Classic Baked Mac n' Cheese

This recipe is a Robak family favorite and my number one comfort food. Depending on your cheese preference, you can substitute the sharp cheddar for any other hard cheese. We added some Dubliner (a sharp Irish cheese) to this batch, which was delicious. The real key to success is adding enough sauce. You'll want your noodles to be swimming in it, especially if you plan on re-heating the leftovers. So get saucy and have fun!



Ingredients:

• 1 12oz box of macaroni noodles 
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (roughly grated)
• 1 1/2 cup crushed croutons or bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook macaroni noodles as instructed on the package.
2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Finely chop onion and garlic.
4. In a sauce pan, melt butter and add onions and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Sauté onions and garlic until translucent. 
5. Slowly stir in flour until all ingredients form a thick paste, add more butter if necessary.
6. Add milk to the saucepan, stir and heat until it simmers. Do not let it boil.
7. Remove sauce from heat, and slowly stir in cheese. You should have a nice thick sauce at this point. 
8. Pour noodles and sauce into a baking dish and top with croutons. 
9. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the croutons are golden brown.

Curried Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This summer, Parisa and I have been on a mission to be healthy and wrap something in lettuce. After much kitchen deliberation, we finally figured it out. These wraps are healthy, quick and tasty. The perfect summer lunch food. A cool glass of lemonade was all this meal was missing!


Ingredients:
2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
1 1/2 cup cubed granny-smith apples
2 Tbs light mayonnaise
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 c walnut pieces
1 package bib lettuce
curry powder
salt and pepper
paprika



We cooked 2 chicken breasts by boiling them, and then shredded them to make about 2 cups of chicken.  When cooled, mix the chicken with mayo, apple slices, lemon juice, and walnut pieces, stirring to coat evenly.  Season the salad with curry powder, paprika, salt and pepper to taste.  You can add more mayo if desired, but we found that we only really needed 2 Tbs to give the chicken a good coating.

Bibb lettuce is a buttery variety that tastes great with curried chicken, and is plenty flexible for making wraps.  Remove the larger outer leafs from the head and wash, and then add a generous scoop of chicken salad to each lettuce leaf.  Roll and enjoy!

our first blog meal in Parisa's new kitchen!

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

For Kristin's and our friend Katie's birthday last month, we had a little potluck in the backyard.  Both of them love carrot cake, and I love anything with cream cheese frosting on top, so I decided to try making carrot cupcakes for the first time.  I'm not super comfortable with baking cakes because I tend to improvise way too much, but I found this simple and flavorful recipe online:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/carrot-cupcakes-with-white-chocolate-cream-cheese-icing/detail.aspx

These little guys were not nearly as hard to make as I thought they'd be, and they were delicious!  The cupcakes were moist thanks to the pineapple, and didn't have that greasy texture that some carrot cakes have.  The combination of nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon complemented the carrots well, and the spices weren't overpowered by sugar.  They tasted so good, I had to make another batch a few days later when my sister came to visit.

I did make two alterations: I used pecans instead of walnuts, and made a traditional cream cheese frosting instead of a white chocolate cream cheese frosting (why mess with a good thing?)

Frosting Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese, softened

4 oz room temperature butter

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Blend in a food processor until smooth.

Cod Fish Tacos

With the sun finally coming around, Kristin and I made summer-worthy cod tacos with a zesty cilantro salsa aioli.  We are fans of spice, and this meal had a great kick to it.  Plus, I am a sucker for colorful food, so I loved the punch of purple cabbage.

Kristin just got a Cuisinart food processor, and this meal gave us plenty of chances to experiment with it.  We blended the salsa and shredded cabbage in the processor, but if you don't have a food processor you can dice and shred by hand.

Ingredients

Cod fillet, bones removed

1 package cajun corn meal batter

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 head red cabbage, or 1/2 head of both red and green cabbage, shredded

juice of 1/2 lemon (save the other 1/2 lemon for serving)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tomato, roughly chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 head of cilantro

a few slices of jalapeno pepper

1 avocado, diced

vegetable oil for frying

1 package tortillas (we used flour, but corn tortillas would be great too).

1 package feta cheese crumbles

We got a cheap cajun corn meal batter from the grocery store, and it tasted fantastic.  It was essentially just corn meal and spice.  You can batter the fish however you'd like; we dipped it in an egg and milk mixture, and then tossed it in the cornmeal batter.  

Here's a tip for neutralizing the fish smell: keep a bowl of vinegar on the counter while cooking.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with about a half an inch of vegetable oil.  Fry the battered cod on both sides until golden brown.

