Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Whenever anyone ever talks about homemade mac and cheese, they always emphasize on the top of the casserole.  They love the crunch.  But me?  No I am not about the crunch at all.  I am all about the soft ooey gooey creaminess that is found underneath that crust that they all love so much.  That left me to ponder why I even make my homemade mac and cheese with a crumbly crust, as I do in my Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe.   So, I figured that since I have already satisfied the masses with that traditional recipe, that it was time to concoct one for myself.  One that is solely based on the rich velvety goodness of cheese and pasta. 


pinch of salt + 1 T. of extra virgin olive oil (for pasta water)
1/2 cup + 1 T. of unsalted butter
2 chicken flavored bouillon cubes
1 brick of cream cheese
1/4 cup of cold tap water + 2 T. of cornstarch (this is your thickening agent, a cornstarch slurry)
a good amount of sea salt
2 dashes of white pepper
3 finger pinches of light brown sugar
2 dashes of ground nutmeg
1 cup of shredded mild cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup of heavy whipping cream

-Preheat your oven to 350*.  Using some real butter, grease the bottom and sides of a large casserole dish; set aside.  Start a medium sauce pan of water for a boil for your pasta.  Once it reaches a rapid bowl, stir in a pinch of sea salt and about 1 T. of e.v.o. and then your uncooked pasta.  Boil for 5-6 minutes for Al dente; strain and set aside.  Meanwhile for your cheese sauce, melt your butter, bouillon cubes and cream cheese in a large stockpot (it makes it easier when you are folding in your pasta if you are in a deep pot) over medium heat.  In a small measuring cup, using a fork, stir together your water and cornstarch to make a slurry; pour into butter mixture.  Stir in the salt, white pepper, brown sugar, nutmeg and shredded cheeses.  Once these are pretty much melted down, add in the heavy cream and increase your heat a bit.  Keep stirring this as it is heating up, and it will begin to thicken and take on a heavy, smooth, velvety texture.  Then just fold in your strained Al dente pasta and combine well.  Transfer into your butter greased casserole dish, cover and bake at 350* for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serves 6-8.  Enjoy!

Pecan Glazed Broiled Salmon

Talk about one amazing way to have some salmon.  This combination of flavors is truly a match made in heaven.  I personally think that salmon has it's own sweetness quality to it and that it pairs up perfectly with any type of fruit or nuts.  And pecans happen to be the one thing that I think goes the best with it.  So, with that being said, I now have to give thanks to one of my readers, Catherine, fore she is the one who turned me onto this great glaze when she mailed it to my home for me to try.  She was right, it is absolutely delicious.

4 nice sized salmon filet's (cleaned and skinned completely)
1-2 T. of extra virgin olive oil (divided)
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
1/3 cup of a store-bought pecan glaze (I used Dr. Pete's Praline Mustard Glaze)
1 recipe of my Rustic Mashed Potatoes

-Place your oven rack in the center position and preheat it to a HI broil.  Cover a medium-sized cookie sheet with aluminum foil (making sure to wrap it up and around the edges so you don't bake the oil onto your pan and discolor it) and pour about 2 tsp. or so of the olive oil in the center of it.  Using a wadded up paper towel, working in circular motion, spread the e.v.o. out to completely cover the surface nice and lightly.  Lay your salmon out on the greased pan now.  Drizzle the tops of the salmon with the remaining e.v.o. (only using as much as you need to depending on the size of the filet's) and brush it over them making sure to hit all the edges, nooks and crannies.  Give the tops of them a nice healthy sprinkling of the salt and pepper and place the pan on the center rack in the broiler.  Broil on HI for 8-10 minutes watching carefully towards the end.  As soon as the edges are just beginning to turn a light golden brown, remove the pan.  Spoon the pecan glaze over the tops of each of the filet's and place back into your broiler on high for only 30-45 seconds (it will burn right away if you go over 1 minute!) or just until it starts to boil up on top.  Serve with some of my Rustic Mashed Potatoes and steamed vegetables.  Serves 4.  Enjoy! 

Chocolate Biscotti

I have always seen and heard of biscotti before on cooking shows and in food magazines, but never have I made it or actually ever even tried it.  I never really knew exactly what it was.  So, I decided to find out what all the hype was really about.  Then I realized from reading up about it in one of my cook books, that all it really is is a twice baked cookie.  And truth be told, I have never met a cookie that I did not like.  So, I decided to give it a whirl.  And boy oh boy am I, and everybody else here at home, so glad that I did.  They are utterly delicious with a nice hot cup of fresh coffee or even with a glass of icy cold milk.  I will take two cookie's please, served up either way. 

