Tuesday

looking for recipes...

..for a simple, homemade macaroni and cheese (no fancy cheeses I can't find at a regular grocery or co-op) with a really good, strong cheese flavor. I don't want it to taste bland or eggy or french.

and also for a good pumpkin spice cake to which I can add chocolate
chips :-)

Anybody got any good ones?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Basic mac and cheese is easy to embellish with whatever you like. Just pick a nice cheddar, shred it up, put in a double boiler (pan on top of another pan of boiling water) with milk or cream (try not to use 2% or low fat milk), and make a nice cheese sauce. just keep adding cheese until you like the consistancy. I like mine "flowing" but not runny. Pour over already cooked macaroni-type pasta. Make sure its not well done because it will cook more as you bake it. Use a baking pan--mine is pyrex, but you can use the le crueset kind made of enameled cast iron---just don't cook as long because it will get hotter than the pyrex. Additions are: raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, and the like. Some like to add breadcrumbs and more cheese on top. Not hard. It gets baked at 350 for about 30 min until browned lightly. Make sure it doesn't dry out. (That's why I like my cheese sauce a bit flowy)

Anonymous said...

PUMPKIN LOAF
IMy mom and I have been working on a recipe for the last month. My 15 month old loves the Pumpkin Loaf at Starbucks, its nice and moist. But for $2 a slice this homemade recipe comes close.

I tried the Pumpkin Bread on the Libby's website, but it was too dry.

We recently had a party and the Loaf disappeared quickly!


Pumpkin Bread from Fannie Farmer Baking Book (with slight modification)

3 and 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Rumford baking powder (do not use double action because of bitter taste)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
2/3 cup softened butter
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 and 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger and stir and toss together with a fork or whisk.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add pumpkin, eggs, and milk. Add the combined dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a large mixing fork or mixing spoon just until the batter is blended; the flour should be incorporated so there are no lumps, but there may be small bits of butter that will disappear in baking (probably not if you cream sugar and butter first).

Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans and bake for about 1 hour or until a broom straw or skewer inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean. Remove the loaves from the oven, and cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

I recommend baking for the full hour, even if the straw seems clean earlier.

Suburban Turmoil said...

Okay, I posted this just for you. It's really good.

http://chefmom.blogspot.com/2006/10/my-favorite-macaroni-and-cheese.html

Suburban Turmoil said...

Oh, and this pumpkin bread is my MIL's recipe. She's a fabulous cook. It's the best pumpkin bread I've ever eaten and honey, I know pumpkin bread! :)

http://chefmom.blogspot.com/2005/08/healthy-scrumptious
-pumpkin-bread.html

John said...

I have had excellent success with Alton Brown's recipe (he's the host of the funny and useful "Good Eats" on TV).

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_18422,00.html

John said...

The URL I posted seems to have scrolled out of its frame, so try this instead:

http://snipurl.com/l8kr

saraclark said...

Check out kraftfoods.com this month and search for the chocolate chunk pumpkin spice cake. I've made it and it rules! I changed the chocolate chunks to Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips instead. 1 square baking chocolate= 1 ounce of chocolate chips or about half a bag.

Amy said...

I learned to make homemade mac-n-cheese from my grandma...hers is always gobbled up at family dinners. Cook the macaroni and dump it into a greased 2-qt casserole dish. add in at least one half-moon of colby cheese, cubed, and mix it up. add salt and pepper, crush saltines over the top, and then pour in milk "until you can see it." bake at 350 for about an hour. simple and yum.

Anonymous said...

If you have a Southern Living Cookbook, they have the best Mac and Cheese recipe I've ever had. If you don't have one, hollah and I'll email the recipe to you.

Anonymous said...

Make a basic roux using

4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of flour

Melt the butter.Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring consistently. You do not want the flour to taste "raw" and you do not want it to turn dark brown. Between 3-4 minutes should be good.

Now add a little milk(cup or so, eyeball it as the cheese melts), and stir in some grated cheese. For a simple dish, just use really good, strong cheddar. (I go a bit wild with different cheese but it sounds like that's not your thing.)You can also add some salt, pepper, a little paprika for color.

Grease up a casserole pan, add one box of cooked pasta, stir in the cheese sauce. Add a handful or so of of grated cheese, and top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so, maybe turn the heat up for a few minutes at the end if you want a crispier topping.


OR if the roux seems too intimidating, you can dress up boxed "white" mac & cheese.Make according to instructions. Then dump it in a casserole pan top with extra cheese and breadcrumbs and bake.

Anonymous said...

Not cake, but tasty:

pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Anonymous said...

8 oz macaroni
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg
enough whole mile to make one cup with egg in cup first
butter

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cook the mac. Crack egg in 1 cup liquid measuring cup and beat lightly. Add milk up to 1 cup line and stir.
Spray casserole dish (pyrex, corningware, whatever) with Pam or other non stick spray. Layer mac, cheese, mac, then pour on milk egg mixture, and finish off with cheese, mac, cheese, or whatever, until you run out, ending with cheese.
Bake uncovered @ 350 for 35 min. The cheese on top gets nice and crispy/crunchy and the egg cooks in the bottom, but it really isn't too eggy, I promise.
Sometimes, if I'm feeling the need to really make a "presentation" of it, I sprinkle bread around the outside edge of the casserole and dot with butter. It makes it look finished. I usually just throw it together because I don't really care what it looks like, I just love to eat it!

Anonymous said...

Oops *bread crumbs* not bread