I confess:  in some ways, my palate has the sophistication of a five year old.  And macaroni and cheese is one of those ways.  I didn’t grow up with the Kraft “blue box,” but on the rare occasions that my folks would go out, my brother and I would get to eat Stouffer’s frozen mac and cheese TV dinners.  Woo-hoo!  Good times.

But the one thing that commercial mac and cheeses do not have is a crunchy, buttery topping.  That’s where this recipe comes in, my adaptation of Cook’s Country Best Potluck Macaroni and Cheese, which allowed me to use up little bits and pieces of challah and ciabatta lurking about my freezer.  Oh, and one Trader Joe’s whole wheat hamburger bun, age unknown.  But once you pulse these chunks of bread in a food processor, along with some butter and parmesan cheese, then bake it atop a mac and cheese casserole, you end up with quintessential comfort food.  And seeing as I now have to get a new dishwasher (along with the washer, refrigerator, microwave oven, and oven that have broken down this year), I need some comforting.

My favorite mac and cheese is still the frozen kind, but my husband, who is not a connoisseur of this dish, found it pretty tasty.  And we both loved the crumb topping.  Recipe after the jump.  And this recipe has been YeastSpotted!
continue reading "Another Way to Use Leftover Bread: Mac and Cheese with Buttery Crumb Topping"

When my husband, the Honorable Master Chow, started going out with me, I was a vegetarian.  I would eat eggs and some other dairy, but that was where I drew the line into the realm of animal products.  One of the things that he did early in our relationship was to search for vegetarian recipes that he thought I would like.  He struck gold with this one, and he continues to make it for me, eleven years later.  The original recipe comes from . . . who knows?  I’m not sure where, but I saw something similar in 1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes, 2nd ed.

The beauty of this dish is, in part, that you can make it with whatever you have on hand.  No barley?  OK, use brown rice.  Master Chow has even made it for me with wild rice and red quinoa (that one is the dish pictured on the left).  I have to say, there’s something magical about this casserole – not only is it tasty and low-fat, but when I eat it, it satisfies me to my very core, and I don’t feel a hunger pang for hours.  Not to mention that it’s loaded with vitamins, minerals, and heart-healthy fiber.  It makes a fantastic breakfast, heated up with two poached eggs on top (runny yolks, please!)  So, if you are looking to add more grains and vegetables to your diet, why don’t you give this a try, and tweak it to please your own palate.  Recipe after the jump.
continue reading "Frugal Fridays #2 – Vegetarian Courtship Casserole"

I used to blog about recipes that I had tried out from other food blogs, and I’m going to do that again this year and call it “Cooking from Blogs.”  All you food bloggers out there are fonts of culinary inspiration.

In addition to the Iceberg Lettuce Wedges with blue cheese dressing (via Smitten Kitchen), I recently tried King Ranch Casserole from Ezra Poundcake.  Sorry about the poor picture, but if you head over to Rebecca’s, her fabulous photos may inspire you to give this casserole a try. I had heard of this strange beast a couple of years ago, and last year bought a can of Ro-Tel to have on hand should I ever feel inspired to venture into the land of retro American gourmet cooking.  I had never heard of Ro-Tel until a couple years ago, but apparently it is quite the pantry staple in some parts of the country.  In the end, when I threw this together I didn’t have to buy a thing, just used up things  in the pantry and refrigerator.  I love it when I can do that!  You can find Ro-Tel’s original recipe, here.

I’m batting .1000 at this point.  The wedges were a hit, the King Ranch chicken casserole (to which I added some peas for color and extra veggies) is on the repeat list.  I used up different cheeses that I had laying about, and I substituted high fiber, whole wheat tortillas in the casserole, instead of the traditional corn.  Master Chow enjoyed the change from the usual chicken dishes.  Thanks, Rebecca, for passing along an easy recipe that my family enjoyed!  Recipe after the jump . . . .

continue reading "Cooking from Blogs – Ezra Poundcake’s King Ranch Chicken Casserole"

I love having things in my pantry that I can throw together to make a tasty meal or side dish.  Or pastry, or cookie – you get my drift.  This is such a dish: something that can be made almost completely with items you have in your cupboards and freezer.

A few years ago, I made an effort to “upgrade” that much-maligned classic American staple, Ye Olde Campbell’s Green Bean casserole.  I mean, really, if famous chefs were telling me, via print and television, that it was awful, I had to listen, didn’t I?  I had to make a bechamel, and fry my own onion topping.  Because they said so.  So why did these high-falutin’ casseroles taste like . . . like . . . doo-doo? (This IS a family site).

So last year, I said to heck with it all.  I went to Campbell’s site, and tweaked the recipe a bit.  One big change I made was to use frozen haricot vert, i.e., French style green beans.  I served the casserole at Christmas and it was a blowout hit.  I was mightily surprised, what with the empty cans of Cream of Mushroom soup in my trash can.  When you make almost everything from scratch, as I do, and one of your most popular dishes uses an ingredient that foodies love to ridicule, it can be kind of embarrassing.  And those canned fried onions?  I use Trader Joe’s, which are so tasty that my husband will eat them out of the can if I don’t stash it.

In the end, I don’t feel embarrassed at all, just resourceful, wonderfully middle class, and American, a fitting reminder on this day.

Recipe after the jump . . . .
continue reading "Good Ol’ Retro Green Bean Casserole"