banana bread?"

"Sure, but not till we get the secret ingredient."

"What's the secret ingredient?"

"Coconut."

"But, I don't like coconut."

This exchange that I had with my little sister a few weeks ago can be partially explained by mentioning that our mother isn't a great fan of coconut and the number of times in my lifetime that I remember her buying it is exactly two: the first, I have no memory of what we used it for, and the second, I tossed it in the cart specifically to make this bread.  I first made this recipe for Vanessa from a recipe she had gotten from Mrs. Nutter...while I polished off the end of the previous loaf.  Toasted.  With butter.  I'd never eaten banana bread at home before (another of Mom's aversions), but I just knew that it was because she hadn't been introduced to this perfect pairing.  Knowing that the worst thing that could happen would be my eating the whole loaf, I set out to change their minds.  I think it worked; I only got to eat half of it.

Banana Coconut Bread
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar (I've also used evaporated cane juice crystals with equal success)
1 1/2 cup coconut
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. canola oil
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mashed banana
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350.  Stir together the first five ingredients (flour through salt).  In a separate bowl (or your measuring pitcher, if it's big enough), blend together the last four ingredients (oil through egg).  Combine wet and dry together, making sure the dry gets well-hydrated, but taking care not to over-stir.  Scrape into a greased 9"x5" loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes.

 Today was crazy!  Mandy Novotny was making coffee for everybody after lunch and I had a mocha and she gave me one of the biggest mugs that we have and I was on edge the rest of the afternoon!  I kept thinking, "Why am I so anxious? Am I just stressed about all the special meals we're having this week?"  I didn't realize it was the coffee until almost 4:00.  I think that's probably the most coffee I've had at one time in my entire life.

 Of course for dinner we had one of my favorite meals that is also one of the most involved meals I make!  I always remember the time Mr. and Mrs. Nutter took me out to Indian food for my birthday this year.  And after the caffeine wearing off and me not stuffing myself with chicken tikka masala and naan, I went to choir practice.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 For Adam and Lini's reception yesterday, I ran the bar.  Well, okay, no alcohol was involved, but I really did mix drinks upon request, and it really did look like a bar.  Besides iced water and coffee punch that guests could serve themselves, we offered made-to-order Italian sodas.  I spent three hours of the afternoon behind the counter measuring ice, sparkling water, syrup, and cream, finishing with a professionally torn straw.  People were raving!  I've discovered my new calling as a bartender.  Maybe not.  How about I just get a job at Starbucks.

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Real gold fears no fire.

Did you think I died and fell off the face of the earth? Well, I've been busy feeding people, taking pictures (when I remember and have time), catching up on sleep, playing soccer, and learning French. J'aime jouer au soccer!

Time permitting, one of my favorite things is chopping, slicing, or dicing anything by hand. Just give me a good knife. Whether it's mincing fifty cloves of garlic or slicing a pile of onion rings, there's just something so satisfying and calming about the repetition of the knife across the board.

I undertook, on the same day, two of the most intimidating projects and had to follow through practically flying solo...mm-hmm...and blind...and walking backwards, on my hands, juggling with my feet. Okay, no, not really. But I did have only the recipes and the memory that what was written wasn't all there was to it. My source and inspiration was unavailable two time zones away and not even answering her phone. For paella, I used the recipe for amounts and order of addition to the pan and relied on my memory of how we did it at camping. It tasted just like I remembered it should! Doughnuts were a bit more of a challenge because I was present for only part of the previous doughnut-day and didn't actually see the whole process. And of course there's the whole frying thing that I've never done before, not helped by the fact that I don't even have a thermometer that goes that high and, what type of oil does Mrs. Nutter use? They turned out well...oh my goodness! I love doughnuts! And they were so easy. Two batches of doughnuts, start to finish, clean kitchen to clean kitchen, took only one and a half hours. Of course, I admit, I had seven people helping me and pretty much did nothing but direct...but that counts for something too!

Well, this post has been gestating for almost a month and it's past my bedtime so I'll leave you with these two pretties from the marriage conference. Bonne nuit!

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After making tarte au chocolat, I had two discs of pâte sucrée left over and, oh look, new fluted cookie cutters and four colors of sanding sugar from Williams-Sonoma! It must be a sign. So, on Saturday, with nothing else to fill the afternoon, I pulled out my rolling pin (and camera!) to pass the time. Lesson of the day: I really, really want...dare I say?... need...a macro lens.

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Real gold fears no fire.

