Macaroni and Cheese with a Twist

Last year, on a trip out of town, my husband, son and I stopped to eat dinner at a family owned restaurant.  Being a creature of habit, I ordered a vegetable plate.  I don't remember what two of the vegetables were, but I vividly remember the third one:  macaroni and cheese.  It definitely had a twist to it and it wasn't the pasta!  Two differences were clearly visible. One, the sauce was made with white -- not yellow -- cheese.  Two, the ingredients weren't baked in the oven.

My son also had macaroni and cheese and agreed it was delicious.  We started talking about how to duplicate the dish at home when Bill, the cook and owner of the restaurant, came to our table to see if we needed anything.  When I complimented him on the macaroni and cheese, he confirmed that my two observations about the dish were correct. 

He used queso blanco -- a creamy, soft, unaged white cheese -- instead of Cheddar.  Rather than baking the ingredients, he stirred the cheese sauce into the cooked macaroni.  He proceeded to give me the recipe which made an enormous amount of macaroni and cheese.  It took some experimenting, but I was able to reduce the ingredients and make the dish using an eight ounce package of macaroni.

The sauce starts with a roux -- a mixture of equal parts fat and flour -- that is cooked until the mixture makes a smooth paste.

Milk is gradually added to the roux.  Through trial and error, I discovered that 1 1/4 cups milk makes a sauce that's the perfect consistency, not only when it's served, but when leftovers are reheated in the microwave.  The mixture is cooked until it's thickened, but not too thick.  The cheese will also act as a thickener.

Before the cheese is added

The pan is removed from the heat and the queso blanco is stirred into the mixture.

 After the cheese is added

The sauce is poured over the macaroni and then stirred.

Queso macaroni is a nice alternative to baked macaroni and cheese. The cheese may be different, but the finished product goes well with any entree that you'd normally serve with macaroni and cheese.  My son thinks it's especially good with corn dog casserole.  As far as he's concerned, those two foods are a match made in culinary heaven.

Queso Macaroni

8 Servings

1 (8 oz.) pkg. elbow macaroni

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

dash of pepper

1 1/4 cups milk

2 cups shredded queso blanco cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.  In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter.  Add flour, salt and pepper, stirring to make a smooth paste.  Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until heated and thickened.  Remove pan from heat; stir in the cheese until smooth.  Pour sauce over macaroni; stir to combine.

© Margaret's Morsels

Beating the Holiday Hustle

Life gets busier in December.  In addition to everyday activities -- working, taking care of families, driving carpools, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, paying bills, attending sporting events, meetings, school functions and church activities -- tis also the season for cookie swaps,

decorating,

sending Christmas cards,

wrapping packages, 

giving gifts from the kitchen.

When busy days get even busier, you don't have to eat out or rely on frozen food or take out for a fast meal.  The recipe I'm sharing today is ready in less than an hour.

A few years ago, a friend gave me a recipe for goulash.  When I heard the name, I immediately thought of the traditional Hungarian dish which is a kind of soup or stew.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this goulash, unlike its namesake, is actually a casserole.  Although the preparation is different, both recipes share some similarities.

• Meat:  Both versions use beef, but the casserole uses ground beef instead of stew meat. 

• Vegetables:  The soup or stew usually has potatoes, onions and tomatoes, although some versions use a larger variety of vegetables.  The casserole uses onion, canned pork and beans and, in place of tomatoes, a can of tomato soup.  Make sure you use pork and beans and not baked beans which are flavored with additional spices.

• Pasta:  Some versions call for traditional goulash to be cooked with pasta while other versions serve the dish over cooked pasta.  The casserole uses macaroni which is combined with the other ingredients before baking.

• Spices:  The soup or stew is seasoned with paprika -- a bright orange-red spice made from ground up sweet peppers -- which can range from mild to hot.  The casserole gets some heat from a couple of tablespoons of chili powder.

Although there are similarities between the dishes, there's also one noticeable difference:  cheese.  The top of the casserole is covered with shredded Cheddar cheese before it's baked.

The casserole is baked in the oven for 30 minutes.  I add a salad and garlic bread for an easy meal on a busy day.  Not only is this quick to prepare during the holiday hustle, it's also a warming meal on a cold winter night.

