Stovetop Mac & Cheese

Warning: No vegetables were used in the making of this dish.

But it's so good!

Based on a recipe in "Joy of Cooking," this is an ultra-gooey mac & cheese. If you fear the white sauce method, this is a great alternative. You still have to be careful cooking it so it doesn't curdle, but ultimately I think it's easier - and only takes one pot. If you want to use lower-fat dairy products, I think they're more successful here too. You can easily use less cheese & butter. I've used non-fat evaporated milk and it tastes fine. And it's got eggs, for a little protein! I used Ditalini pasta here this time, but I think I prefer it with larger kinds of pasta.

Stovetop Mac & Cheese

-1/2 box pasta of your choice; about 2 cups dry
-2 eggs
-1 12 oz. can evaporated milk (nonfat or 2% works fine)
-1/2 tsp dry mustard
-1/2 tsp (or to taste) salt
-dash garlic powder
-dash cayenne powder
-freshly ground black pepper
-8 oz grated extra-sharp cheddar (original recipe calls for 3 cups/12 oz, but I find an 8 oz block plenty cheesy; you could even use less)
-2-4 Tbl. butter

Boil pasta in salted water. While pasta cooks, beat eggs in a large bowl. Add evaporated milk & spices, mix well. Add grated cheese (I sometimes hold some back and add it in at the end).

When pasta is cooked, drain & return to pot over medium-low heat. Add butter and stir until melted. Add milk mixture. Stir occasionally until it starts to thicken (about 10 minutes). Make sure the heat isn't too high or it might curdle. When it starts to thicken, stir more frequently. Remove from heat when it still looks a little soupy; it will continue to thicken as it sits.

It definitely loses its gooey factor as it sits, so best to eat immediately. Although it's not bad reheated too.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Acorn Squash & Potatoes

So, no surprise...since the CSA ended almost 2 months ago, my vegetable consumption has reduced drastically. It's been a really busy time too (with a lot of meals out), so I also can't imagine that I would have time to deal with the amount of raw produce we had been getting. But I definitely miss it, and felt the need to eat some vegetables at home tonight.

Roasting in the oven is by far the easiest and one of the tastiest ways to cook any vegetable. You really can't go wrong with just tossing something in oil & seasoning, throwing it on a baking sheet and cooking it for about 20 minutes or less. I did three tonight:

I just can't say enough good things about roasted brussels sprouts (can you tell from the last few posts?). They are so freaking delicious. These are just done with olive oil, salt & pepper and tossed with a little feta cheese when done. The acorn squash  is sliced and topped with a mixture of melted butter, brown sugar, honey, salt & pepper before going in the oven. I almost wished it was a little more "glazed," but it was good. The Yukon Gold potatoes are cubed & tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and smoked paprika.

They all went in the oven at the same time at 400 (three different baking sheets to leave plenty of room for browning & crispiness). The potatoes took the longest at about 20 minutes.

Filet Mignon w/Mushroom Sauce, Chive-Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Christmas dinner for two...seriously good! Maybe one of the best meals ever.

I splurged at Whole Foods and got filet mignon. Too bad this is pricey enough not to enjoy often...though I'm sure it would be good with non-fancy steak too. This is sort of an amalgamation of a bunch of steak-and-mushroom-sauce recipes I looked at online.

Filet Mignon with Mushroom Sauce

-2 pieces filet mignon / beef tenderloin / whatever (let stand at room temp for about 1 hr)
-1 lb-ish mushrooms (I used a package of "gourmet blend" shiitake, chanterelle & oyster mushrooms, plus some creminis)
-1 large shallot, thinly sliced
-butter & olive oil
-1/2 cup red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
-1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
-pinch dried thyme
-dash Worcestershire sauce
-1/4 cup (or more) heavy cream

Make the mushroom sauce: saute the shallot in about 1 Tbl each butter & olive oil. Add mushrooms & saute over medium-high heat til well-browned. Season with salt & pepper. Add wine & boil until most of the liquid is gone. Add chicken broth & simmer til slightly reduced. Add thyme & worcestershire. I added a tiny bit of flour to thicken (though I didn't really want this to be gravy-like). Can be made ahead to this point.

To cook the beef, preheat oven to 350 and heat an iron skillet over medium-high heat. Season filets well with salt & pepper. Add some olive oil to skillet and sear filets for 4-5 minutes on each side. Finish cooking in the oven to desired doneness - for me it was about 8-10 minutes for medium rare. Depending on how thick the filets are, you may not need to do the oven step. Don't overcook!! Meanwhile, add cream to sauce and bring to a simmer. Serve sauce over beef.

