Radiatorre with microwaved cheese sauce

I wanted mac’n’ cheese, but my favorite All-Clad that I always use to make the cheese sauce was dirty.  So I decided to try making the cheese sauce in the microwave.  It turned out identical to my regular sauce.

I put the butter in a glass pyrex dish and microwaved it in thirty second intervals until it was melted.  I then mixed in the flour and microwaved it in thirty second intervals, whisking after every interval.  Once the roux was ready, I added the milk and continued with the thirty second intervals, continuing to whisk the bechamel.  I cooked it until it was thick and bubbly, just like I would on the stove top.  I added the grated cheddar and whisked until it was fully incorporated.  The tricky part was when I had to add the radiatorre pasta.  Normally, I put the pasta in a clean bowl and pour the sauce on top.  Mixing the pasta into the bowl of sauce proved difficult, and I ended up losing a pieces.  Making the sauce in the bowl also left some sauce at the top of the bowl, which got a little dark under the broiler.

Overall it was a complete success, but I’m kind of a traditionalist, so this won’t become my SOP.

(No pic because everyone’s seen my mac’n’cheese)

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Deconstructed mac’n’cheese & grilled cheese

The mac’n’cheese was deconstructed because I didn’t have enough clean pans to make normal mac’n’cheese.  I cooked the radiatorre pasta in my only clean pot.  When it was finished I transferred it to a bowl, then added some shredded sharp cheddar (I knew from past experience to use less than for regular mac’n’cheese), diced sun-dried tomatoes, bacon bits and some of the olive oil from the tomatoes.  The grilled cheese was made with some of the same cheese.

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Consolation Mac’n’Cheese

OK, so home-made mac’n’cheese is never a “consolation” but it was not what I originally planned. Unfortunately, I was out of the NY-style sharp cheddar I normally use, I had to use some other sharp cheddar. Sides were peas and a Gala apple.

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Sautéed Portabella Omelet

For dinner I made a sautéed omelet, which was actually pretty good. I guess I should disclaim the fact that I don’t really like eggs. In my mind, eggs are an ingredient, not something you eat. I bought a half dozen eggs last week for something, and I needed to use up the rest.

I sautéed the portabellas in a cast iron skillet and put a non-stick skillet in the oven and preheated it to 350deg F. Meanwhile, I whipped the eggs in my stand mixer. This gives it a real fluffy texture. When the non-stick was hot and the portabellas were done, I pulled the non-stick out of the oven and poured in the eggs. I then added the mushrooms, some sharp cheddar and Parmigiano-Romano, as well as some bacon. I baked it for about 5 minutes and turned it out onto a plate. It stuck a little bit, so I guess I should have oiled the non-stick.

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Poutine

I came across this last week by accident.  At first, I thought it must be a joke.  I decided it wasn’t and to give it a shot.

For those of you who don’t know, poutine is a dish of French fries, topped with bechamel and cheese curd.  I was not able to find any cheese curd, so I just grated on some sharp cheddar. It turned out pretty good, although I think my bechamel should have been a little thicker.  And because (almost) everything is better with bacon, I put some bacon on top.

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Cheddar & Sun-Dried Tomato Ravioli

Well, I made ravioli again.  This time I stuffed them with extra-sharp cheddar and sun-dried tomato.  The taste was really good, but I need to work on getting the dough thinner.  I also need to use a contrasting sauce.  The cheese sauce that I used was too similar to the ravioli themselves.  And…large ravioli should be served on a plate, not in a bowl.  You have to cut them and a bowl just doesn’t work for that.

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Cheddar Ravioli with Mushroom Sauce

This was my second attempt at making ravioli and turned out much better than the first.  The raviolis were stuffed with extra-sharp cheddar.  I cooked them for about 5 minutes in boiling water.

I soaked some dried portabella mushrooms that I had in warm milk.  After the mushrooms had soaked for about 10 minutes, I drained the milk and added it to a roux to start the sauce.  Once the bechamel was formed, I added grated Romano cheese and a good-sized slice of Chevre.  I added the mushrooms at the last minute and cut the heat.

To serve, I started with a bed of broccoli and cauliflower, then the ravioli and the mushroom sauce, and finally some chives and bacon bits, with a glass of nice ’06 Chardonel on the side.  It turned out good, but I definitely need more practice making the ravioli.

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Quickie Lasagne

I threw together this lasagne dish that does not require baking, just broiling to brown the cheese.

I started the water for my radiatore pasta and sautéed half an onion.  I added the pasta to the boiling water and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes to the onion.  I put the last of the homemade ricotta that I cooked last weekend in the bottom of a glass bowl and microwaved it to warm it up.  Once finished, I drained the pasta and put it on top of the ricotta.  I added some spices to the tomatoes and poured them in on top of the pasta.  Next was four slices of Sopressata that I had in the fridge.  On top was some grated extra-sharp cheddar.  I put it under the broiler on high until the cheese just started to brown.

The one thing I would do differently next time, is I would slice the Sopressata before adding them.  As it was, the large pieces had to be eaten whole.

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Lamb Chops & Bacon Mac’n’Cheese

Dinner tonight was broiled garlic-rosemary lamb chops with bacon, sharp cheddar & Parmigiano-Reggiano mac’n’cheese.

Several weeks back I picked up a family pack of lamb chops on sale. Last night I pulled the last set out of the freezer. I wanted to do the garlic-rosemary combination that I did on my first lamb chops. To my chagrin, I was out of fresh garlic. I ground together some dried garlic and rosemary in my mortar and pestle, but needed some liquid, so I added a little bit of fish sauce. I rubbed this combination on the lamb chops and set them aside while I made the mac’n’cheese.

I took the last of a package of bacon (~ 1/4lb), diced it and threw it in my 12″ cast iron skillet. I cooked it till it was nice and brown, then removed the bacon to a plate. I transferred the grease to a small sauce pan and added some flour to make the roux for my mac’n’cheese. The cheese was a blend of sharp cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano that I grated earlier this week. I assembled the mac’n’cheese and spread the bacon on top.

I broiled the lamb chops for 3-4 minutes per side and then rested them while I broiled the mac’n’cheese.

The lamb chops were really good. The mac’n’cheese was good but not as good as my normal recipe. I did not care for the cheese combination and there was too much bacon (who knew that was even possible). With dinner, I had a nice Russian River Valley pinot noir.

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Yam Gratin

I saw some yams (true yams, not sweet potatoes) at the farmer’s market. I’d never seem yams before so I had to buy some. I had no idea how I was going to cook them.

Today I decided to make a yam gratin. I par-cooked the yams in the microwave while I was making the cheddar-gruyère sauce. I combined the yams and sauce in a baking dish, topped them with bacon and panko, and threw it in the oven. Due to the microwaving, the potatoes were done before the top was browned, so I turned on the broiler for a minute or two. I sprinkled the obligatory chèvre and some chives over the top and called it done.

The taste was unexpectedly sweet, too sweet actually. The yams tasted not like sweet potatoes but regular potatoes with sugar added. They absolutely clashed with the cheese sauce. Next time, maybe just roasted with some butter…

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