Goulash

6 to 8 Servings

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. chili powder, divided

1 cup elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

1 (15.75 oz.) can pork and beans

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can tomato soup (undiluted)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef, onion and 1 tablespoon chili powder; drain. Combine the ground beef mixture with the macaroni, pork and beans, soup and remaining 1 tablespoon chili powder.  Put in a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Double Duty Cooking

                                                        

When we bought our house, there were two items other than location and school district at the top of my wish list:  a front porch and double ovens.  I didn't get the front porch, but I got double ovens and I love them.  I don't know how I ever cooked without them!


Although I've had double ovens a number of years, I still find myself planning meals that can be cooked at the same temperature, even if not for the same length of time.  This double duty cooking comes in handy, especially during the holidays when there's a lot of cooking to be done all at once.  Since the holidays are upon us, I'm sharing two side dishes that can be cooked simultaneously.


My family expects turkey and all the trimmings at Thanksgiving so I always serve ham at Christmas.  For as long as I can remember, I've always paired ham with macaroni and cheese.  To me, those two foods go together like peanut butter and jelly, fish and chips, bacon and eggs.  In addition to macaroni and cheese, I also serve green bean bundles.  The macaroni and cheese cooks in half the time of the bean bundles so I put the bean bundles in to cook first.


Green bean bundles may sound complicated, but they're nothing more than whole green beans wrapped in bacon, covered with a sauce and baked in the oven.  You can use a whole slice of bacon on each bundle or you can slice the bacon in half.  The bundles are easier to wrap if you put the beans at the end of a piece of bacon and roll everything into a bundle.

                                                 

To save time, I wrap the bacon around the beans the night before and store them in a covered container in the refrigerator.  The remaining ingredients aren't added until the beans are ready to go in the oven.


The sauce uses a hodgepodge of ingredients, but when combined gives the beans a wonderful flavor.  You don't have to be precise; you can add more or less of an ingredient to suit your taste.  Once the sauce is on the beans, the pan goes in the oven for 45 minutes.  The bacon needs to be thoroughly cooked so you might have to cook the beans a little longer, especially if you use a whole piece of bacon to wrap the beans.  For a nicer presentation, transfer the cooked bean bundles and sauce to a serving dish after you take them out of the oven.


The other side dish, macaroni and cheese, isn't difficult and is tastier than anything you get from a box!  When you cook macaroni -- or any pasta -- you want to add enough salt to the water so it tastes like saltwater.  If the water isn't salty enough, the cooked pasta won't be either.


Most macaroni and cheese recipes use regular or canned milk.  This recipe uses nonfat dry milk instead.  The milk powder is mixed with flour, butter and water to form a sauce.

The sauce before the cheese is added.

Part of the cheese is added to the sauce making it a cheese sauce.  It's ok if all the cheese isn't completely melted.  It will melt when you cook it in the oven.  The macaroni is added to the sauce and the mixture is cooked for 25 minutes.  After the 25 minutes are up, the remaining cheese is sprinkled on top and cooked just long enough to melt, about one minute.  This sprinkling of cheese makes the dish look prettier when it's served.

The remaining cheese before it's melted.

If you want to get out of the kitchen faster, let your oven do double duty and cook two dishes at the same time.  However, before you buy the ingredients and prepare the food, make sure there's enough room in the oven for both pans!

Green Bean Bundles

8 Servings

4 (14.5 oz.) cans whole green beans, drained

bacon (uncooked)

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. soy sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Gather green beans into bundles.  Wrap one slice bacon around each bundle; lay seam side down in baking dish.  Slice butter on top of bundles. Sprinkle remaining ingredients over bundles.  Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until hot and the bacon is cooked.

Macaroni and Cheese

8 Servings

1 (8 oz.) pkg. elbow macaroni

2 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk

2 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 1/4 cups boiling water

3 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided

1/4 tsp. salt

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix dry milk, flour and butter.  Gradually add boiling water, beating constantly.  Add 1 1/2 cups cheese and continue beating until smooth and creamy.  Stir in macaroni, 1 cup of the remaining cheese and salt.  Transfer to a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish.  Cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.  Remove foil.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.  Continue baking 1 minute or until cheese melts.

© Margaret's Morsels