Chive-Garlic Mashed Potatoes

-6-8 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled & quartered
-5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
-1/2 cup heavy cream + milk
-bit o' butter
-handful of chives, chopped

Cover potatoes and garlic cloves with cold water and boil until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, return to hot pot and let dry out for a few seconds. Mash & add heavy cream, butter and milk to desired consistency. Season with salt & pepper and add chives.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Trim Brussels sprouts, remove any icky leaves and cut in half. Toss with 2 Tbl olive oil & plenty of salt & pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast at 400 for about 20 minutes, until browned & tender. So good!! These are a simpler version of what I made for Thanksgiving. Even Brussels sprout haters should like these!

You will probably have leftovers of everything but the beef...not a bad thing!

Shepherd's Pie

I make this a little different every time. And sometimes I've used instant mashed potatoes, but I had time for the real thing this time. Oh, and technically this is a "cottage pie" since it uses beef. I was surprised that Safeway actually had ground lamb, but at something like $12/lb, I went for the beef! You can also just saute the beef & vegetables together to save time, but I like browning them separately (also makes it easier to drain fat from the beef). Sometimes I've added grated cheese (either on top or mixed into the potatoes), but it can get a little greasy.

Other variations:
- if you don't use mushrooms, use more ground beef - up to 2 lbs (it's pretty flexible)
- You can use a bag of frozen peas & carrots instead of using fresh carrots

Shepherd's Pie

-Your favorite mashed potatoes (I used 4 large russet potatoes mashed with milk, a little butter, a little cream cheese, salt & pepper, and added some chopped green onions)
-1 lb ground beef
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1 box mushrooms, halved & sliced
-1 onion, diced
-2 large carrots, diced
-1 tbl tomato paste
-1-2 tbl flour
-1 cup chicken broth (or beef broth, but I have trouble finding low sodium beef broth and find the regular stuff too salty)
-1 tsp dried thyme
-dash cayenne and/or hot sauce, salt & pepper to taste
-few dashes worcestershire sauce
-couple handfuls frozen petite peas

Prepare mashed potatoes to a spreadable consistency.

In a large skillet, brown beef. Add garlic and cook until beef is no longer pink. Remove beef to a bowl with slotted spoon and drain off fat from skillet.

Saute mushrooms in same pan until browned, remove to bowl with beef.

Saute onion & carrot in pan with a little olive oil until onion is transparent & carrots are slightly soft. Add beef & mushrooms back to pan.

Stir in tomato paste & flour until incorporated. Add chicken broth - more or less to make a gravy-like consistency. Add spices, salt & pepper & worcestershire to taste. Let simmer a few minutes and add peas.

Put beef mixture in a 9 x 13 baking pan and spread mashed potatoes over top. Draw a fork through potatoes to create a textured surface. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Run under the broiler for a couple minutes to brown the top. Let sit about 15 minutes before serving.

Clean-Out-the-Fridge-Minestrone

OK, I lied.

One more dish emerged from the CSA veggies. I think as I was writing the "recap" post, I realized there were still things in the fridge that were edible and I should really just use them up. Therefore, soup:

This used all of the remaining veggies except for some hot peppers, because...I don't want to kill myself.

Baby turnips, green peppers (one of which was turning red), a poblano pepper, one hot red chili pepper, 1/2 head of cabbage, and some bok choy. And a zucchini that was hanging around. Also: a large onion, 4 cloves of garlic, some tomato paste, 1 can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, 1 can each of white beans & chickpeas, and the rind from a piece of parmesan. I've heard this is traditional to simmer in your minestrone...not really sure if it did anything...but I added some grated parmesan to my bowl.

So I feel better now that these are used up. Whew!

CSA Recap & Top 10

The CSA has come to an end, and I thought I’d do a recap. There were some aspects that were tough about it, but I’d absolutely do it again. I’d highly encourage everyone to find one in your area. You’ll eat better while probably not spending more than you would buying veggies at your grocery store, and you’ll be supporting local (probably organic) agriculture.

Our CSA was of course One Straw Farm in White Hall, MD – about 40 miles away from our home. But they have weekly pickups all over the area, so we only had to go a couple of miles every week to get our veggies.  We got 24 weeks of veggies at a total cost of $570, which we split with another couple. So with a per-person upfront cost of $142.50, that works out to $5.94 per week for 8 different organic vegetables. I’ve never kept track of what I spend on veggies at the grocery store, but that seems like a pretty good deal. If we do the early bird discount next year, it will be even less.

Obviously, you get a ton of vegetables. Even with splitting each week’s share, it was sometimes more than rob and I could handle. Not that we couldn’t have eaten everything, but for busy people who are often not home (and as working musicians, often eating out at gigs), it was hard to plan to use and cook everything. Some things did get wasted – more than I would have liked – but overall, considering our schedule, I think decent use was made of what we got. There were times when I did feel a little held-hostage by the produce lurking at home. After an exhausting day at work--sometimes not getting home until 11pm or later after a gig--it’s tempting  to grab fast food or whip up a box of Kraft mac & cheese. And often, we did. Most of what’s featured on this blog was made on my days off or evenings when I got home at a decent hour – I certainly don’t eat like this all the time! I sometimes tried to plan for leftovers or would freeze things, but not as much as I could have. I think I also lost steam towards the end of this (or maybe was just busier than usual). In a way I'm glad to have a little break so I can go back to just having what I "need" on hand.