Gone Fishing

I've been having many wonderful menu ideas this week. Where were they all when I was planning for this week? Due to my muse taking a vacation, all we're having this week is nasty American food. Okay, okay, it's not nasty. It's tasty (Yeah, tasty...that 'n' must have been a typo.), hearty, reliable, fool-proof, unimaginative...you get the picture. I mean, they're all good things, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, fajitas, hamburgers, ham...but...p- leaze, all in one week? I suppose everyone is satisfied with good food in their stomachs but, every time I look at the menu, I cringe. The one breath of fresh air was a last-minute substitution today at lunch. Instead of tuna wraps, I pulled a recipe out of a library cookbook for ginger-lime chicken salad wraps. That was a brilliant epiphany from God. I was just flipping through one of my eight cookbooks that I checked out, trying to finish the menu for the marriage conference in two weeks and just happened to pause on this recipe and noticed that we just happened to have all the ingredients, even, would you believe it, jicama, *goofy, John Ratzenberger voice* oh, I just always keep jicama in the fridge(!?!), and an already open jar of Major Grey's. So I'm excited about getting out of the midwest next week and back to world-traveling. Where will I go? France, home to the Northwest, India, Italy, Asia, and Central America. Hey, that's almost all the continents. Hmm, now what could I serve from Antarctica?

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Crazy Week

I screamed almost every day this week. It was not a bad week, just insanely crazy and unbelievable. Jars melting, waiting forever for the dishwasher to fill while, all the time, it was actually emptying, almost forgetting to place an order, both ovens going out, the new Sysco delivery driver telling me to stay pretty and not become a nun, and pieces of the rusty washing machine lid falling in all combined to make this a week wherein I question my sanity. Meanwhile, I've had to go back to classic stand-by meals because I've just been drawing a blank when it comes to menus. Desserts, however, are another story. I was so excited about desserts that I didn't bother trying to decided which one to make. I just made them all!
Whole lemon tart made with pâte sucrée was a new recipe I had to try to see if I could do it...you know...for my education. The pâte sucrée was amazing! Buttery, crumbly, and sweet (but not too sweet), I ate probably half a tart's worth before it even made it to the oven. The filling was super simple but, I thought, too much. Imagine, if you will, a dear little shortbread cookie with a dollop of lemon curd...yeah, that would have been the perfect balance. Speaking of cookies, that's probably what will happen to the pâte sucrée I will have left from making tarte au chocolat this week, that is, assuming I don't eat it all raw.
I had been craving peach blackberry pie with homemade vanilla ice cream all summer until I finally went of the deep end and decided to have it the same day we were making about twenty dozen cookies, the same week I made two chocolate cakes because, here's the best frosting I've ever had that I've been eating with a spoon, and how much trouble would it be to just make some cake to celebrate Rachel's visa and Luc's acceptance to Verity. Back to the pie. Peach blackberry was what I wanted, but how could I resist throwing in some plums and strawberries I just happened to have on hand? I couldn't. I borrowed the crust from my apple pie and 'winged it' for the filling. No lattice crusts on these babies, not that I'd been planning to, but I couldn't have even if I wanted because, just as I was filling the third and final pie, I realized I had yet to put my order in, didn't even have a list, did I even have a menu, it's due in an hour, and it usually takes me an hour or more. I passed the top crust baton to someone else (they turned out beautifully) and, after running around like a chicken with my head cut off, finished my order in twenty-five minutes. The pie was as perfect as I imagined it could be. Tender summer fruit hid beneath a sugar-sprinkled crust that stayed crisp even under a lopsided pillow of half-melted ice cream that dripped down the edges to mingle with the sweet juices. Wow. How's that for summer?

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Pure Inspiration

 I've been a bit stuck lately, having almost no new ideas for what goes on the menu.  But, a week and a half ago, I did have a lunch that was, I tell you, truly inspired.  During breakfast clean-up, Claudia pulls me aside and hurriedly informs me that the CI team is going to be here for lunch and she is so sorry she hadn't let me know ahead of time, but they don't communicate their schedule to her.  Well my brain started scrambling.  What do I have to feed twice as many people as I planned for?  Scanning the fridge, I came up with sliced ham, some turkey, pepperoni, salami...hmm...that looks like some sort of Italian sandwich to me.  But on what?  There isn't any bread.  Then I'll make bread.  Do I have time?  Just barely, I see, as I pull out the recipe.  Between mixing, rising, shaping, and second rising, the girls and I pulled together the rest of the fixings for an amazing sub sandwich on fresh baguette.  A baked pasta dish from the freezer assured that everyone had plenty to eat.  In the end, no one even realized that, before breakfast, I could not have even told them what was for lunch.  Miracles do happen.

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 Wow.  How ready am I to come home?  This afternoon I was so tired I could have been asleep in three minutes if I'd been given half a chance.  And after dinner I started laughing at something and kept on hysterically for probably twenty minutes.  Tonight we're going out and I plan to sit at Starbucks with a coffee frappuccino and draw lines on paper.  Of course, as soon as I get home, I'll be back on the road and going for another week, followed by a week of scrambling to fit things in and get ready for camping.  *sigh*  No rest for the weary.  At least I'll end on a relaxed note.  Camping, here I come!

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Real gold fears no fire.

