Mac'n Cheese with Bacon

Tonight, Joanne has to work on some assignments for class. This semester she's taking two university courses in the evenings along with a full-time job, freelance reporting on the side, full-time husband and Tobie. She's my super-woman. Since she's been putting so much time into her studies, I figure I would treat her with her favorite comfort food: Macaroni and Cheese.

Unlike the blue box stuff we all grew up with, I like to make mine from scratch and experiment with different cheese every time. Tonight, I used 4 cheeses: Smoked Gouda, four year old white cheddar, parmesan and Gruyere. Macaroni is typically used in this dish because the shape makes it ideal for scooping and storing sauce. I try and go for something different and use Cavatappi, which is more of a corkscrew shape. Any curvy, tubular pasta will do: Pipe Rigate, Riccioli, Penne, Gigli.

Another great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever cheese you like, except for orange cheddar. It makes the dish look like Kraft Dinner. I added a splash of white truffle oil to finish off this dish, but you can skip this.

Mac'n Cheese with Bacon
Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

• 450g cavatappi (or elbow macaroni)
• 4 cups milk
• 3 or 4 sprigs thyme
• 5 cloves garlic, pressed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 cup of diced, fresh mushrooms
• Leaves from 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
• panko breadcrumbs (optional)
  
• white truffle oil (optional)
  

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk with the thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Strain the solids out of the milk and whisk it into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

While that bakes, heat a saute pan. Add the bacon, render the fat and cook until crispy. Add onion, garlic, diced mushroom pieces and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the top with panko bread crumbs.

5 minutes before the dish is ready, sprinkle the bacon/onion mixture over the top and continue cooking. Before serving, drizzle lightly with truffle oil if using. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.

Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

This week is my co-worker Kelly's birthday. Last week she mentioned she liked the Lemon Macaroon tarts that I made last year so I decided I would make her something similar but a little more special this time.

Macaroon tarlets are easy to make, but messy. The sticky tart dough is frustrating to work with, but in the end it looks great. Use cooking spray or oil on your hands to help with forming the cups. To make the tarts, I used my mini cupcake tin, rolled small dough balls and pressed them with the end of my marble pestle. It has a round tip that is the perfect size. Once you make the tarts, use your imagination and pick whatever filling you want: custard, pudding, fresh fruit, etc. I decided to go with Chocolate Ganache, topped with a dessert topping and almonds. It looks rather decadent, and worthy of Kelly's birthday.

Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

• 2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites

• 8 oz (225g) good quality bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)
• whipped dessert topping
• sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 24 mini muffin tins.

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups coconut, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg whites; stir well. Divide mixture evenly among the prepared mini muffin cups, pressing mixture into bottom and up sides of muffin cups (use cooking spray on hands to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands).

Bake in the preheated oven until until the coconut turns golden around the edges and is set in the center(roughly 10 minutes). Cool 2 minutes in the muffin tins on a wire rack. Remove from tins and cool completely on the rack.

Chocolate Ganache:
Place the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just under a boil. Pour over the chocolate and let stand about 5 minutes. Add the rum if you're using some and whisk to combine. Spoon the chocolate into the macaroon crusts. Let cool about 1 hour. Top with a healthy spoonful of whipped topping, sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Salmon in a Green Sauce w/Roasted Potatoes

Oh boy, I've been looking forward to making this recipe ever since I first thought of writing this blog. This Salmon dish is fun and ridiculously easy to make. I've adapted this from an old recipe I found several years ago. Tweaking some ingredients here and there.

One of the toughest things about this recipe is using the turmeric. For those that haven't worked with turmeric before, be warned: it stains everything! It will turn your fingers(especially your nails) a mustard yellow along with your cooking utensils. That's why it's best to use metallic spoons or spatulas, otherwise your wooden or plastic utensils will absorb the powder into its pores. In the end, it's worth it. Growing up, the smell of turmeric was always floating in kitchen. Mom knew how to use her spices and was such a great cook; she would just throw spices and vegetables together and it always worked.

A great side dish for the salmon is roasted sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are a healthier alternative to regular potatoes as they provide more nutrients and fiber and if you ask me, they just plain taste better.

On another note: I have great friends who know how to get on my good side: by giving me kitchen gadgets as gifts. My brother-in-law Gary gave me a wonderful set of knives as a wedding gift last year. I love these knives so much, I sleep with the knife block next to my bed on the end table. It's true,I just made that up. Also I have to say thank you to Jenny and Greg who found me a great garlic press that both presses and slices without clogging. I love it!

Salmon in a Green Sauce
Recipe adapted from Madhur Jaffrey

• 2 good sized salmon fillets
• Freshly ground pepper and Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3 medium sized shallots, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 whole bunch of finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 medium sized roma tomatoes
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

Rub the fish well on both sides with a generous sprinkling of salts, lots of freshly ground pepper, turmeric, cayenne pepper and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large and deep nonstick frying pan over high heat. When the oil is hot enough, put the fish in and brown quickly on both sides without letting it cook through. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Using the same oil, put in the shallots and garlic. stir and fry until the shallots brown a bit. Put the cilantro, tomato, ginger, lemon juice. Add some salt and pepper as needed. Stir and cook over medium-high heat until the cilantro and tomato have completely wilted. Pushing the green sauce to one side, lay the fish back into the pan and then spoon the green sauce over the fish. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper and garam masala over the top. Bring to a simmer. Cover, lower the hear and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons of dried Rosemary
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Wash, peel and dice sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch coins. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil and Rosemary until coated. Spread potatoes onto a baking sheet and place into oven. Roast for 30minutes, flip over, roast for another 30 minutes or until cooked through.