And we did get some things we weren’t crazy about. Still not a huge fan of radishes or cabbage.  We seemed to get green peppers almost every week—which I like, but not that much. A lot of lettuce went to waste. If lettuce was all we were getting, I probably would have made more salads. But with all the other veggies each week, I just wasn’t that interested in salads.

But let’s look at the good stuff!

The sheer variety of vegetables was just awesome. There were some I’d never eaten before (garlic scapes, celeriac, kohlrabi, purple broccoli). There were many that I’d never bought or prepared before (kale, arugula, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, pattypan squash, purple basil, radishes). Definitely ate way more greens than I ever have.

The surprise of coming home every Thursday and discovering what we got was fun (I never actually got to do any of the pickups myself because I got home from work too late). It would be nice if we got some kind of heads up from the farm about what we’d get that week – would help a little bit with the planning – but I enjoyed the challenge of it.

In general, the quality of the produce was great. These veggies often aren’t as pretty as what you get at the grocery store, but that’s because they’re not genetically modified or harvested unripe. But they sure taste better. As I posted before, the farm said they had a lot of weather challenges this season and that did affect the quality and/or what they were able to offer sometimes. But that’s part of eating local – you share the good and bad with the farm. There were occasions when things went to waste because they weren’t in great shape by the time we got them or they quickly perished, but for the most part everything was really fresh.

In summary – I’m not a die-hard locavore/food snob, and I understand how difficult it is to eat well when you have a busy life. But the CSA definitely helped with that, and I’d recommend it to anyone—as long as you can deal with the quantity of what you get.  

Thought I’d also run down my top 10 favorite dishes that came out of this:

10. Beet-Grapefruit Salad 

Fun tastes & textures in this one.

9. Sweet Potato Biscuits 

Delicious warm with butter, awesome vehicle for a breakfast sandwich.

8. Eggplant Caprese Omelet with Home Fries 

Leftover eggplant, tomato & mozzarella salad was better the second time around!

7. Yellow Pear Tomato Salad 

Nothing complicated for these summer gems.

6. Herb-Roasted Chicken with Root Veggies & Sauteed Chard

 I think I was just excited at this point that it was cool enough to use the oven again. But...yum.

5. Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower 

Roasting's definitely the way to enjoy cauliflower. Easy pasta dish.

4. Raw Beet Salad 

Mostly because this is so visually fun with the candy-striped beets. The raw beets are crunchy & sweet too.

3. Braised Pork Chops with Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Swiss Chard

Tasty fall dish.

 

2. Corn-Tomato Chowder with Shrimp

Tasty summer dish!

 

1. Massaged Kale Salad

No surprise here. Never having eaten a lot of kale, I discovered that raw kale is awesome, especially in this salad.

 

Brussels Sprouts w/Bacon, Apple & Pecans; Spiced Roasted Cauliflower

I think we're officially in the post-CSA phase now. Still plan to do a wrap-up on that, but here's a Thanksgiving post--ingredients courtesy of Whole Foods. These were my contribution to dinner at a friend's house:

Both turned out great, but the brussels sprouts were just killer. I've never been particularly passionate about brussels sprouts and this is maybe the second time I've ever made them. If you think you don't like them, try 'em this way. Based off a Martha Stewart recipe:

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Apple & Pecans

- 2 bags brussels sprouts
- 4 strips bacon
- 1 apple, cored & chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- pat of butter
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Trim the ends of the brussels sprouts, peel off any bad-looking leaves, and slice in half. Put 2 slices of bacon on each of two baking sheets (I covered mine with foil). Bake until crispy, 10-15 minutes. Crumble bacon & set aside. If the bacon didn't give off a lot of grease, toss the sprouts with a small amount of olive oil, plus some salt & pepper. Place cut side down on the baking sheets and roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast pecans in a dry skillet. Add butter & brown sugar, toss until melted & coated. Divide chopped apple evenly among baking sheets & stir together. Roast for another few minutes (my sprouts were pretty much done at this point). Add bacon & nuts.

Spiced Roasted Cauliflower
(two heads made quite a lot--one is probably sufficient unless you're feeding a crowd. Use whatever spice mixture you like - or just salt & pepper).

- Preheat oven to 400 & line 2 baking sheets with foil (one's probably enough if you're cooking 1 head)
- Chop 2 heads of cauliflower into small-medium florets.
- Mix together about 1/4 tsp each smoked paprika, ground ginger, cumin & cardamom, plus some freshly grated nutmeg, a bit of cayenne, and a few pinches of kosher salt. Mix in about 3-4 Tbl. olive oil.
- Toss the cauliflower with the spiced oil & spread out on the baking sheets.
- Roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once, until starting to brown.