Mac 'n Cheese If You Please

Mac 'n cheese is just so great on a dreary, rainy, chilly day. The weather has been miserable this week. Such a drag! Luckily is it supposed to be much nicer around these parts this weekend.

Normally Mac 'n cheese is full of cream, cheese, and butter. The good stuff. But I usually try to make a version that cuts down on these elements to an extent but still has the creaminess, cheesiness, and buttery factors in some way. 

Pile of heaven

I followed the below recipe from Cookin' Canuck with a few changes. I baked the sweet potato the night before to save time. I do recommend blending/pureeing the sweet potato rather than just mashing it if you don't want small chunks of sweet potato showing (if you are serving to children or picky adults, for example). I also added caramelized onions instead of regular onions for an element of sweetness since I felt it worked with the sweet potato. Oh and unsweetened almond milk instead of regular milk. And dried sage instead of fresh sage. 

Additionally I halved the recipe and only had bowtie pasta to use. Had to be resourceful! It is important as a home cook to learn and figure out how you can substitute and make changes based on the ingredients you have on hand or to prevent buying extra ingredients and, thus, saving money. A recipe is really just a guide and does not need to be followed to the T (tee?). 

Light(er) Sweet Potato Mac 'n Cheese

Adapted from Cookin' Canuck

1 lb. sweet potato

13 oz. whole wheat elbow-shaped pasta

1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil, divided

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp chopped fresh sage

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup vegetable broth

2 1/4 cups skim milk

6 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs, preferably whole wheat

3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

·      Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a 11- by 7-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

·      Pierce the sweet potato all over with a fork. Cook in a microwave until the sweet potato is very tender, about 5 minutes per side.

·      Cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise and, when cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a shallow dish. With the back of a fork, mash the sweet potato until well-mashed and almost smooth.

·      In a large nonstick saucepan, cook the elbow pasta about 2 minutes less than package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

·      In the same saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion is tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sage and cook for 1 minute.

·      Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

·      While whisking, gradually pour the vegetable broth and skim milk into the flour mixture. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.

·      Stir in the mashed sweet potato, grated cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Heat, stirring, until the cheese is melted.

·      Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and stir until well combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

·      In a small bowl stir together the panko breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the macaroni and cheese.

·      Bake until the casserole is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Place the casserole under the broiler for 1 minute, or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown. Watch carefully so that the breadcrumbs don't burn. Serve.

No Recipe Monday

This title won't really be a regular thing. At all. But it has a nice ring to it right?

Easter Sunday was spent over my husband's grandparents' house. Lots of food, lots of wine. I made these treats:

Found here

They were so easy! You just melt chocolate, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips. Then you mix in those crunchy chow mein noodles. You mold them in a muffin tin, put them in the fridge, and then add the mini Cadbury eggs on top. I actually melted a little more chocolate to make sure the eggs stuck to the nests. They were a bit denser than what I would have liked (maybe I used too much chocolate or not enough noodles) but overall a hit.

Last night I made steak and green beans and decided not to follow any particular recipe. Steak and greens beans isn't really an exciting meal title. How bout Sirloin with Sweet Smothered Mushrooms with Lemony Green Beans?

I roasted the green beans at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Once they came out of the oven, I tossed them in lemon juice, lemon zest, and cayenne. 

I just seasoned the steak with salt and Montreal Steak Seasoning and cook it on my grill pan. In a separate pan, I sauteed diced mushrooms, chicken stock, a bit of fig and onion jam, and minced garlic to add on top.

My husband was more impressed with the green beans than the steak. Now THAT is unusual. 

The End of the Week

Don't you just love caramelized onions? I was inspired by my knife skills class and having a new skillet and made this lovely gems. I made a panini sandwich with apple and cheddar and put these bad boys in

*drool*

I probably should have cooked them longer but I was too impatient.

Anywhooo, Thursday night we ended up at trivia at a local bar called Cagney's in Quincy (we love this place). Last night I made a Cream of Zucchini Soup with Sausage Patties, a recipe from PaleoRestart. Which I've decided not to fully continue but I like a lot of the recipes so I will use them next week. 

The wine plate is fitting. Don't you love my little cow bowl? Luckily the patties are pork and not beef. That would be awkward.

Tonight, a big group of us are off to Tapeo on Newbury Street downtown for some tapas. 

Happy holidays everyone! I hope you eat some good food. 

It's Slaw-some

Last night I took a knife skills class! I know that I could get a lot more efficient/better in my slicing and dicing so I decided it was time to take a class (rather than relying on YouTube videos). I failed yet again at food blogging as I did not take any pictures. But it would have been awkward as it was an intimate setting. So there.

I found Helen's Kitchen Cooking School run by Helen Rennie out of her house in Natick. The class was to be from 6 to 9. Upon arrival, she had aprons for everyone and I helped her assemble crostini with garlic yogurt and roasted brussel sprouts on top as a snack for all. Then, Helen took us through different kinds of knives and how to care for them. The best knife for all jobs is a Chef's Knife, preferably 8 inch. I personally own a Henckels 8 inch Chef's Knife and we used this type of knife nearly the whole night.