Blend the tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeno and lemon juice in a food processor until you reach a desirable consistency (we basically pureed ours, but you can do a chunkier salsa if you want).  Mix the salsa into the mayonnaise.

Warm the tortillas by frying them briefly on both sides.  Layer tortillas with battered cod, cilantro salsa aioli, cabbage, avocado slices, feta cheese crumbles, and lemon juice.  Eat up!

Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers

Going along with our theme of colorful bite-sized treats, Kristin and I made stuffed mini sweet peppers this week.  We ended up making a ton, so we were lucky that a few friends happened to stop by for dinner.  These sweet bite-sized peppers would make a great appetizer or side dish, and they are so fun to make!

These peppers taste like little bell peppers, except they are sweeter (especially the red ones).  You can find them at the grocery store next to regular bell peppers, and they are typically sold packaged in bags or cartons.

Ingredients
Mini sweet peppers (we used around 1 and 1/4 pounds)
1/2 large yellow onion, finely diced
2 cups finely diced crimini mushrooms
1 5-oz container of grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
rosemary
oregano
garlic salt
1 slice of bread, cut into small crouton-sized chunks (we used multigrain, but any crusty bread or sandwich bread will do)

Chop off the very top of the peppers with a sharp knife, and seed the inside of the pepper.

Sauté the diced onions and mushrooms in a generous amount of olive oil until tender and browned.  Season with salt and pepper, rosemary, oregano, and garlic salt.  Transfer to a big mixing bowl.  In the same pan, fry the bread crumbs in any remaining oil.  They should be brown, toasty and crispy on both sides.  Toss the bread crumbs with the sauteed veggies, parmesan cheese, and basil in the mixing bowl.

To stuff the mini sweet peppers, use a small teaspoon and tuck a generous amount of filling into each pepper until full.  If needed you can use the spoon handle to help press the filling in.  Arrange the peppers in a lightly greased baking dish, stuffing-side up, and bake at 375 until the peppers are tender and the filling is bubbly and browned.

We could not get enough of these, and we hope you enjoy them too!  

We'd like to hear from you- have any recommendations, requests or ingredients you'd like to see next?  Let us know in the comments!

Cupcake Lasagna

This idea was suggested to us by a friend, and it turned out so incredibly tasty and easy to make that we're now thinking of having a party dedicated entirely to dishes made in cupcake tins.  Think about it: cupcake chicken pot pies, cupcake lasagnas, cupcake berry pies, cupcake strawberry summer cakes... it would be magical.  But enough of that...

Our cupcake lasagnas were made with sauteed vegetables, but if you are a carnivore you can add ground meat, or any other fillings you prefer.  The idea is simple enough: sauté some veggies, grate some cheese, and layer your fillings between gyoza wrappers (similar to wonton wrappers, except they are round).




Ingredients
1 package gyoza wrappers
1 small container parmesan cheese (grated)
1 medium package mozarella cheese (we used aged cheese but you can use fresh if you like)
1 jar marinara sauce or homemade marinara (about 24 oz)
1/2 yellow onion, diced small
1/2 medium eggplant, sliced very thin and diced into 1 inch strips
1 cup diced crimini mushrooms
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, diced
fresh basil
olive oil
Italian herbs (rosemary is great)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cupcake tins

Sauté the onions and eggplant in olive oil over medium-high heat until both are tender.  Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to stir and cook until the vegetables are soft and slightly browned.  Season with rosemary, salt and pepper.

Prepare your cupcake tins by coating them with a light layer of olive oil or unflavored cooking spray.  Drop a small dollop of marinara in each cup.  Press a gyoza wrapper into the cup, pushing down until it fits snugly into the bottom of the cup and the sides of the wrapper curl inward.  Top with grilled veggie mixture, shredded mozarella, and more marinara (remember not to overflow the cups).  Seal the cup with another gyoza wrapper, tucking it in as you did with the first.  Top with a dab of marinara and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Bake at 375 until the gyoza wrappers are browned and the lasagna is bubbly.  Remove from the tin with a spoon, and top with a curl of basil.  Enjoy!

Panzanella

There is no better way to enjoy summer produce than this!  Panzanella is an Italian salad traditionally made of stale or crusty bread and tomatoes.  This simple dish is refreshing and flavorful.  We made our panzanella with ingredients typically found in caprese salad - fresh mozarella and fresh basil.  Because this is such a simple salad, the quality of the ingredients is what makes or breaks the taste.  Go for the good produce on this one (maybe check out your local farmer's market?)

