Mac and cheese etc

Comfort food is the order of the day - but so is getting some vitamins as well as the carbs and protein - so I ramped up mac n cheese with some vegetables.  It didn't take any longer, and was delicious.

Cauliflower

Mushrooms

Soya milk

Cornflour

Macaroni

Cheddar cheese

Peas

Tomatoes

1.  Chop cauliflower into florets, place in steamer part of steamer pan.  Add a good handful of sliced mushrooms.

2.  Grate quit a lot of cheddar cheese.

3.  Put steamer pan on top of pan of water, heat until boiling.

4.  Add pasta to water, stir once, and replace cauliflower pan above it.

5.  Heat soya milk until simmering, then add slaked cornflour to make a sauce, as it thickens add grated cheese, stir until all melted - season with salt and pepper.

6.  Boil pasta for 10-12 minutes, until it is nearly done. stir occasionally to make sure it's not sticking together.

6.  Add frozen peas to steaming veg.

7.  Slice tomatoes.

8.  In a baking dish add steamed veg and drained cooked pasta, add sliced tomatoes.

9.  Pour on cheese sauce.

10.  Bake for 20 minutes or so.

11. Serve, scoff

Fried chicken, macaroni cheese, collared greens and bean casserole: aka Walk the Line

 We have added a development to many of our Saturday nights.  We are having "movie nights", and as an added bonus will theme the dinner to the film.

Today was "Walk the Line" - the Johnny Cash biopic.  Johnny Cash lived in Nashville, so it was food of the American south.

Spicy fried chicken, macaroni cheese, collared greens and bean casserole.  I struggled to find many traditional vegetarian recipes which might also appeal to the veg dodger - how has a particular dislike of sweetcorn.

This dinner was declared a success, and we all enjoyed the film.

Spicy fried chicken

Chicken thighs

Flour

Barbeque spice

Soya milk

Olive oil for frying

Macaroni cheese

Soya milk

Cornflour

Macaroni

Cheddar cheese - grated

Mozzarella - grated

Collared greens

Red onion

Garlic

Cavolo nero

Vegetable stock

Spinach

Olive oil

Bean casserole

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Red pepper

oregano

Chopped tomatoes

Tin of mixed beans

1.  Place chicken thighs in soya milk and allow to soak for a few minutes.

2.  Mix barbeque seasoning, salt and pepper into flour.

3.  Start cheese sauce by heating soya milk.  Add slaked cornflour to soya milk and heating through, keep stirring.

4.  Add grated cheese to thickened sauce, reserving some for the top.

5.  Boil the pasta according to packet instruction, then drain when done.

6.  Start the collared greens and bean casserole by sweating chopped onion and garlic in olive oil in two separate pans.

7.  Dredge the chicken thighs in flour and set aside to dry a little.

8.  Add shredded cavolo nero to softened onions, with a cup of vegetable stock, and steam for about 12 minutes, then add spinach and wilt down.  

9.  Add chopped red pepper to the other onions, fry for 5 minutes, and then add beans and tomatoes, oregano and season and heat through.

10.  Drain the pasta, add the sauce, top with reserved cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

11.  Dip the chicken thighs in soya milk again, and then coat with seasoned flour.

12.  Finish the chicken by shallow frying in olive oil, bake for 10 minutes to ensure they are fully cooked through.

13.  serve, scoff … 

Macaroni vegetable cheese

I'm not supposed to have too much lactose - but I love cheese.  So, the compromise on this was to make the cheese sauce with strong cheddar and soya milk.

Also, finishing off the end of the veg box meant not cauliflower cheese, but everything else in the fridge cheese.

Steam veg (Leeks, runner beans, carrots, cabbage).  Boil pasta shapes (gluten free).  Make cheese sauce by boiling soya milk, adding slaked cornflower, mustard and cheese.  Mix together with halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake at a high heat to brown the top.

Delish.  And an end of the veg box victory.  Enough left for tomorrow's lunches, and dinner I think.

Lobster macaroni and cheese

Get me!  Lobster!  Well, frozen lobster - so thought I would give it a go, but not in a grilled delicious fresh kind of a way...  and had heard of this comfort and luxury combination, so thought I'd give it my own twist.  It was very easy (after initial shell hammering bit), and very tasty.

1 lobster, frozen (in this case)
Macaroni (or other short pasta)
green beens
Handful spinach
1/2 red chili
1 clove garlic, crushed
about an inch cubed each of ... cheddar, cheshire and parmesan, grated
5 tbsp natural yogurt

Heat oven to 180

1.  Thaw lobster (which may, or may not have been left by previous owners of new house!  who left it here by accident, but told me about it after I had found it... no, they didn't want it back they said I should keep it as a gift :) )
2.  Extract meat from tails and claws of the lobster.  Remove "vein" from tail meat and chop into bit sized pieces, carefully picking out bits of shattered shell (you could do something clever with the shells and oil and stuff, but I didn't today).
3.  Bring pan of water to the boil, when boiling chuck in pasta.
4.  After 2-3 minutes chuck in chopped beans.
5.  When pasta is nearly cooked (10 mins boiling, when it says 11)  drain.
6.  Chick spinach into pasta and beans stir and leave to wilt.
7.  Meanwhile grate all cheeses, add crushed garlic and finely chopped chili - stir together with yogurt - season with black pepper (and a scrape of nutmeg if you fancy).
8.  Mix cheese sauce, pasta and veg and lobster bits together - put into oven proof dish, bake in oven for 30 mins (ish)

You could have topped the dish with more cheese;  breadcrumbs and cheese; herby garlicky breadcrumbs etc .. delish whatever.

