King Ranch Mac and Cheese

I think King Ranch is a common casserole in everyone's house that you must have tried at least once.  I know I have.  This dish is a great adaptation that combines two yummy dishes.  This is a great cheesy recipe that makes my life easier because almost everything is in one dish.  I love when I don't have to think about making sides.  My oldest daughter thought this was the bomb, but she also thinks Mac and Cheese is a food group.  I didn't add the extra 1.5 cups of more cheddar on top.  I thought the dish was cheesy enough. Use this dish as a make ahead dish when you know you are pinched with time or bring it to a potluck!

Adapted from: Southern Living

1/2 (16-oz.) package cellentani pasta

2 tablespoons butter 

1 medium onion, diced 

1 green bell pepper, diced 

1 (10-oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 (8-oz.) package pasteurized prepared cheese product, cubed

3 cups chopped cooked chicken 

1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream 

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper, and sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes and green chiles and prepared cheese product; cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Stir in chicken, next 4 ingredients, and hot cooked pasta until blended. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased baking dish I used a 9x9

3. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Asian Pulled Pork Tacos

You won't find these tacos in your local dim sum restaurant.  These were a brainstorm of a few recipes.  My family loves "duck tacos" aka peking duck.  So I thought why not try that style with pulled pork.  I just happen to have a nice 2.5 lb roast in my freezer.  The pulled pork was plenty for the 3 of us plus leftovers.  What I loved about this recipe is the pork was juicy and not dry.  I may do all my pulled pork in the crockpot in the future.  The leftovers disappeared in a day so I'm pretty sure the family is okay with a repeat soon.

Pulled pork taco

Recipe Adapted from: KISS

1 (2-3 lb) pork butt,
1 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons of minced ginger
7 whole garlic cloves
3 green scallions, roughly cut
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 thai chili pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Enough water to cover the pork
1 English cucumber (julienned to 3 inch spears)
3 scallions (sliced thin to 3 inches)
serve with Hoisin sauce


1.  Rub down the pork with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and put into your crockpot.  Pour all the ingredients on top of the port and cover the roast with water just so the top of the roast is covered.
2.  Turn on your crockpot to high and leave it alone for 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds easily with a fork. Discard huge pieces of fat.
3.  Serve the pulled pork with the sliced cucumbers, sliced scallions and hoisin sauce in a tortilla.

Valentine's Day Feast

Enjoying Fondue

This time of the year restaurants offer outrageous meals to cater to the couples willing to spend money to celebrate Valentine's day.  Unfortunately for those parents with children, it is sometimes hard to find a baby sitter to celebrate on that special day.  Instead, I decided to host a small get together to celebrate with friends and have delicious food.  I enjoyed cooking all day and I enjoyed the fruits of my labor.  I especially enjoyed the champagne bar with a choice of champagne cocktails: Poinsetta, Kir Royale, or Au Naturale.  The Poinsetta has a dash of cranberry juice.  The Kir Royale (my personal favorite) has a dash of Cassis.

I pulled off using almost all of the tools in my kitchen except the juicer and the fryer.  I used my cuisinart, mixer, pasta maker, crock pot and fondue pot.  My guests were the guinea pigs to my new recipes.  Most of the dishes turned out to be ones I'll keep to make again. 

I would host a party every month if my husband would agree to it.  However, I do believe his dishpan hands would definitely not agree. My almost 2 year old ended up staying up way past her bed time and provided tons of entertainment to everyone.

The Menu

Cheese Fondue
Spinach Artichoke dip

Homemade linguine with the choice of classic bolognese sauce or white clam sauce


Salted Caramel Ice cream
Cheesecake caramel chocolate bites

Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake Bites

Thanks to Kelly for the picture.

Little bites of heaven.  The Valentine's Day party needed bite size desserts.  I planned to make brownies with rolos and pretzels in the middle - I got vetoed.  I happened to get this recipe in my email the same day and Voila.  Instant dessert.  This sounds complicated to make, but it is fairly simple.  The hard part for me is always melting the chocolate.  The double boiler is key.  It melts the chocolate with out burning it.  I did cool them on a wire rack and needed a very thin spatula to remove them from the wire rack.  I chilled the cheesecake bites for 30 mins to ensure the chocolate set.  I will be making these again in the short future.  Yum!