Ingredients:
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
3/4 c. bell peppers (we used red and orange), cubed
1/2 a red onion, finely diced
1 package fresh mozarella, drained and cubed
1 c. fresh basil leaves
1 loaf crusty bread (French or Sourdough will both work)
1 clove garlic (chopped in half or in thirds)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper

After dicing the tomatoes, peppers, onion, and mozarella, combine them in a large serving bowl.  To cut the basil, layer the leaves flat on your palm like sheets of paper and then roll up the stack of leaves.  Use kitchen scissors to snip the roll of leaves crosswise into little curls.  Add basil to the bowl.

To prepare the bread, cut it into 1- or 2-inch cubes with a serrated knife.  Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and add a few tablespoons of olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add the garlic.  Sauté garlic in the olive oil; before it browns, remove the garlic pieces from the oil (this way the oil is garlic-scented, but the garlic does not burn).  Fry the bread cubes on medium-high heat until brown and crispy.

Add the bread cubes to the serving bowl and toss with the salad.  Season the salad with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.  Allowing the salad to rest for 10-30 minutes before serving gives the flavors a chance to combine.

Phad Thai

Hey there!  After an end-of-the-quarter hiatus, we are happily back in the kitchen.

Neither of us had made Phad Thai before, but we went for it anyway and it turned out to be a super easy and tasty meal.  Lots of people shy away from Asian cooking because they are hesitant to work with unfamiliar sauces and spices, but don't let this stop you.  This recipe is great for beginners and is definitely one I'll be making again.

Note: this recipe can definitely serve 4 people.

Ingredients:
1 shallot, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
3 tbs. minced cilantro leaves (fresh)
shredded carrots (if desired)
1 package bean sprouts
1 package firm tofu, drained and diced
1 cup peanuts (we used roasted and salted), roughly chopped, plus extra for topping
3 eggs
1 package Phad Thai rice noodles
cayenne pepper
fresh lime or lemon
sesame oil




Sauce:
1 1/2 tbs. tamarind paste
5-6 tbs. brown sugar
3 tbs. fish sauce
1/2 c. water

Mix sauce ingredients thoroughly.


To cook the rice noodles, boil a large pot of water.  Place the rice noodles in a deep bowl and pour the boiling water over it.  Allow the noodles to cook submerged in the water for around ten minutes, or until they are soft (but not mushy).  Strain the noodles and rinse them in cold water to prevent over-cooking.  Toss in sesame oil and set aside.




In a wok or large skillet, heat a good amount of sesame oil over medium high heat.  Fry diced shallots and peanuts together until browned.  Add tofu and fry until brown on both sides.  Add minced garlic and bell peppers, cooking until peppers are tender.  (You may need to reduce the heat to prevent the garlic from burning).

Add cooked rice noodles and toss with Phad Thai sauce, cooking and tossing until the sauce reduces to a stickier, Phad Thai consistency.  While sauce is thickening, add cayenne pepper, fresh lime or lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Make some room in the corner of the wok or frying pan for the eggs.  Pour eggs into the frying pan and cook as you would scrambled eggs.  (You can whisk them ahead of time or simply scramble them in the pan.)  Mix the scrambled eggs with the rest of the contents of the pan.

Serve immediately, topped with lime juice, bean sprouts, shredded carrots, and remaining peanuts.

And thank you Emily for joining us in the kitchen this week!

Steamed Artichokes and Aioli

Artichokes are like hedgehogs- prickly and ferocious on the outside, cuddly on the inside.  I know many people are put off by the artichoke’s confusing exterior, so this week we thought we’d lay out a simple steamed artichoke recipe along with easy, how-to-eat instructions for anyone unfamiliar with this vegetable.  This is one of the most addicting vegetables, and it’s the perfect summer food!

Steamed Artichoke

2 artichokes

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

How to cut an artichoke:

Using a serrated knife, cut off most of the stem (you can leave about an inch of stem on the artichoke if you’d like).  Also cut about two inches off of the tip of the artichoke, so that all the layers of petals are exposed.

Place the artichokes snugly together, stems-up, in a pot of simmering water.  You only need a few inches of water in the pot – the artichokes should not be completely submerged.  Add the roughly chopped garlic to the water; this infuses the artichoke with a yummy hint of garlic.  Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the stem of the artichoke is tender and the petals are easily removed.

Aioli

¾ c. mayonnaise

juice of ½ lemon

3 cloves minced garlic

Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

How to eat an artichoke:

Remove and discard the outermost petals near the stem of the artichoke – these petals don’t taste great.  To eat the petals, hold them by the outer “pointy” end, and dip the fleshy end in aioli.  Pull the petal through your teeth to get the meat, and then discard the petal. 

