Ash Wednesday Meal

Tonight I look forward to eating a full meal.  Yes, I did fast; I am not old enough yet to be "excused."  Went to Mass this morning, but immediately gave it to stress and irritation by getting angry with my teenage daughter.  The problem was resolved after our walk home and lots of deep breaths.  Then came the apologies and prayers for forgiveness.  (sigh)

Well, tonight we are having Macaroni and Cheese and Romaine Salad--Lenten meal 2

Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

 

1/2 pound elbow macaroni

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon powdered mustard

3 cups milk

1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 large egg

12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh black pepper

Topping:

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Romaine Salad

Prepackaged Romaine Salad (Romaine, carrots, cabbage)

Cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half

Chopped dill weed, parsley, and chives 

 

 Toss all ingredients

Vinegrette

1/3 c. Balsamic vinegar

2/3 c. Extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. Brown sugar optional

salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy! 

Approaching Lent

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted on my blog.  Life gets so complicated and time passes too quickly.  However, we had a wonderful Friday meatless meal that I wanted to share for Lent.

Lenten Dinner 1 (for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, or any Friday meal):

Soup and Salad Menu--Serve with Sour Dough or a good crusty bread and butter

Lobster (or shrimp) Bisque (8 servings)

6 Tbls butter
6 Tbls all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
4 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cups chicken stock (may use vegetable stock but I have not tried it)
1/4 cup white wine
3 Tbls minced onion
3 Tbls shredded carrot
3 cups cooked lobster meat, shredded (I used frozen cooked shrimp because Lobster is almost impossible to find in the middle of Oklahoma)
1 Tbls Cognac (I used sherry because I had no cognac, it was delicious)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Prep:
In a large pan over med-high heat, melt butter and then stir in flour, salt, pepper, and paprika.
Slowly whisk in the milk, chicken stock, and white wine, stirring until smooth and slightly thickened.
Add onions, carrots, and lobster meat (or shrimp); simmer 10 minutes.  Stir in cognac (or sherry) and cream, heat through, and serve hot.
(original recipe can be found here)

Avocado and Romaine Salad (makes 4 servings)

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbls fresh chives, chopped
1 1/3 cup avocado, chopped
3 cups chopped Romaine hearts
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh dill weed, chopped
Balsamic vinegar dressing (below)

Toss all ingredients and drizzle with dressing.
(Original recipe here.)

Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

1/4 c. Balsamic Vinegar
3/4 c. Extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. brown sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
garlic powder to taste

Whisk ingredients together.  Let flavors meld in the refrigerator until ready to use.  Whisk again before serving.
(Inspired by Emeril Lagasse's Simple Balsamic Vinegrette)

Fried Cabbage

I'm from the North y'all.  I've never tasted fried cabbage before. Now, mind you, I lived in Maryland (they consider themselves the South) for eight years in the 1980's to early 1990's.  I've never tasted fried cabbage.  (However, I did discover fried sweet potato fries while I lived there.  Talk about yummy!)  I've lived in Texas and Oklahoma now for 12 years--never saw fried cabbage.  In a little dive at a podunk airport, I tasted my first fried cabbage.  Wow!  You can really make everything taste better when you fry it--and I like cabbage.  Here's a quick easy way to do it:

Fried Cabbage (from memory):

1 head cabbage, core removed
about 1/3 c. oil
bacon (!)
1 onion
2 pinches sugar
salt and pepper

1.  Heat up the vegetable oil on med to med/hi heat in a deep pan, and cook the bacon in it .  The original recipe said 3 slices cut into thirds.  I add about 6 slices and cut them a little smaller so it goes farther when served. 
2.  Meanwhile chop the onion into a large dice.  Slice or chop the cabbage into a large dice.
3.  Once the bacon is cooked, add the onions.  Sweat them for a minute or two then add the cabbage.
4.  Add two generous pinches of white sugar (it helps the cabbage caramelize) and add salt and pepper.
5.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is crisp-tender and reduce to about half its volume.

This takes me about 15 minutes total. 
Fried cabbage is so delicious, I serve it about once a week now and have very little in the way of left-overs (darn it!).  The only one that doesn't like it is my oldest son.  He is my picky eater, but I think that may be due to his diabetes.  I think he tastes things differently than the rest of us.  Anyway...
Try fried cabbage.  Delish!

I think this may be the original recipe I used:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/southern-fried-cabbage/

A Couple of Recipes

On a friend's blog she has a recipe exchange on Mondays and has some stored on her site.  Well, today, I was thinking of a couple of things I like to do, but have not made it on her Monday list, yet.

Today I made the following for dinner.  It is quick (takes about 10-15 minutes depending on how fast your stove boils water) and easy when mom is out of ideas and energy.

2 boxes Mac and Cheese mix (I use two because I have 5 kids-use only one if you have only one or two kids--and only if they are not teenagers.)
margarine, as called for on box(es)
milk, as called for on box(es)
1 bag frozen broccoli baby florets (I really don't like to get a bag full of stems.)
1 to 2 cans Spam

1.  Cook Mac and Cheese as directed.  Put steamer on top of boiling pasta. 
2.  Put Steamer on top of boiling pasta.  If you don't have a steamer pot for your set, us a metal colander on top of your pot.  Put broccoli in steamer/colander.  Cover.  Lower temperature so it doesn't boil over.
3.  While that is cooking, cube Spam.
4.  When pasta is cooked and broccoli is steamed to perfection, mix cheese sauce as directed on box.
5.  Add cooked broccoli and cubed Spam.
6.  Serve.  I can serve my five kids (two of them teenage boys) with this recipe.

How about desert?  Cold S-mores Parfait.

1 or 2 boxes of instant chocolate pudding (depending on how many you want to make)
milk
4-6 graham crackers
mini marshmallows

1.  Crush graham crackers to coarse crumbs
2.  Mix chocolate pudding as directed on package.
3.  Take out desert glasses, parfait glasses, deep cups, anything you got to layer the dessert.
4.  Put in small layer of pudding.
5.  Cover pudding with a layer of graham crackers.
6.  Sprinkle in marshmallows.
7.  Repeat steps 4-6 twice.  Make sure that you end with Marshmallows on top.  I had some that were stars.  It looked great!  Watch out the portions can look small but they really fill you up.
8.  Serve and enjoy.

Voile!  Dinner and desert in 1/2 hour.  Gotta love it.