 |
| MACARONI & CHEESE
On Friday afternoon, I decided to make a real country dinner. So, I had fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, tiny green beans with butter, sliced tomatoes and cornbread. The mac and cheese was the best I've made in a long time, and the connoisseur of mac and cheese, McK, gave her approval by having a plate full of the golden goodness.
After dinner, we enjoyed Strawberry Galette with vanilla ice cream. What a treat for a Friday night dinner.
So here you go, for those who want to try the mac and cheese. The Strawberry Galette recipe is below. It was really good if I do say so myself.
Macaroni & Cheese
First, a little tip about macaroni. If it's not salted enough in the cooking process, your mac and cheese will be as bland as your macaroni. After all, it is the main ingredient. So, near the end of the cooking process, check the taste by taking out a spoon of macaroni and tasting it! If it's not salty enough, add more salt and continue cooking. You might also do the same when you assemble the casserole, before you add the eggs, to make sure you have enough seasoning.
1 (16 ounce) box macaroni, cooked in boiling salted water and drained
1 (8-ounce) block of seriously sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
1 (8-ounce) block of Vermont extra sharp Cheddar, grated and divided
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an oven proof baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, add the macaroni, heavy cream, the seriously sharp Cheddar and half of the grated Vermont Cheddar. Add salt and pepper as needed. To this mixture, add the beaten eggs and mix well.
Place the mixture into the baking dish and top with the remaining Cheddar cheese. Spray the underside of a piece of aluminum foil, and place it over the baking dish. Baking time will depend on the size of the baking dish you use, but if it's a 13 x 9-inch dish, it will be about 40 minutes, or until it's bubbly around the edges and at least 170 degrees in the center.
Strawberry Galette
Made from those fresh strawberries that I picked in the strawberry patch last month.
1 pie crust, ready made or home made, large enough for a 10-inch pie plate
4 cups cut roughly cut strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoon strawberry jam
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Lay the pie crust in the plate. Mix the cut strawberries with the sugar and cornstarch, and place them in the crust. Pull the crust up around the strawberries. Bake until the berries are very tender and the crust in light brown. It will take about 35-45 minutes on convection. When done, warm the strawberry jam, and spread it on top of the berries. Serve warm or wait until room temperature and slice the Galette.
 |
