Cooking Challenge Week 33 - Turn Something Boring into Something Great - Chipotle Mac 'n' Cheese

I think this might be the worst picture in the history of my blog, but, I realized, just as I was about to reheat the last chunk of leftovers for breakfast, that I hadn't gotten a picture.  If I were a pretentious artist, this would be titled "Spicy, 4:30 am."  So yeah, very little effort went into this awful picture.

But the dish? Not awful in the slightest.  In fact, it's the best non-standard mac 'n' cheese I've ever had.  Which is why it immediately came to mind for this challenge.

Here's the recipe, which, of course, I highly recommend you try.

Cooking Challenge Week 31 (Late!) - Broiling - Molettes

Tasty and easy!

Time for a procedural recipe, this doesn't need things like measurements and quantities.

Start with crusty finger rolls, or, in my case, hot dog buns.  The buns were really a little too delicate for this treatment, but my bakery hadn't made any hoagie rolls that day, which would have been better.

Brush them with a little bit of softened butter and broil until lightly browned and crispy--don't let them go too far at this point, since they'll be going back under.

Spread some refried beans on there...

...and then top with some shredded cheese.  I had sharp cheddar, but mild cheddar or any Mexican-style blend would also be good.

Pop them back under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the beans are warmed through.

This is the salsa I made for the molettes.  You certainly don't have to make homemade salsa, though, just use your favorite jarred stuff if you like.

Top with generous amounts of salsa and eat!  Setting aside the time that making the salsa took, I had these done in less than ten minutes, making them a great quick meal.

Cooking Challenge Week 24 - Berries - Raspberry Sausage and Cheese Grits

Having no fresh berries of any kind on sale last week, I resorted to raspberry preserves to make this wonderful recipe, which sounds a little strange but tastes fantastic.  My only change is to leave out the mushrooms, and only because I generally like mushroom flavor but not texture--I think this is fine with just the onion.  Also, I've made this with before with kielbasa, smoked pork sausage, and this time smoked turkey, and they're all just fine; anything with a good strong flavor that will balance the sweet preserves.

Cooking Challenge Week 12 - Cheese - Cheese 'n' Onion Gnocchi

My husband and I both have some German heritage, but my family never had a strong ethnic tradition in our cooking.  His, on the other hand, most certainly did.  Christmas isn't turkey or even ham at his house; it's roast and spaetzle.  Not that I mind!

When some of his family went on vacation to Germany to see the distant cousins, they discovered cheese-and-onion spaetzle, which their Oma never made for them growing up, because she didn't like cheese!  So we revived it in our family circle.

But we didn't have time to make the spaetzle this time around, so I pulled some of my homemade gnocchi out of the freezer.

In essence, it's simple: smother the starch of your choice (gnocchi/spaetzle/pasta...I wouldn't use rice) with a bechamel sauce flavored with strong cheese (a few generous handfuls of shredded cheddar jack, in this instance, though we've used straight cheddar and a cheddar/parmesan mix before with great success), then smother that with tons of caramelized onion.

To be fair, I obviously made too much sauce (about two and a half cups) for two servings of gnocchi--you can barely see the gnocchi!  One giant Vidalia onion was just about right, though.  I do love me some caramelized onion....

Cooking Challenge Week 11 - Breakfast - Bacon and Bell Pepper Strata

Yes, I realize that this also qualifies for the week 11 savory baking challenge.  I consider the two challenges to be related but separate, so I don't double up.  Even though this succeeded where the cheesecake so seriously failed.

No recipe here because I didn't measure anything!  I've made so many bread puddings, and so many quiches, that when I discovered their bastard love-child strata, I dove right in without a recipe.

The breakdown?  It's a 13x9 dish.  I sauteed half a pound of chopped bacon, took it out to drain, then cooked two chopped bell peppers (one red and one green) and half an onion in the bacon fat.  Cube a mini-loaf of stale french bread, layer that with the bacon, veggies, and a few handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese.  Whisk together 4 eggs and 3 cups of milk, season with salt and pepper, pour over.  Bake at 350 F, covered in foil, for half an hour, then take off the foil and bake another 20 minutes.  Let it cheese down (that's cool off, to people who aren't me and my husband) for ten minutes before serving, or risk that impatient I-burned-the-roof-of-my-mouth feeling. 

Baking Challenge Week 11 - Savory - 'Appetizer' Cheesecake EPIC FAIL!