After that we got to chopping, slicing, and dicing. She would show us step-by-step how to attack the vegetables then we would get a chance to practice. I obviously had always held my knife incorrectly so she kept telling me to fix it to the "pinch grip." We chopped up carrots, celery, onions, garlic, herbs, radishes, and some other things. A lot of the vegetables contributed to a salad with quinoa and a lime soy dressing. We sliced onions that she made into caramelized onions. She put those into a grilled cheese with apples and cheddar. So good!

Overall the class was definitely worth it and tonight I found myself being very conscious of the correct technique. She has created videos on how to slice all kinds of vegetables and using different types of knives. She emailed us immediately after the class to send us resources which was really cool.

Tonight's meal was a salmon filet with a jicama and mango slaw and mashed sweet potatoes. Yes, jicama. WTF is jicama? Well, it looks like this:

Kind of ugly. White on the inside. According to that label, it says that jicama is the "Mexican potato." It is crunchy, juicy, and refreshing. It almost has the texture of a watermelon except with more crunch according to my husband. It has a fairly neutral taste so it just soaked up the lime juice in the slaw.

 I just cooked the salmon fillets in a pan with salt, pepper, and a teeny bit of brown sugar.

It was totally slaw-some.

Paleo Fail

Sorry, I'm a slacker. I know it has been 4 days since my last post.

On the bright side, this means lots for me to talk about! I'm sure you are thrilled.

As I mentioned I am doing the Paleo Restart by Paleo Leap. Here are some things I've learned:

• I'm terrible at going Paleo. I think my goal is more realistically 80/20
• I do feel more satisfied/fuller. Eating more protein and veggies is making a difference
• I am eating more red meat than usual so I'm not sure how I feel about that
• I don't like people telling me what I can and cannot eat
• This weekend was a bit of a bust so I am looking to get back onto the saddle for this coming week

Anyways, I am super excited because I ordered a five piece All-Clad cookware set from Sur La Table. I had always wanted a stainless steel pan set, I had only ever really owned non-stick and the set I currently have is starting to die. I have two new non-stick pans as a wedding gift and now an All-Clad saute pan, high-sided skillet, and saucepan (two with lids).

I saw that they arrived Thursday when I came home from work and immediately opened the box so I could use my pans for dinner. It's the little things in life, right? I made steak with a cauliflower and bacon hash. Doesn't the bacon look beautiful in the pan?

Friday I made myself spaghetti squash and meatballs for dinner with leftovers to freeze. 

My sister, Rachel, recently got engaged so Saturday's plan was to check out a couple of wedding venues in Rhode Island. Once we finished up, we were all hungry and a found a place in Warwick called The Ripe Tomato. It was an adorable, small place with homemade Italian food. The waitress was genuinely excited to see us and was so welcoming. Definitely a rarity! I ended up with a pizza that had hazelnut cream, chicken, peas, cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes.

It was really good but filling, I was only able to eat half of it. Really great place, I recommend it if you are in the Warwick, RI area. Also, my photographer sister, Emily, stole my phone to take her version of the picture of my pizza:

Saturday night, my husband and I were lame and decided to do some food shopping at Wegman's in Chestnut Hill. We also had the genius idea of doing a charcuterie and cheese plate for dinner. First we had some salads from Sweetgreen (to justify the meat and cheese?), then we had some meat, cheese, and wine. As you know, some of my faves.

We also had little mini toasts and crostini to eat with these nuggets of deliciousness. The cheese on the left is an Edel de Cleron from France and a type of Brie. On the right is a Brillo Pecorino DiVino which is an Italian sheep's milk cheese soaked in Chianti wine. There is also prosciutto and spicy chorizo in the middle. We also got an onion and fig jam (so good!) and tomato bruschetta. Amazing. 

I leave you with this because...it's true.

Sips and Small Bites

Thanks everyone for the 1,000+ pageviews! I'm sure 999 are my husband and parents but hey, it's a start.

The semi-Paleo journey continues on. Last night I made burgers with avocado, tomato, and salsa with a side of sweet potato fries. I seasoned the fries with cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, cinnamon, garlic powder and paprika. I also coated them in coconut oil. They were sweet 'n spicy.  Good stuff.

Tonight my friends and I made another appearance at the Culinary Center at Whole Foods in Dedham for a Sips and Small Bites (and not Paleo) class. We tried a variety of wines and they were paired with small bites.

First up was endive with a goat/sheep's milk cheese from Australia sprinkled with pistachios. It wasn't as pungent as regular goat cheese and was creamier. This was paired with Greek Moscofilero (white wine). It was on the sweet and crisp side to go with the goat cheese.

Next was a chorizo stuffed clam. You can see a piece of chorizo sticking out. YUM. This was paired with a German Riesling that worked well with the spiciness of the chorizo.

After was a bit of salami and and an olive that was very salty and strong tasting. This was paired with the first red wine of the night.

After that was a stuffed mushroom paired with a Malbec. I think. 

The final bite was a chimichurri steak with a Bordeaux.

As always, it was a fun and informative experience. Martin, the wine buyer for this Whole Foods, is very down to earth and funny. Not at all a wine snob. We even got to help plan the upcoming Wine Wednesday in April. I think it was decided to be rosés paired with springtime foods. Can't wait!