Adapted from: Land O Lakes
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup of finely crushed chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1/2 stick of butter
20 caramels, unwrapped
2 tablespoons half and half
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream
1 (12-ounce) package (2 cups) real semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup shortening

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 350°F. Line 8-inch square baking pan with double thickness of aluminum foil, extending foil over ends of pan. Spray foil with no-stick cooking spray. Use the Cuisinart to crush the cookies.  Combine all crust ingredients in small bowl. Press onto bottom of prepared pan.

2.  Combine caramels and half & half in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100% power) 1 minute; stir. Continue microwaving 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Pour over crust in pan. Refrigerate while preparing cream cheese mixture.

3.  Combine cream cheese and sugar in large bowl. Beat until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating just until combined. Stir in sour cream. Pour over caramel mixture.

4.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until just set 2 inches from edge of pan. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Loosely cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours. Lift cheesecake from pan using foil ends. Cut into 36 squares.

5.  Place cooling rack over large piece of waxed paper on counter. Combine chocolate chips and shortening in a double boiler. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth (4 to 5 minutes). Pierce each cheesecake square with a fondue fork. Spoon chocolate over top and sides of each cheesecake square, letting excess chocolate drip back into pan. Place onto cooling rack. Let stand about 20 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Store refrigerated.

White Clam Sauce

White clam sauce

For the Valentine's day party I wanted to offer more than one sauce.  My personal favorite is white clam sauce.  I ordered it when I was in Italy and almost always order it at a seafood restaurant.  This recipe was a hit.  People really liked the little bit of spice each bite left them.  I did not have fresh clams on hand so I adapted the recipe.

 Adapted from: Epicurious
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 6.5 ounce can of chopped clams
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoons dried oregano

1.  In a skillet cook the onion and the garlic in the butter over moderate heat, stirring, until they are pale golden, add the cornstarch, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute.
2.  Stir in the wine, canned clams with the juice and simmer the sauce, stirring, for 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, the oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and keep the sauce warm.
3.  Serve with linguine.

Slow Cook Bolognese

Plenty of sauce

The crock pot is something I have been trying to master.  Set it and forget it. I got the America's Test Kitchen magazine on slow cooking and had to try this recipe.  The heavy cream and bread perplexed me but I couldn't tell it was in the sauce.  The house was fragrant all day and the sauce was delicious.  It does make quite a bit of sauce.  I served it at the Valentine's day party and froze the other half of the sauce for another day. 

Adapted from: America's Test Kitchen
3 tbsp butter
1 onion minced
2 carrot peeled and minced
2 stalks of celery minced
3 lbs meatloaf mix
1/2 lb pancetta diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 garlic cloves minced
1 TBSP Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, garlic mix)
1/2 cup red wine
2 28ounce cans crushed tomatoes
3 slices white sandwich bread torn into quarters
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in the skillet - add onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste, garlic, italian seasoning, pancetta and cook until vegetables are softened and lightly browned 8-10 minutes.  Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker. Stir tomatoes into slow cooker.

2. Mash bread and heavy cream into paste in large bowl using fork.  Mix in meatloaf mix, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp pepper using hands.  Stir in meatloaf mix into slow cooker, break up any large pieces.  Cover and cook until tender 9-11 hours low or 5-7 hours on high.

3. Before serving, take the top off and remove some of the fat that collected at the top.  Break up any remaining large pieces of meat with spoon.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cheese Fondue

For the post-Valentine's day party feast I tried to think of what was a fun romantic like dessert.  Fondue came to mind.  I have had fondue at the Melting Pot restaurant. I wanted to offer a variety of dipping items that were out of the ordinary.  I read an article in the Food Network magazine and it did give me a great idea to add polenta.  I have never used the polenta in a tube.  I sliced it into 1/2 inch slices and threw it on the grill with the kielbasa sausage.  It turned out great.  Enjoy!

Adapted from: Epicurious
1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
1 1/2 cups dry white wine (preferably Swiss, such as Fendant)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 lb Swiss cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)
1/2 lb Gruyère , coarsely grated (2 cups)

What to dip?
Cubes of bread
Grilled polenta
Sliced Kielbasa
Sliced apples
Blanched veggies - broccoli
Baby Carrots
Fingerling Potatoes
Pretzel Rods

Special Equipment:  a fondue pot & long skewers

1.  Rub inside of the fondue pot with cut sides of garlic, then toss the garlic in the fondue pot.. Add wine to pot and bring just to a simmer over moderate heat.
2.  Add the cornstarch and the cheese.  Stir the cheese mixture and simmer 5-8 minutes and serve.