 During a short break in my busy schedule the other day, I decided to go for a walk.  I didn't have that much time so, to avoid going up to my room and changing shoes and then having to change back, I thought I would just walk barefoot.  Yeah, I'm smart.  I had done it earlier in the week without any trouble, but after my fifteen-minute circuit of the parking lot, I discovered a thumb-sized blister on each heel.  They had me limping the rest of the night.  I considered lancing them...but thought better of it.  By next morning, I could feel them only in certain shoes, and today, not at all.  Besides that, I've just been partying it up in Claudia's apartment last night and going to a three-hour Shabbat service with Katie at a friend's church.
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Real gold fears no fire.

It seems I have the most to write about when I have the least time and energy. Oh, the irony. Friday was bursting at the seams with things I had to do. Getting ready for Saturday's banquet and still putting meals in people's mouths kept me going in four directions at once. I'm serious; I was doing four thing at the same time. That was the day that, one of the two times I went to light the griddle, the pilots were out and, when I lit them, the gas was on. Yeah, not so smart. So my eyelashes were blonde-tipped for a day or two. But I made good things! Everyone devoured the grilled sandwiches that came from the 'poof' incident and the naan from that evening turned out very well and was perfect with the Indian food. I made Indian food, people! Chicken tikka masala, spiced basmati, garlic naan, mango chutney, cucumber raita...mango chutney being the only thing we didn't make from scratch. It's so weird how all those crazy-different flavors...taste the best together! Anyway, Claudia, who's been bugging me to make Indian food for forever, had an option to go out to Indian food a couple of days after, but decided against it because, "it probably wouldn't be as good as Anna's." !!!

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Real gold fears no fire.

 Have I told you about the cheese crisps?  I've made them twice.  The first time I didn't cook them long enough so they were...chews.  Tasty chews, but not what I was going for.  Last time, they turned out perfectly amazing and wonderful.  I lined sheet pans with parchment paper and dotted it with pinches of shredded asiago, flattening each little mound as I went.  Into a hot oven they went, until they turned toasty brown.  Barely cool before I had to 'test' one, they met my expectations in every way.  They were the perfect accompaniment to fettucini with baked tomato sauce and the best chicken caesar salad I've ever had.  If I do say so myself.

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Real gold fears no fire.

Tonight...I outdid myself. Dry-rub sirloin steak with fresh fruit salsa, lemon couscous, summer squash carpaccio salad, and strawberry breeze pie had everyone exclaiming and cleaning their plates. Saturday I will have another chance to top even that. For the father/daughter banquet we are having mixed greens with avocado and fruit, sirloin steak with hunter sauce, risotto-style mushroom barley, honey-balsamic green beans with onions and walnuts, rosemary wheat rolls, and petite cheesecakes. Imagine that. We're having steak twice in one week! I don't know how I'm ever going to live up to that.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 Well, the weekend is over.  With all the stuff I did this weekend, it should have been longer.  We went to a wedding in Fort Worth on Friday and got back at midnight, I got taken on an 'I know how it can be cooped up at a training center so let me take you out' outing to the mall on Saturday, Starbucks included, and, even better than the mall, Whole Foods.  Came back and served dinner to a very small crowd and afterwards played with a basketball and a volleyball outside till dark then watched a movie with Katie and Claudia and went to bed at midnight...again.  Sunday got up early to go to choir and crashed when I got back for a two hour nap, made dinner, and turned in early after our John Piper video.  Okay, I'm done.  Let's make tonight an early night too.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 Well, it will be at least a week before the air conditioning gets fixed because the repairman is in North Dakota until the end of next week.  In the meantime, we'll just walk around like zombies every afternoon.  But we are finally getting our stairs re-carpeted.  After a year of trying to get somebody to deliver the carpet...we decided to go with someone else.

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Back to the Grindstone

 I was able to scrounge enough food together for two decent meals today, but I'll have to make a run to the store for tomorrow's lunch before the order comes in.  The a/c is out for the kitchen so it was 88º in there today, and muggy.  I come up with lots of reasons to go in the fridge when it's like that.  Choir practice tonight, early to bed, early to rise, farmers' market, grocery store, meals, orders...  When am I going to unpack?

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Real gold fears no fire.

I'm coming home tomorrow!

 Oh glorious day!  I get to drive a manual!  I get to go barefoot!  I get to wear pants!  I get to be outside...a lot!  I don't have to serve dinner twice a day!  I get to make soap!  I get to go camping!  I get to go to the beach!  I get to see everybody!  Spider-man!  Campfires!  Gaelic Storm in stereo!

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Real gold fears no fire.

View of our frisbee field...

...(parking lot) from the room next to mine...as taken from my room. My most amazing play of last night's amazing game: running deep in the near endzone, I snagged the frisbee just enough inbounds for a goal and finished with a crash and burn that broke out in a rash up my right arm. I couldn't begin to tell of John's innumerable amazing plays. I'll just leave it at: I'm glad we were on the same team some of the time.

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Real gold fears no fire.