macaroni and cheese...

Let me start out this post by telling you that until Thanksgiving day I haven't had a spoonful of macaroni & cheese enter my mouth in over 40 years. Horrid memories of the baked crisp and dried out school lunch macaroni & cheese and the version my own mother made left me with an extreme dislike of the dish. But while looking at a blog called "Our Old Southern House", Natalie, the author, stated: "There is only one dish that I am “known” for. Everywhere I go people want the recipe. In fact, every family event we have I get automatically signed up for it–whether I want to do it or not." I figured this was a recipe I had to try while looking for a crowd pleasing recipe - you see last year, I hosted the first annual chili/soup cookoff for my extended family. We had so much fun showing our competitive sides while presenting and bragging up our soups in order to win the "crock pot" trophy that this year my sister is hosting the first annual Minnesota "hotdish" and blue ribbon bar competition next weekend. Hotdish is known as a casserole in most other states :) I made a taste testing 1/2 batch of Natalie's recipe for Carmelized Onion and Pecan Macaroni and Cheese on Thanksgiving and for a mac/cheese hater this dish was pretty darn good :)

Carmelized Onion and Pecan Macaroni and Cheese
as copied from Natalie's blog. Please click HERE for her full "Oh So Cheesy" post with the recipe.

Ingredients

1 (8-oz.) package large elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 (16-oz.) block white Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese
32 saltine crackers, finely crushed and divided
6 large eggs
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional sure, but I think they make the dish)

Preparation

1. Prepare macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside.2. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions and 1 tsp. sugar. Cook, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes or until onions are caramel-colored.

3. Layer half each of macaroni, onions, cheeses, and cracker crumbs in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Layer with remaining macaroni, onions, and cheeses.

4. Whisk together eggs and next 3 ingredients; pour over macaroni mixture.

5. Stir together remaining cracker crumbs, melted butter, and, if desired, pecans. Sprinkle evenly over macaroni mixture.

6. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until golden brown and set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

While this dish is fantastic I am not sure it classifies as a "hotdish" which according to Wikipedia is a meat, starch, vegetable and a canned soup so I am undecided as to what I will bring for the competetion. I think Tater Tot Hotdish might be our state recipe and it is One Hot Dish according to this article in Relish Magazine. While it is a favorite I don't think it is a prize winner so if any readers have a "winning" recipe for a hot dish or a pan of bars that if entered in a fair would win a blue ribbon please send them on!

Of course, I could always call this dish a vegetarian hotdish :)

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comfort food...pot pie

In the cold days of winter I crave "comfort food" and one of them is pot pie.
Jeff has me on a "make use of the meat in our freezer instead of buying more" plan so I made a pheasant pie with puff pastry one day last week.
No recipe but lots of good ingredients on hand so I "winged it", with sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, fresh mushrooms, parsnips, fresh rosemary, thyme and sage along with the pheasant. Yum!

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cluck...cluck chickens...

When one gets some beautiful new chicken plates and a darn cute red chickie roaster they have to find a great chicken recipe to break them in...
and find it I did in the form of the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti.
Just following her detailed photo steps, I felt a little PWish and shot some photos of the steps I took as well :)
The recipe makes a large batch, I estimate 8-10 servings, so I put half of it in another casserole for the freezer.
The black, white and red make a striking table setting...
and the addition of multi grain rolls and sugar snap peas make a full meal.
My one cup serving fills (and steams) my mini plate while Jeff opted to use his rooster for a bread plate and fill the bigger plate :)
While I love my white chickie this new red one is fits my colorful personality, LOL! Setting my attempt at humor aside, doesn't it look good filled with cheesy chicken goodness?
Did you notice the candle light centerpiece? I grew up as part of the un-generation of the 1970's. Do you remember when 7-up was the un-cola? This winter I am working on decluttering the house and found my vintage 1970's un-candles packed away. They are glass containers which you fill with water and pour a little vegetable oil on top with a floating wick system. Has anyone else hung onto theirs? A quick check of ebay finds them only worth about $3.50 so I guess they are not valuable antiques just yet.
During dinner, I started to laugh and had to grab the camera once again for a close up of the candles. Jeff had to ask what was so funny...our family went to the A-B "beer school" at San Diego Sea World and one of the first things we learned was if there are bubbles on the sides of your beer glass then your glass is dirty. Guess there was some vintage dirt on the candles as well.


Chicken Spaghetti from the Pioneer Woman. The full recipe can be found HERE on her blog post from June 2007 or in her cookbook.

My notes: I used the Healthy Request soups, substituted one half whole wheat spaghetti, reduced the cheese to 2 cups (8 oz package) and used diced roasted red peppers instead of the pimentos since it is not an item I usually buy. I also went with the 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper rather than the 1/4. We both really liked it, I was worried about adding the 2 cups of broth back into the casserole but it makes for a wonderfully sauced dish that we both really liked.

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Jeff - Thumbs UP