"Pioneer Woman Cooks" Pot Roast

Lazy Presidents' Day evening, and it feels like a Sunday-dinner kind of day.  Thus, Pot Chuck Roast via Ree Drummond with Roasted Carrots and Rosemary (from my own shrubbery!) with mashed potatoes on the side.  Let's see if her guidelines turn out a moist roast.  Her recipe is here.

About 2 hours from now, I can review!

Bread & Barley Knock-Off Macaroni & Cheese with Pork Belly

Recently, upon trying the newest pub in our town, Bread and Barley, Dan and I had the most tremendous macaroni and cheese.  They make it with smoked gouda, miso cheese, and pork belly.  I made a homemade version today:

8 oz elbow macaroni, cooked el dente and drained
8 oz chopped pancetta
1 stick butter
1/4 c flour
2 C 2% milk
8 oz shredded Asiago Fresco
4 oz shredded Parmesan
4 oz shredded 4-cheese blend (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Asadero, Queso quesadilla)
1 tsp dry mustard
salt/pepper to taste
1 C. panko bread crumbs

Cook the elbows el dente and set aside.  Meanwhile, sauté the pancetta in 3 T butter until just crisping.
In a pot, melt the remaining butter and add the 1/4 c flour to make a roux.  When it is golden brown, add the milk and cook until warm.  Add the cheeses and whisk until melted.  Whisk in dry mustard and salt & pepper.  Add the elbow macaroni to the cheese sauce and mix.  Pour the pasta/cheese mix into a casserole dish or cast iron roasting pot.  In the butter/pancetta pan, add 1 C. panko bread drums and stir until butter is absorbed.  Top the casserole with the bread crumb mixture.  Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees until top is golden brown.  Serve.

Holy Crepe!

I woke up this morning and was craving some crepes, so I opened the fridge and realized I had a lot of spinach.  What better than a spinach/cheese combination, then?  Made the crepes in my large pan since I think my crepe maker is stuck back in a cupboard somewhere.  A little four-cheese mix and some five-minute wilted spinach and we're good to go.

Connaissez-vous l'homme de muffin?? Pas de probleme, il vous suffit d'utiliser cette recette

French Toast Breakfast Muffins. 
[ Made with skim milk and light butter is only 121 calories a muffin if you make 12]

1/3 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg (preferably room temperature)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk

Topping (option: cut topping in half*)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Do NOT overmix; overmixing will ruin the texture of the finished muffins. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I think you could get 10-12 muffins by distributing the batter a little less generously. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter (you can dip just the top, but it's even tastier to dip the whole muffin!), then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar. *May have left-over topping; the extra topping can be used for dipping, while eating the muffins (oh my). Another option is to cut the topping ingredients in half.

Smoked Gouda & Bacon Grilled Cheese- A Trebs Original!

One day, Fresh & Easy had smoked gouda slices on sale. I brought them home along with some nicely thicker cut sourdough loaf.  Then I was alone for dinner as the boys were out at baseball practice, and I threw together a grilled cheese that was to die for.  

This is 3 slices of smoked gouda, 2 slices of bacon, sourdough bread, lightly buttered and grilled up pronto with a side of homemade potato chips.  YUM!

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups chicken broth 2 cups water 2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded 1 (4.5 ounce) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet

1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup butter 2 cups heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.
2.	In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
3.	Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Chicken in a Sausage??

Oh, Fresh & Easy, if you close my neighborhood store, I'm gonna cry...

Chicken, feta & spinach sausages,
with peas and rice.
Yummy!