BEEF AND VEGETABLE STIR FRY

Chinese Food!!!!! So many nights it's EXACTLY what you want. However, when I order it as take-out, I have yet to find a place that serves it on the lighter side....I know what you are saying...what's the point of "the lighter side" it's CHINESE FOOD!!!

Well, I like to make my own and feel a little better when I am done. This recipe stretches a little beef by adding plenty of vegetables.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb flank steak

1 zucchini halved and very thinly sliced

1 large grated carrot

1 large shallot chopped

4 oz cellophane noodles or thin rice noodles

1/4 cup canola oil

4 tbl soy sauce

1 tbl brown sugar

1-1/2 tbl sesame oil

1-1/2 tbl rice vinegar

1 tbl toasted sesame seeds

salt

Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan and add noodles. Remove from the heat and let stand about 3 minutes until softened. Drain and rinse under cold water Add 1 tbl canola oil and separate them on wax paper or a plate. Set aside

In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar and brown sugar. Trim the beef and slice thin across the grain into 1 inch pieces and season with salt.

In a large saute pan, heat 1-1/2 tbl of canola oil until it is hot. Add the beef and cook about a minute and transfer to a plate. Add the remaining 1-1/2 tbl oil to the pan and add zucchini, carrot and onion. Cook until softened about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and add back the beef and noodles. Stir the soy mixture and add it to the pan. Stir until everything is evenly coated and hot, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds...soooo good!

ENJOY!

SOUP TIME - CHICKEN NOODLE

According to Anne...there MUST be more soup. Fall and Winter are soup seasons so I will be blogging as many as I have. This is really a very traditional chicken noodle soup at the start, but the addition of a little cream and cooking sherry really adds so much more flavor to the soup. You can add other vegetables, but if you are planning to store some leftover soup there are certain vegetables that won't hold up too well in the stock for long.

This is a great weekend meal because the fragrance of the stock just screams comfort!

Ingredients:

For Stock

3 lb fryer chicken whole or cut up

3-1/2 cups of water

3 carrots peeled and cut in half

3 celery ribs cleaned and cut in half

1 large onion peeled and cut in half

3 cloves of garlic peeled and cut in half

4 bay leaves

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp lemon pepper

2 tsp salt

1 tbl whole peppercorns

For Soup

2 cups sliced carrots (coin shaped)

2 cups sliced celery

1/3 cup cooking sherry

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 tbl chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

2-1/2 cups uncooked pasta noodles (egg)

grated Parmesan cheese

salt

fresh ground pepper

a nice crusty baguette

Stock: add all ingredients into a soup pot. Cook until the chicken is tender -about an hour. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool. Strain the rest of the stock reserving the broth. When the chicken is cool, cut up meat into chunks and discard the bones, etc. Set chicken aside.

Soup: Bring stock back to a boil and add carrots and cook about 3 minutes, then add celery and cook 8 minutes. Add the chicken, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Stir to combine and add the cream. Cook for another 5 minutes and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cook the noodles in a separate pot according to package directions. Add noodles to individual servings so they don't continue to cook in the soup and absorb all the stock.

Serve with grated Parmesan and a nice crusty bread! Keep warm!

ENJOY!

IT'S MAC & CHEESE DAYS - CARROTS!

Today is the last Mac & Cheese Day and I am ending it with my favorite vegetable - CARROTS! While this may seem a bit odd, it really isn't. Another good choice for a vegetable mac & cheese would be pumpkin, butternut squash and I already blogged cauliflower mac & cheese a while ago. These are very tasty and much more "figure-friendly". This carrot recipe only has 370 calories per serving. The only problem is that I like it so much I eat much more than ONE serving.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large navel orange, zested in strips and juiced
1-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
9 oz penne pasta
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tbl fresh chopped tarragon
salt
fresh white pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a saucepan, combine carrots, orange zest strips, juice and broth. Season with salt and white pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the carrots are soft. Discard the zest strips and puree the mixture in a blender.

Cook the pasta according to package directions but only halfway - about 5 minutes, Drain and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Return pasta to the saucepan and add pasta water and carrot puree. Over low-medium heat stir the pasta until the carrot mixture coats all the pasta and sauce thickens a bit. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese and stir until cheese it melted and creamy. Stir in tarragon and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a baking dish and top with the rest of the cheese and bake until golden brown about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes or so and serve.

Hope you liked comfort food Mac & Cheese Days!
ENJOY!

IT'S MAC & CHEESE DAYS - LOBSTER!

Need I say more..LOBSTER!!! This recipe comes from a Manhattan restaurant called Macbar, whose menu has 12 mac & cheese variations.....I HAVE to go there. For some, I am still trying to get the famous lobster mac & cheese recipe from the Blue Sky restaurant in York Beach. I have eaten a ton of it and the chef did say he would give it to me...gotta get over there before I leave!!!

