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shallot

Smokey Mac and Cheese with Squash and Spinach

Smokey Mac & Cheese with squash and spinach

Date: 2/6/2012

Recipe: http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/01/smoky-mac-and-cheese-with-squash-and-spinach/

Modifications: I ended up having a ton of gouda, so did not add any additional cheddar. This probably just made it even better, and certainly helped the “smokiness”.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: We all enjoyed this – as Sonja indicates in the recipe, by far the hardest part is peeling and chopping the squash (so it’s not that hard really :) – but if you do that in advance, this all comes together pretty quickly! This is very similar to this recipe - I enjoyed both, but it is nice to skip the roasting squash and baking step if you’re pressed for time!

Annie with her mac & Cheese

Annie has wised up to my dinner photo routine – now instead of just continuing to eat while I take photos of her, she helpfully holds out her bowl as well, so I can take a pic of it like I took one of my own :)

Muffaletta sandwiches

Muffaletta

Date: 1/16/2012

Recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/09/dinner-tonight-muffaletta-sandwich.html

Modifications: I didn’t use olives in the “olive salad”, which probably makes this not authentic but I don’t really care. Neither Erin nor I like olives. I also did not use the mortadella, because that is always the stuff that looks so gross at the deli case.

Time to table: 15 minutes prep, 3 hours waiting time.

Servings: 3 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: I came by this recipe when Bill posted about their muffaletta experience a few months ago. I drooled over his picture for a long time before finally getting around to trying it ourselves and this was a fantastic sandwich. I wish I would have used more oil in our olive salad so that more would have soaked into the bread. Annie promptly took hers apart and ate just the meat and cheese first before going after the bread.

Muffaletta

Annie picking apart the muffaletta

Stovetop macaroni and cheese

Mac and Cheese and roasted broccoli

Date: 11/3/2011

Recipe: http://annies-eats.net/2011/10/27/creamy-stovetop-mac-and-cheese/

Time to table: 20 minutes

Modifications: Used whole wheat macaroni noodles. No other modifications.

Servings: 2 adult dinners, 2 adult lunches, 1 toddler dinner

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: We served this with roasted broccoli. This is quite rich, and we all liked it. I really liked the raw garlic and shallot – I thought it gave it a nice bite. I loved the gouda – I’m glad we splurged and got that instead of a cheaper cheese because I think it made a big difference in flavor. The broccoli was necessary for all of us to cut the richness a bit. As Annie mentions in her post, this reheats very well and was delicious for lunches.

Gouda and parmesan

Macaroni and cheese

Veggie cobbler

Veggie Cobbler

I put sriracha on mine.

Date: August 8th, 2011

Recipe: Source: Simply Organic Cookbook

Crust:
1 1/2 Cups Unbleached All-purpose flour (used bleached all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour or cornmeal (used cornmeal)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, grated
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup buttermilk

Filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour (again, used bleached flour)
2 cups milk or vegetable broth (used milk)
1/4 cup Madeira wine (did not use this)
2 tablespoons chopped sage
3 cups cooked vegetables - we used eggplant, zucchini, and sweet peppers, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

To make the crust: in a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal or whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne, and parsley. Add the butter and cheese and stir in the buttermilk just until blended. Refrigerate while you make the topping.

To make the filling: Prehat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 3 quart baking dish. I do not own a 3 quart baking dish, so I used a 2 quart dish. It did end up bubbling over just slightly at the very end, so we put a cookie sheet under the dish.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes, or until the mixture turns golden brown. Slowly whisk in the milk or broth and wine, if using. Whisk until slightly thickened. Add the sage, vegetables, salt, and pepper.

Transfer the creamed vegetables to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheese. Drop the crust mixture by the tablespoon on top of the vegetables. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is browned. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Time to table: 90 minutes

Servings: 4 adult dinner, 2 toddler dinners

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Love

Notes: I have to admit that this was better the last time we made it, which makes me sad because I remember it being so damn good. Still used up a lot of CSA veggies and it was a hit with Annie, so this was still a winner in spite of it taking a long time to make. I actually made the crust and filling on Sunday night and kept them separated in the fridge overnight and then assembled it (5 minutes) and cooked it (45 minutes) on Monday after work. We had the leftovers on Tuesday night for dinner, and they were even better than the first day!

Veggie cobbler

Precooked cobbler

Veggie Cobbler

Finished product

Veggie Cobbler

Annie eating it up!

Broccoli and carrot orzo

Orzo with chicken, broccoli and carrots

Date: August 2nd, 2011

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/03/08/carrot-broccoli-cheese-orzo/

Modifications: I probably used more cheese than called for, but I wasn’t measuring. We also added some chicken pieces.

Time to table: 20 minutes with premade chicken

Servings: 3 adults, 1 toddler

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This meal was a great way to sneak in some veggies that Annie actually seemed to like, the copious amounts of cheese doesn’t hurt :) As you make this dish, you don’t get too excited for it, but it is surprisingly flavorful and incredibly easy to make, a big win!

Annie eating orzo