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Cooking School: Macaroni and Cheese

admin — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 11:42:10 +0000

Cooking School/ Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:
1 cube butter (or the equivalent of ½ cup of butter)
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. chicken bullion (or 1/2 cube Knorr’s chicken bullion cube)
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. lowery’s seasoned salt
dash of pepper
dash of nutmeg
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or shredded Mexican cheese from Costco)
2 cups gruyere (I’ve also used jarlsberg in a pinch and it was magnificent.)
½ cup breadcrumbs (optional)

1. Make sure your cheese is shredded. If it’s not, shred your cheese right now. Mix the two types of cheese together in a big bowl.
2. Put large pot of water on high heat. Sprinkle 1 heaping Tablespoon of salt in the water.
3. Make your breadcrumbs. (you do this by tossing torn bits of 2 pieces of bread and 3 Tablespoons of butter into a pan over medium heat. Toss the butter and bread bits around and around until they are a beautiful golden brown. Set aside.)
4. Start your white sauce (which you now know is really béchamel). In a medium sauce pan over medium low heat, melt 1 cube of butter. Don’t burn the butter! Stay by the butter! Don’t leave the butter!
5. Once butter is completely melted, add ¼ cup flour. Whisk for two minutes so the flour can absorb the butter.
6. Add 2 cups milk, ¼ teaspoon dry mustard, 1 ½ teaspoons lowery’s seasoning salt, a dash of pepper and a dash of nutmeg. With a wooden spoon or whisk, continue stirring béchamel over medium heat until sauce is thickened. You will know it is thick enough when it can coat the back of a spoon. This will take about 15 minutes and you CAN’T walk away from the sauce or it will burn. You have to stand by the sauce and stir it constantly.
7. Once your pasta water is boiling, add pasta and stir. Boil pasta until it is al dente. (At this point you will have two pots going: one with the béchamel and one with the boiling pasta)
8. Set up an assembly area that consists of: béchamel, shredded cheese, cooked pasta, and bread crumbs.
9. In a casserole dish that can be any shape or size (assuming you can fit everything in there!), layer the pasta and cheese (NOT the sauce and bread crumbs) in this order:
half of the pasta/ half of the shredded cheese
Repeat:
The last half of the pasta/ the last half of the shredded cheese
10. Pour the béchamel over the top. Sprinkle 1/2 cup bread crumbs on top.

11. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 or until you see the béchamel bubbling and the cheese completely melted. Oh my.

Green Chili and Chicken…Chili

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 21:53:19 +0000

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies (if you like less kick, add just one can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
Fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder (or fresh garlic, if using) in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately. This is especially good served with tortilla chips.

Cooking School: Cookie Basics

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2014 17:01:57 +0000

Basic Cookie Dough:
The recipe below is a combination of a few recipes. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups flour (a little more than this is BETTER than a little less)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon corn starch (optional!! It offers your cookies a “soft baked” quality)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup shortening (butter flavored)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs (if you have time, convert this to 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk)
2 cups (or 2 packages) milk chocolate chips*

1. Place butter and shortening in bowl. Mix until combined.

2. Add brown sugar, white sugar (also referred to as granulated sugar), eggs, and vanilla. Mix until just combined.

3. Add flour. Sprinkle salt, baking soda and baking powder on top of flour. Mix dry ingredients with butter mixture until just combined.

4. Add chocolate chips and mix until combined.

5. Chill the dough for 2 hours (at least). If you are DYING to have cookies right now, go ahead and bake the fresh dough. It won’t hurt anybody.

6. Using a large spoon, scoop dough out, shape into balls, and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

*If you are adding other mix-ins, add 2 cups total of any combination of mix-ins you choose.

(If you want the spreadsheet that lists the many chocolate chip cookie recipes, email me or leave a comment below.)

I stepped out of the Kitchen

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:34:03 +0000

And onto the street for a run. And the rest is a really lovely tale. But I’m back friends. More posts soon.

Thursday Throwback: Pico de Gallo aka Saydi’s Salsa

admin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:00:23 +0000

Friends,

I’ve been on the road and now I’m back. Why I can’t blog while I’m on the road is a mystery I can not explain. But in honor of summer I’m re-posting a favorite summer treat. Dice and enjoy!

Originally posted August 10th, 2008

What do I eat when I’m famished? I’ll tell you. I eat Pico de Gallo. Chime in here if I am wrong, but I believe Pico de Gallo is like Salsa, only not. It is diced vegetables tossed together, rather than mushed together. My dear friend SES makes the world’s best Pico de Gallo, but I don’t think she calls it that. All I know is that one day, she brought me a large container of this concoction along with a bag of chips. I ate the entire contents of the container by myself (there were a few chips left in the bag). I told no one and I admitted to nothing.

It may seem like I’m on a Mexican food kick here. But Mexican food is an integral part of my life. In fact I’ll prove it to you by publishing my favorite mexican chocolate cake….but not until I eat another few bowls of Pico de Gallo.

Pico de Gallo

3 tomatoes, diced
1/4 red onion, minced
1 avocado, diced
fresh lime juice (lots and lots)
cilantro, chopped (optional)
fresh corn (optional, but if you do it, use corn that you cut directly off the cob…it makes all the difference)
salt

Dice the tomatoes and avocados. Mince the red onion. Juice the limes into the vegetables. Add optional vegetables. Mix. Serve with tortillas chips.

Mid Morning Snack

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:01:35 +0000

Wow. I created my perfect 10:00am snack. I’m beyond impressed with myself:
Frozen bananas
Almond milk
1 1/2 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder

Mix ingredients together in vita mix. You’ll thank me.

Thanksgiving: Stuffing

admin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:53:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is in three weeks. Are you prepared? Do you have plans? What are you making?

If you are in charge of the stuffing, don’t forget about this perfect recipe.

And while we are here, what is your favorite, absolute must have Thanksgiving dish? Mine is sweet potato casserole. But more on that later.

I’m Back

admin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:38:00 +0000

Friends,

It has been far too long. But for those of you in the know–you’ll know we’ve been a bit under water lately. Underwater for good reasons, not bad. We moved across the country. And as the number of boxes diminishes and the number of recipes on my counter increases I feel a need to start documenting again.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll post more, cook more, experiment more, read more, and in turn you’ll read all about it. Do you see my new email address? Send any questions or suggestions you may have. And finally, please link my blog to your blog. In the months to come, we’ll be expanding, growing and changing, and I promise you’ll be glad to be a part of tortillas and oranges.

Cooking: Back from the Break

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:13:00 +0000

Hello again! I’m back! Not back with a vengeance, just back. And do you want to know what I was doing this summer? I’ll show you.

That’s right. Taking a break. No cooking. I succumbed to all sorts of sugar cereals, prepackaged bread (that lasts on the shelf for well over a week), fast food, Hostess bakery products, and last but not least: canned whipped cream–my personal favorite. But, my suitcases are exploded on my bed–now ready to unpack, and the girls have received their class assignments and are ready to buy school supplies. Now I am on the hunt for recipes that will make our Fall transition as tasty as can be. Which brings me to you. Do you have a favorite sandwich bread recipe? I don’t care if it’s white or wheat–I’m just looking for a tasty homemade sandwich bread that will make my girls smile. Please help. And happy end of summer to you all.

Menu: Summertime Summertime Sum Sum…

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:07:00 +0000

Tonight we are having friends over for Minestrone Salad with Grilled Sausage and Arugula Pesto. This is one of my favorite summertime menus. I make the salad and pesto in the morning, clean my house like a madwoman in the afternoon, then grill the sausage on the deck in the evening. People rave about this meal. Do yourself a favor and try it.