Ingredients:

12 oz shell pasta

4 tbl unsalted butter

1/4 cup flour

4 cups of milk

12 oz grated Fontina cheese

8 oz Mascarpone

3 tbl lobster or fish broth

3 tbl brandy or cognac

1 tsp Tabasco

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

8 oz cooked lobster meat cut into big chunks

1/3 cup minced chives

2 scallions thinly sliced crosswise

2 oz grated sharp aged white cheddar

kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cook pasta according to package directions BUT only cook halfway, about 3 minutes and drain. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook whisking constantly until smooth about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and cook until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon..about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add half of the Fontina along with the Mascarpone, broth, brandy, Tabasco and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pasta to the sauce. Stir in half each of the lobster, scallions and chives. Transfer to a 13 x 9 pan and sprinkle remaining Fontina and cheddar on top. Bake until golden and bubbly - about 30 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes and garnish with remaining lobster, scallions and chives.

So creamy and delicious...!

ENJOY!

IT'S MAC & CHEESE DAYS - SOUTHERN STYLE

It's still Mac & Cheese days!!!! This version adds a little more spice and a little more cream than traditional mac & cheese recipes. You can use elbow macaroni as well, but best to use a tube-like shape or shell so the cheese coats the whole piece of pasta...so good....This is very fast too.



Ingredients:



8 oz small shell pasta
7 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese cut into small cubes

6 oz grated cheddar cheese

2 tbl plus 1 tsp flour

1-1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp cayenne (more to taste)

2/3 cup sour cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1-1/2 cups half and half

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup grated onion

1 tsp Worcestershire

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Cook pasta according to package directions, BUT only cook halfway about 3 minutes. Drain and pour into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Stir in the cubed cheddar cheese and set aside.



Combine salt, flour, mustard, black pepper, nutmeg and cayenne in a mixing bowl. Add the sour cream and the eggs and whisk until smooth. Then add the half and half, heavy cream, onion and Worcestershire and whisk until smooth. Pour this mixture over the pasta and stir to combine. Sprinkle the grated cheddar on top.



Bake until the pasta is golden and bubbly..about 30 minutes. Let cool and serve.



Another great twist to tradition!

ENJOY!

IT'S MAC & CHEESE DAYS - FOUR CHEESE

It's that time of the year to start preparing those cool weather comfort foods...and nothing says comfort like Mac & Cheese. While the original mac & cheese came to America from Italy, there are so many variations on this standard that every culture is in the act.

I am not a fan of Velveeta cheese, but in this recipe it is the ingredient that makes it ultra-creamy..seriously, try it.

8 oz small shell pasta
3 slices of crustless white bread
6 tbl unsalted butter
10 oz grated sharp cheddar (4 cups)
10 oz grated Gruyere cheese
6 oz Velveeta cheese cut into small cubes
1 oz blue cheese crumbled
1/2 tsp paprika
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 shallots, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp cayenne
3 cups milk
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cook pasta according to package instructions BUT only half the time, about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. Tear up the bread and pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Heat saucepan over medium heat and melt 3 tbl butter. Add the bread crumbs and stir to combine and set aside.

Wipe out the same pan and melt the remaining butter and add paprika, thyme, shallots and bay leaf. Cook until shallots are soft about 5 minutes. Add flour and cayenne and stir until it gets thick. Whisk in the milk and cook stirring frequently until the sauce gets thick and coats the back of a spoon. Toss out the thyme and bay leaf and remove the pan from the heat. Stir in cheddar, half the Gruyere, the Velveeta and the blue cheese. Stir until smooth. Add the pasta and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a 8 x 8 baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining Gruyere and breadcrumbs.
To help with the mess, place the baking dish on a tin foil lined baking sheet and bake until it is golden and bubbly..about 30 minutes. Let cool and serve!

I could eat the whole dish...okay so I have a few times WHAT!!!???
ENJOY!

CAULIFLOWER MAC & CHEESE

Who doesn't LOVE mac & cheese. This is so tasty with the wonderful flavors of fontina and gruyere cheeses. If you have different favorite cheeses try them. I feel better making it with cauliflower and pasta..... seems healthier...right!!!!!

Ingredients (can serve about 10 people)

1-1/2 lbs of cauliflower cut in about 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups shredded fontina cheese
2 cups shredded gruyere cheese
1 box penne pasta cooked til just about done
8 oz pancetta, cut in small cubes
1/2 cup heavy cream
3-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
2 tbl white wine
1 stick unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups italian breadcrumbs
1-1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine breadcrumbs, 2 tbl melted butter, parsley, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper set aside. In a large ovenproof pot cook pancetta over medium heat. Remove it and let it drain on paper towel. In the same pan add cauliflower and cook in pancetta fat for about 10 minutes. Add tbls of butter as needed, up to about 3 tbl to cook the cauliflower. Transfer cooked cauliflower to a bowl and pour the pancetta fat and butter on top. Put a couple tbl of water in the pan and get all the good bits off the bottom and pour this over the cauliflower.

In the same pan melt 3 tbl butter and add flour to make a paste. Make sure all the flour is combined so there are no lumps. Add the wine and milk and cook about 10 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add cheeses...yyyyuuuuummmmmmm..., cayenne, nutmeg, cream, pasta salt and pepper to taste. Add pancetta and cauliflower back to pot and mix. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Then turn the oven to broil and broil a few minutes until the breadcrumbs become golden brown...

My mouth is watering..this is so creamy and delicious.
ENJOY!