Mac & Cheese My Way

The other day I got a chain email the "Holiday Recipe Exchange" it was called. It took me a little while to think of a something I would make "in a bind and with few ingredients", then it dawned on me. Mac & Cheese my way.

I made this last Friday when I had only a little time to prep for a few girlfriend visiting. Its great for entertaining because its a basically a complete meal in itself. I served it with some roasted-garlic sauteed string beans (I love the thinner haricot vert. I get these frozen from Trader Joe's).

Ingredients:

1 Shrimp bag of cooked and de-veined jumbo shrimp
1 Pack of Turkey Bacon
3 cups of Shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese
3 tablespoons of Flour
1 1/2 cup of Milk
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Butter (I always like to use unsalted, it helps control the flavor)
1 tsp Cayenne
1 tsp Nutmeg

Instructions:
Pre-heat broiler (if you have a high-low setting, set to high)

Defrost shrimp overnight, but if you don't have time, you can run it under cold water for a few minutes. I prefer to remove shrimp tails for easier eating, some like to leave these on.

Cook pasta, strain, add olive oil and set aside.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crunchy. Set this aside to cool. Cut this into small pieces (kitchen scissors make this a breeze).

Using the same skillet (using this will help bacon flavor enhance the sauce), gently melt the butter and olive oil. Once this has melted, add flour and mix together.

Continue to mix, allowing the flour to cook. This will take approx 2-3 minutes.

When the flour and butter mixture is finally smooth, slowly whisk in milk.

Continue to mix until milk starts to bubble and mixture has begun to thicken. Add the cheddar cheese a hand full or so at a time, whisking until smooth each time. Continuing to mix, add the Parmesan cheese.

Once all the cheese has melted and mixture is smooth, add nutmeg and cayenne.

In a large bowl combine the cheese mixture to the cooked pasta. Add bacon and shrimp. Lay this mixture in a large greased pan. Place this in the broiler until the top is browned and appears crunchy. Then its ready to eat!

Enjoy hearty goodness!

Pastelón

When people find out I love to cook they almost always quickly and excitedly ask "Oh, what do you like to cook? Do you cook Latin food?"

I almost always bashfully reply in the negative, eliciting the same reaction I see when I tell people I'm not a good dancer.

Pastelón is my one redeeming dish. And I have to say, I couldn't have asked for a more delicious and satisfying one.

I've described it as "Puertorican Lasagna", " Plantain Sheppard's Pie" but more accurately it is a sweet and savory dish, a cousin of meat and potatoes; the ultimate comfort food.

All it takes are a few ingredients -

1 pk of ground turkey of beef (make the switch, go turkey!)

4 over-ripe plantains
1 pack of shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
vegetable oil

You can use any variety of the following to season the meat:

salt, pepper, garlic, onions, cilantro, tomato paste, paprika, cumin, hot sauce, green olives

Procedure:

First, find the darkest, ugliest looking plantains you can find (the uglier, the sweeter).

Cut plantains lengthwise. I cut the plantain in half then cut slices lengthwise.

Set the plantains aside

Saute onions, garlic, cilantro, tomato paste at medium heat, until onions start to become translucent.

Add the meat and season.

In a separate pan, heat about half an inch of oil. Once oil is hot (you can test this by dipping a small piece of plantain- if bubbles build around it, the oil is ready) add plantains.

Cook these until they are golden brown. Remember to turn them.

In an oven-safe pan lay a single layer of fried plantains, then sprinkle cheese, follow this with a layer of the meat mixture, and follow with a layer of plantains and continue...

Once you've layered all the ingredients pour the whisked eggs on top and shift the pan around so that it goes down all the corners. The purpose of the eggs is to keep the mixture together as is in most casseroles.

Add more cheese on top and bake at 350° for approx 25 minutes.

Soba Noodles!

For the past year, I've on a quest to cut down my simple carbs; rather to optimize my carb intake and truly understand the concept of "good carbs."

First cut was the bread. I must admit, this was never a huge part of my diet, so it wasn't hard to dodge.

My second cut was pasta. This was a more difficult and gradual cut. I mean, lets just say what we're all thinking: pasta is not only delicious and filling, it's cheap & easy. I couldn't cut it out all at once, so I moved onto whole grain pasta, even tried that "plus" pasta with extra protein. Though grainy, harder texture just didn't do it for me.

But just a hand full of months ago, while browsing the "Asian" section of the ethnic isle at the market I saw "Soba Noodles." After flipping the package over I found a huge surprise: 113 calories and 7 grams of protein per serving!

I was sold. I'd at least give them a try. After all, they looked a lot like angel hair.

The noodles only took about 8 minutes to boil. At first, their murky greenish-gray hue was a bit offputting.

After a toss in little sesame oil, some fresh garlic and come scallions, I was addicted!

Also, these noodles can be eaten hot or cold. At first, I was afraid to serve them with anything that wasnt meant to be "asian style", but recently I tossed them with some olive oil, some fresh garlic, sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese & it was tasty!

That said, you can find them in the "Asian" section of your local grocery store. They're definitely worth a try.