The resulting dish was lovely.  Creamy, despite ridiculously easy method of making "cheese sauce", a little bit tangy through using yogurt instead of cream/ wine to make a white sauce from a bechamel.

Incredibly easy, but felt like a proper treat.

Pheasant, mushroom and cabbage macaroni

One of the great things about being a bit foodie, is that periodically your mates try to challenge you with summat a bit different.  So, as a pressie for a dinner, I was presented with a dressed pheasant.  I have roasted pheasant before, but wanted something more casual, light and tasty but still autumnal, so I thought - pasta with seasonal veg... and it worked!

So, ingredients:-

1 pheasant - meat removed and cut into bite sized pieces.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large leek, sliced
1 clove garlic
1 glass white wine
10(ish) chestnut mushrooms
Half a small savoy cabbage, shredded

Pinch of chili
Spoonful of creme fraiche

Method

1.  Sweat down leeks in olive oil, over medium heat.
2.  When soft, move to the sides of the pan and increase heat.  Chuck pheasant bits into the middle of the pan.  Brown on one side, then toss mixture together.
3.  Put pasta into boiling, salted water.
4.  Add chopped mushrooms to leek and pheasant - season, add ladle of water from pasta pan, so that mixture doesn't go dry.  Add tiny pinch of chili.
5.  When pasta is nearly done, add cabbage to veg and pheasant, toss about a bit, so that it wilts (add another ladle of water if it looks at all dry.
6.  Drain pasta.
7.  Chuck in pheasant and veg, grind black pepper - big spoonful of creme fraiche.  S
8.  Stir, scoff.

Took 15 minutes - start to finish, including getting meat from pheasant.

Leek and mushroom macaroni cheese

So, it looks like a bowl of something quite unpleasant - but I thought it was OK.  The sweetness of the leeks comes through and it's much less fattening than traditional macaroni and cheese.  Cook macaroni until al dente following packet instructions.  Sautee leeks, garlic and mushroom in olive oil until soft.  Grate cheese - in this case red cheddar and parmesan.  When macaroni is cooked drain and stir in vegetables, also stir in cottage cheese, natural yogurt and most of the cheese to make a sauce.  Season with black pepper.  Put in over proof dish, top with the rest of the cheese and bake for 25 minutes (ish).  Victim was really quite rude, and asked for a peanut butter and jam sandwich.  This criticism is way too harsh.

Macaroni and cauliflower cheese - with mushrooms and other veg

Tired and fridge nearly empty (actually not empty, but not full of stuff which goes together, bit of salami and a blueberry yogurt anyone?) - so russled together easy stuff which also fulfilled the need for comfort food (spinach was also available, but the swearing that suggestion initiated, from victim, will not be reproduced here).  So - 2 pans - one with salted water for pasta, one with olive oil for bacon/veggie mix.  Boil macaroni for just under packet instructions time - but add cauliflower florets after 2 mins or so - in the olive oil pan gently fried off chopped onion, red pepper, asparagus ends, choppped bacon, crushed garlic and handful of chopped mushrooms.  Seasonned well.  When pasta/cauli was just about ready tipped the whole lot (with the water, cos there wasn't a huge amount of excess, should be about 200mls or so) in with the veg and gave it a good stir.  Crumbled in chicken stock cube (not essential, but wanted a savoury undertone) - simmered a bit more.  Took off heat and added half a tub of left over cream cheese, and handful of frozen peas  - stirred - added some left over cream (small tub).  Good stir... it was then making that satisfying sschwaaapth when I pulled the spoon out (is there a proper word for that?).  Grated some chedder on the top - good grind of black pepper and put in hot oven for 20 mins (could be under hot grill - but we have to use the Aga, what!).   Serve in bowls, and watch gathered victims relax and smile... and scurry for seconds.


In other news, we have been avidly watching Great British Bake Off (go Mary-Ann) - and victim is making very unsubtle noises about setting baking related tasks... so there may be a bigger feature of baked goods in the near future - any suggestions?

Mushroom and salami macaroni and cheese

Boil macaroni and steam brocolli.  Mix together cheese (grated cheddar, mozarella and pamesan) with natural yogurt and couple of spoons of sour cream - season and stir in mustard.  Stir cooked macaroni and quartered button mushrooms and salami pieces together with the cheese mixture.  Top with sliced tomatoes and bake for 20 mins or so.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy ... but hardly calorie free.

Strawberry jam

New mission - stop wasting stuff!  Trying to use every scrap of fruit and veg in the organic box & some bargain strawberries.  So dinner was cauliflower and macaroni cheese  with added broad beans, runner beans and spinach  with beetroot and tomato salad.  4 jars of strawberry jam (chop and weigh fruit, heat until fruit starts breaking down, stir in about 3/4 of the weight sugar and squeeze in 1 lemon per about 500g fruit - simmer, for about 20 mins - but test after about 15 (the usual, does a skin form on surface when put on cold saucer)  put in sterilised jars.  You could skim the froth off the top - but I didn't.)