1/2 cup of real un-salted butter
1 tsp. of real vanilla extract
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. of baking powder
dash of salt
2 eggs (that have sat at room temperature x 20 minutes or so)
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

-Preheat your oven to 375*.  Grease a large cookie sheet (I use a baking stone); set aside.  Beat together the butter, vanilla extract and the sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the cocoa powder (carefully or else you'll be wearing it!), baking powder and the salt well.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just blended.  Beat in the flour in small increments (about a 1/2 cup at a time), making sure to thoroughly combine them before each next addition.  Using a sturdy wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips.  Divide the cookie dough into two equal parts and place onto your large greased cookie sheet.  Create 2 'logs' of dough each one about 10" long and have them run lengthwise on the cookie sheet.   Using the flattened palm of your hand, press them down so that they are about 2" wide (making sure there is about 3" or so at least between the 2 logs).  Bake at 375* for 20 minutes or until an inserted wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 hour.  Preheat your oven to 325*.  Then place the logs onto a cutting board and using a bread knife (or any long serrated knife) and slice them horizontally with a slight horizontal angle to them (about 1/2" thick).  Lay them out cut-side down, without touching each other right back on your cookie sheet.  Bake them off for the second time for at 325* for 7-8 minutes, flip them very carefully with your finger tips and finish baking for 7-8 minutes more.  Place them on a wire rack to cool completely (so that the heat from them does not become trapped underneath them like on a wax paper-lined counter top, causing them to soften).  Serve with coffee or milk.  Makes 20-24 cookies.  Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmigiana

I have to give my credit to my two oldest girls, Kalena and Kiley, for the inspiration of this dish.  With both of them being vegetarians for many many years now, I am left to ponder new ways to bring us together as a family.  And for my mind, that basically means new recipes that all of us would love for dinner and dessert.  Because my cooking is the glue that I use to hold it all together with.  To pull them back here, to sit around one table and share what I can do best with all of them.  My cooking, which is my outlet of my love for them.  They are both much older now, with them being from my husbands first marriage (and he is 10 years my senior) and have busy busy lives of their own with college, high school, work and of course their friends.  And it is true, just as everyone has told me, teenagers want to be with their friends.  At first I was in total denial of this.  I was dead set that it had to be because of me and the new babies that they started to come home to us less and less.  And I was at such a depressed loss on how to handle and change this.  But in time, and with many encouraging smiles and hugs from my Mom, my sole inspiration to be all that is good in this world for myself and my family, I became to understand that they are teenagers, just as I was not so very long ago.  And I did know one thing, they love my cooking.  So, with that being said, I was ready to lure them on home with weekly standing invites for dinner.  And it works.  Of course not every time due to school and work, but most of the time.  My cooking has held us all together for many years already and will be doing it for many years to come.  I love those two girls as my own and I hope, and at times I can almost feel it, that they do me too.

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of baby portabella mushrooms (chopped)
1 medium red onion (diced)

1 large garlic clove (minced)

sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

4 T. of red wine (rule of thumb-cook with what you would drink-I used Lambrusco since it's sweet)

1 and a 1/2 jars (26oz. jars) of prepared red sauce (I used Prego Traditional)

1 tsp. of Italian seasonings

4 T. of extra virgin olive oil (divided)
2 nice sized eggplants (peeled and thickly sliced horizontally)
2 eggs
2 T. of water
3/4 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups of finely shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb. of uncooked spaghetti pasta

-Preheat your oven to 400*.  Add your e.v.o. into a large deep saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once the pan is good and hot (and you can smell the olive oil), toss in the mushrooms, onions and a healthy sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Saute them until they are softened, then stir in the garlic.  Once you can smell the garlic, pour in the red wine and let this come to a nice little boil.  Pour in the red sauce and the Italian seasonings and return it to a boil again; reduce heat to simmer, covered until ready to use (the longer the better).  Now you are ready to start the eggplant.  Heat up 1 T. of the e.v.o. in a large skillet over a medium-high heat.  In a small shallow bowl, beat together the eggs, water and some salt and pepper (to season the eggplant itself).  Pour your bread crumbs in another small shallow bowl.  One by one, dip the eggplant thoroughly in the egg wash, then dredge it evenly in the bread crumbs and carefully place into your hot oiled pan (I had to do this in batches of 5-6 slices at a time to fit in my pan).  Pan fry them for about 2-4 minutes on each side or just until they are a nice golden brown color.  Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb the oil while you do the remaining batches.  Once the eggplant has all been battered and fried, lay them out in a 9x13" baking dish (mine fit snug and perfect), sprinkle the tops heavily in the Parmesan cheese, ladle a good amount of the red sauce over them and then cover the whole dish in a thick blanket of mozzarella cheese.  Bake on the center rack of your oven at 400* for 10 minutes, then toss the oven temp. up to a HI broil x about 2 minutes to just slightly toast up the cheese a bit.  Serve with garlic bread.  Serves 6.  Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers on a Bun

I love Italian sausage in or with just about anything.  Especially some cheese tortellini and red sauce.  But, truth be told, I think that I just may love it this way the best.  The flavors are all so bright and distinct from the sausage to the peppers and then they are all merried together by this wonderful zippy sauce.  And then to top it off on a really delicious soft warm hoagie roll is next to bliss if you ask me.  Honest to god, it really is a party in your mouth.