When you get to the center of the artichoke under the little purple petals, you can simply take a spoon and scoop out the seeds to discard them.  Underneath those seeds is the delicious artichoke heart (attached to the stem), which is the best part!

Mixed Berry Cobbler

Most people eat cobbler as a dessert, but Parisa and I eat it for breakfast.  Following a Joy of Cooking's "Fluffy Biscuits" and "Mixed Berry Cobbler" recipes we whipped up this delicious cobbler in no time.  I usually don't make pies or cobblers because they seem to involve too many steps, but this recipe is hassle free and scrumptious. Try it for yourself!

As a final touch we added vanilla ice cream. Ice cream and berry cobbler are a match made in heaven. :)

Spinach Ricotta Pie with Homemade Ricotta Cheese

This week we prepared a dish from the Moosewood Cookbook.  This spinach ricotta pie is similar to a quiche, but with more ricotta than eggs.  The recipe calls for one pound of ricotta cheese, so we decided to experiment in making our own cheese for the first time.  It was surprisingly easy, although you do have to own a cheesecloth.  If you don't want to take the time to make your own ricotta, this recipe still tastes delicious with store-bought cheese.  Next time we're thinking about using goat's milk in the cheese, for a little more flavor.

How to make Homemade Ricotta:  There are simple instructions on this website:
http://www.recipegirl.com/2010/05/17/how-to-make-ricotta-cheese/

Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients for the Spinach Ricotta Pie are available here, on Mollie Katzen's website:

http://www.molliekatzen.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipe=ricotta

spread sour cream to the corners of the pie

dust with paprika

Grandma's Rhubarb Crunch

This recipe comes from my Grandma Virginia.  Yesterday, Kristin and I decided to add a twist to my favorite of her recipes: Rhubarb Crunch.  Instead of using 4 cups rhubarb, we experimented with about 3 cups rhubarb and 2 cups fresh strawberries.  We also cut the sugar in half to accommodate the sweetness of the strawberries.  This is one of the most delicious dessert recipes out there, and we hope you'll try it!

If you are a fan of classic rhubarb crunch rather than strawberry-rhubarb, just stick with 4 cups of rhubarb and one full cup of white sugar in the fruit sauce.

Fruit Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine water, vanilla, and sugar in a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, gradually adding cornstarch.  Cook and stir for about five minutes, until the sauce is thick and somewhat clear.

Crunch Ingredients:
1 c. white flour
3/4 c. oats (most kinds of oatmeal will work)
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix ingredients together.  Place half of crunch mixture in the bottom of a greased baking dish.  Add 3 cups diced rhubarb and 2 cups diced strawberries.  Pour fruit sauce over the fruit and top with the remaining crunch topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Serve with vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!

Rosemary Focaccia and Black Bean Bell Pepper Soup

Although it's April, Bellingham still has a few stormy days in store.  To combat the rain, we made some warm comfort food: hearty black bean and bell pepper soup with lots of toppings, and very easy rosemary focaccia bread.

Black Bean Bell Pepper Soup


Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 anaheim pepper, diced
cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1 chipotle pepper (canned), minced

3 cans black beans, drained but not rinsed

1 can crushed tomatoes with green chiles

1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

salt and pepper

olive oil

turmeric
cayenne pepper

lemon juice from ½ lemon

Fry onions at medium heat in olive oil until translucent; add turmeric.  Add garlic, anaheim and bell peppers and sauté.


Add chicken broth, black beans, and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer and stir in chipotle pepper, lemon juice and cayenne.  Both chipotle peppers and cayenne can be very spicy, so it's up to you how you want to balance these two spices.  Allow the soup to simmer and thicken, covered, for about a half an hour.  Before serving, stir in fresh cilantro leaves.

Top with:

Cilantro, sliced and salted avocado, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream.

Rosemary Focaccia

For the focaccia, we cheated a bit and used a bread maker to prepare the dough.  If you have a bread maker, this is really simple: follow your bread maker's directions for preparing pizza dough.  Ours called for:
1 1/8 c. warm water
1 1/2 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. yeast

While the dough is rising (it takes about an hour), you have plenty of time to cook the black bean soup.  When the dough is ready, sprinkle with cornmeal and spread it across a pizza stone or pizza pan to about 1/2 inch thickness.  

Press indentations into the dough with your fingers, and drizzle the dough with olive oil.  Sprinkle with dried rosemary and salt (we think ground salt crystals taste the best on this, and Trader Joe's pink salt looks pretty!)

Let the dough rise for 20 minutes.  Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.  Enjoy!