Artisanal Macaroni and Cheese

There is a reason why Kraft Mac and Cheese is in so many pantries.  It's quick and easy comfort food that's perfect for lazy or busy days ... or so I thought.  Then I came across the artisanal mac and cheese recipe developed by Terrance Brennan, the chef at the Artisanal Fromagerie, Bistro in New York.  This recipe was featured on the cover of the May 2010 issue of Saveur, and the picture looked inviting. I wonder why it didn't catch attention when I flipped through the magazine for the first time. 

This recipe uses three different types of cheese and a generous panko-parmesan crust.  The cheese sauce is bubbly, and the crust become super crunchy after 30 minutes in the oven.  The combination of the cheesy pasta and the crunchy crust is irresistible!  This isn't a quick dinner, and there are more than three steps to follow, but it's worth spending one hour for this Kraft substitute.  My family and I were rewarded by the best mac and cheese we ever had.

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Homemade Chili

I'm finally back.

It has been a very busy winter. My husband and I joined a gym at the end of 2010 and have been exercising three times a week. We feel good about our new lifestyle as we always wanted to be more physically active. I also started learning bass guitar with lessons once a week. The workouts and bass practice on top of my full time job (which includes a three hour commute) leaves very little free time.

That being said, I still cook everyday and would love to share the recipes here. In order to do that, I had to develop better time management skills. The first step was to start batch cooking on weekends, and it has been a big time saver. I have been working on my chili recipe for the past few weeks, and it worked out very well since chili is a great meal for cooking in bulk. There are so many ways to enjoy it. It's great with crackers, bread, over the pasta or rice. The meat can be used for deluxe nachos. There are many pre-packed chili powder mixes at the store, but it's fairly easy to make from scratch. We have had so much snow in East Coast this year, and it seems like there is more to come. Take a break from all the shoveling and have a bowl of chili to warm yourself up!

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Chicken Drumsticks with Barbecue Sauce

Barbecue sauces aren’t just for barbecue. There are many different types available in various regional styles. These sauces add a big flavor to the dish and are perfect for a quick and easy dinner. There was a bottle of Wegman’s Memphis style barbecue sauce in my pantry and a pack of chicken drumsticks in the refrigerator. I pulled out a pressure cooker, and the dish was ready in 30 minutes. My husband particularly liked the spiciness from the chipotle chili powder, my secret ingredient, which also adds smokiness to the sauce. If you can’t take the heat, smoked paprika may be a good substitute.

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Salmon Burger and Cucumber Relish

Precooked frozen food would never be on my mother in-law's grocery list. She is one of the healthiest eaters I know. Her daily meals consist of a lot of vegetables and fruits, some nuts, some type of whole grains and a little bit of animal proteins. She cooks with a tiny bit of salt (I highly respect that!), and extra virgin olive oil. Bacon and sausage would never be in her refrigerator. However, on her last visit to our house, she went to Costco and came back with a bag of frozen salmon burgers, which was completely unexpected. The mother-in-law approved salmon patties are from Trident (not the same company that makes the chewing gum.) They are made of wild Alaska salmon, are lean and meaty, and are pretty flavorful. They are in fact good as is, but I felt a little sad looking at an obviously store bought salmon patty, alone, on my plate. It was calling for an accompaniment. I browsed the fridge and found cucumber, fresh dill and a lemon. They seemed like a perfect combination for a refreshing relish. I chopped up the cucumber and the dill, squeezed out the lemon juice, and then mixed them up with a touch of honey. The salmon and dill paring is so cliché, but hey, it's cliche because it's really good.

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Indian Sloppy Joes

It was somewhat accidental when I, well, WE came up this Indian style sloppy joe.  I thought I was just making ground beef curry until when my husband sliced up a raisin bun and piled it up with curry then said, "you made Indian sloppy joes."  He scooped out some bread making room for more meat.  Indian sloppy joes... why didn't I think of that?

The raisin buns were, by the way,  homemade too.  I've had the bread baking bug recently (see the bagel post) and have been trying to perfect this raisin bread recipe.  It's still a work in progress.  I'm hoping to post the complete recipe sometime soon.  But it's 90 degrees out side.  Do I really want to use the oven...?  To bake or not to bake...

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