1 lb. (about 5) mild Italian sausage links
1/2 cup of water
1 T. of extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion (sliced)
2 medium green sweet peppers (cored and sliced)
1 cup or so of baby portabella mushrooms (sliced)
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/4 cup of Italian salad dressing
2 T. of coarse ground Dijon mustard
5 hoagie buns (splurge on these and get the fresh ones from your markets bakery)

-In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, brown your sausage well on all sides.  Add in the water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 5 more minutes to cook them throughout the center.  Plate the sausages and set aside; drain pan.  Return the same pan (with all the good stuff still stuck to it-that's flavor) back to your stove top and heat it back up to a medium heat.  Toss in your e.v.o. and once you can smell it, then you are ready to add in the onion, peppers and mushrooms.  Give them a nice healthy sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute them until they are soft;  add in the garlic now.  Once you can smell the garlic, stir in the Italian salad dressing and the Dijon mustard.  Place your sausages back in the pan and bring all of this to a slight boil; reduce the heat.  Either transfer to your slow-cooker set to go Low and slow until dinner or you can serve them at this point (they are so much more tender after being in the slow-cooker for a few hours though).  Serve on a warm toasted hoagie bun.  Serves 4-5.  Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup

Here is another one of my all-time favorites.  Some black bean soup.  It is warm, hearty and full of rich deep flavor.  I love how it has a nice strong smokiness to it from the ham bone.  You cannot get that from just using the ham alone.  The marrow of the bone has the most intense flavor inside of it, for which the entire soup is based off of.  And cannot be made without.

1 leftover ham bone and scraps (I froze mine from the spiral ham my Mom made for Christmas-defrost it if frozen)
4 cups of water
32oz. of chicken stock
1 medium yellow onion (diced)
1 cup of peeled baby carrots
3 stalks of celery (chopped)
5 cans of black beans (drained and divided)
1/2 tsp. of ground cumin powder
2 T. of cornstarch + 1/4 cup of water (for your thickening agent)
1 small red onion (diced-for garnish)
3 T. of sliced pickled jalapenos (minced-for garnish)
sour cream (for garnish)
salty tortilla chips (for garnish)

-In a large dutch oven or stockpot, bring the first six ingredients together in a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 2 hours.  Using a skimmer or ladle, remove the ham bone and scrap meat and place in a large bowl to cool and then the carrots (that's why we left them whole-to remove easily) to a small bowl.  Place the carrots (and whatever little bit of celery and onion that comes with them) and two cans of the drained black beans into your blender (like me) or your food processor (like I wish I had); puree well.  Then just pour this right back into your pot, add in the remaining two cans of drained black beans, cumin powder and bring it all to a nice boil.  In a small measuring cup, stir together the cornstarch and the 1/4 cup of water (this is a cornstarch 'slurry' that will tighten and thicken up your soup to give it more body), pour it into the boiling soup and stir it in well.  Reduce the heat to a simmer.  Now you can serve it at this time, or if you are like me and prefer to do your cooking early in the day, you can transfer it to your slow-cooker set to go Low and slow all day.  Serve it with a pinch of diced red onion, a sprinkle of minced jalapenos, a dollop of sour cream and a couple of tortilla chips right on top.  Serves 6.  Enjoy!

Shit on a Shingle

We have all heard it referenced at one point in time or another.  But, how many of you really truly know what shit on a shingle is?  It is simply water gravy made from meat grease served over toast.  Sounds good right?  Hardly.  But it so very is!  Honest to god it is absolutely delicious.  And with my family being straight up hillbillies from the deep down south, we are all no strangers to this dish.  We have had it made just about any way.  From budding beef to bologna and any other way in between.  But for me, it's all about the bacon.  It's always all about the bacon when it comes to me.  Because, I think that bacon makes everything better.



1 lb. of bacon
9 T. of pancake mix
3-4 cups of water
fresh cracked pepper
8-12 pieces of white bread (toasted)

-In a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, fry your bacon in batches of 4-5 pieces at a time (or however many you can fit in without them overlapping).  Make sure that you are not removing any of the grease, it is necessary to make the gravy.  Once all of the bacon has been fried and placed on a paper towel-lined plate to the side, you can begin to make the gravy.  Reduce the heat down to a low-medium.  Stir the pancake mix right into your still hot bacon grease.  Bring this to a frothy boil (which happens quickly) and add in 3 cups of water.  Stir this well (you may have to take your heat down a notch at this point).  If you prefer your gravy to be thinner, start adding in more water at about 1/3 of a cup at a time to reach the consistency that you are looking for.  Give it a healthy sprinkle of pepper (salt is not necessary since you made this from salty bacon-but you could toss it in if you think it needs more).  Serve this gravy over some freshly toasted white bread alongside some scrambled eggs and bacon.  Serves 4-6.  Enjoy!