Seriously, it was disgusting.  We each took a single bite, then I took a picture for posterity, then I threw the entire thing away.  I hate to waste food, but there was absolutely no saving this.

I won't share the recipe--why perpetuate awfulness?--but it was an unsweetened cheesecake flavored with curry powder and shredded cheddar cheese and condensed cream of chicken soup.  Strange, but I thought it at least had potential.

And I was wrong!  The texture was bad, the flavor was off-putting, the smell was....indescribable.  In a bad way.

As a bonus, it was supposed to be the second installment of the Neglected Cookbook Project, as it was from a cheesecake cookbook that I've only used once before.  But I love cheesecake, and won't hold the cookbook responsible, because I'm sure the hundreds of other, non-savory, cheesecakes are fine.  I'll make one of them soon to erase this wretched failure from my brain and taste buds.

Anniversary Dinner - Deep-Fried, Feta-Filled Meatballs with Two Sauces

For our first anniversary, we went out to eat, to the same restaurant we went for our rehearsal dinner.  Good times were had.

But around our second anniversary, we were suffering a budget crisis that forbade such things as eating out.  We decided instead to cook something fancy, something that would normally be outside our grocery budget, but still far cheaper than restaurant dinner for two.  (It was paella, and it was delicious.)  We had such fun that we decided it would be the new tradition, budget crisis or no.

This year's dish needs a little explaining.  First, a few years back we were big fans of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  (Not so much anymore, it's gone downhill a bit.)  But we got the cookbook, and we're big fans of the 'Greek' meatballs from the Monte Carlo Steakhouse.  We made them often, both for spaghetti and meatball subs.

Also because of Triple-D, we stopped in at Joe's Gizzard City on one of our cross-MI trips.  Everything they fry is fantastic--best onion rings I've ever had!--but we were really impressed the time I got deep-fried meatballs.  I had them with sweet and sour sauce, but my husband tried one and immediately said, "Why don't we do this with the Greek meatballs and have them with tzatziki?"

So we did.  And then a while later, we told his dad about it, who immediately said, "Those would be great with some feta in the middle!"

So here they are: deep-fried, feta-filled meatballs.

Served with a Hasselback potato, tzatziki sauce, and red bell pepper coulis.

Deep-Fried 'Greek' Meatballs
(adapted from the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives cookbook)

• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried mint
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/3 cup dried bread crumbs (plain or Italian-seasoned are both fine)
• 1 egg
• 2 oz feta cheese, cut into 1/4" dice
• olive oil for sauteing

Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion, garlic, oregano, mint, and salt until the onion is soft.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the ground beef, bread crumbs, and egg.  Mix gently until well blended.

Break off 1 1/4" balls of meat mixture and form into flat, round patties between your hands.  Take a piece of feta and place it in the middle, then fold the edges of the patty around it and reshape the mixture into a ball.  Place on a baking sheet while you form the rest.  (If you have any feta left over after you're done, I'd recommend discarding it, unless you're really sure you never touched it with your contaminated hands.  I only had two pieces left, so I didn't mind tossing it.)

Heat more olive oil in the skillet over medium heat and add the meatballs in batches, handling them gently with tongs to turn them to brown all over.  As the meat cooks, it shrinks, so some of them may crack and expose the feta...but they're still delicious.  If any fall apart entirely, eat them now and don't bother to deep-fry them!

You can make them ahead of time and fridge them until you're ready to fry; or you can fry them soon after the initial cooking, just wait until they've cooled enough to handle before dipping them in the batter.  Your cooking time will be a little faster if you fry them while they're still warm.

For the fry batter:
(found somewhere out there on the internet...I wrote the recipe down on a scrap of paper, but not the source)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• vegetable oil for deep-frying

In a bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients, then add the milk and water and blend well.

Heat the oil for frying in a large, heavy pot (I use my enameled dutch oven) to 350 F.  Dip each meatball in the batter, allow the excess to drip off for a few seconds, then place gently in the oil.  Fry in batches--how many you can manage at once depends upon your pot size.  Fry until deep golden, about 4-5 minutes (cold start) or 3-4 minutes (warm start).  I'd recommend cutting open a meatball from your first batch to check your time before starting the rest.

Remove them with a wire spider or a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels while cooking the rest.  Serve with some manner of delicious sauce, and tell your arteries to stop complaining!