I think we may have bought our last box of macaroni & cheese. I like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in a pinch, and Velveeta is pretty good, occasionally. They aren’t as good as homemade, of course, but they’re also an entirely different animal than most homemade macaroni & cheese recipes. After all, when it comes to homemade mac & cheese, you’re usually talking about a rich, heavy dish, baked in a casserole, topped with bread crumbs. And there’s nothing wrong with that, except that that kind of macaroni & cheese is almost a meal in and of itself. Sometimes, you want macaroni & cheese to take it’s rightful place as a side dish.

Enter AB’s Stovetop Mac & Cheese. Alton Brown’s Macaroni & Cheese recipe is just as quick and easy as the box variety.True, there are a few more ingredients, but they’re actually ones that we always have on hand.

Alton Brown’s Stovetop Mac-n-Cheese

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Note: See? That’s it. Just like with the blue box, boil the pasta, add some stuff, and stir. The flavor, however, is much, much better than any boxed macaroni and cheese. It was rich and creamy and deliciously cheesy.

I’ve seen these Cake Pops all over the place online…and really, it’s not surprising. Rich, moist balls of cake, dipped in chocolate? Irresistible. They’re adorable, they’re delicious, and honestly, they aren’t that hard to make.

After reading about them for weeks, I finally took the plunge this week and made a batch of these lovely treats to take to work for St. Patrick’s Day. Since I came home empty-handed, I’d have to say they were a hit.

They were really cute…see?

Here’s how to make them:

Chocolate-Covered Cake Pops
Adapted  from Bakerella

• 1 box white cake mix (make as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
• 1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
• Green food coloring gel
• Wax paper
• 2 packages Wilton Candy Melts (14 oz., White)
• Lollipop sticks
• Styrofoam block
• Sprinkles, for decorating

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (You can use a spoon, but because I dyed my cake green for St. Patrick’s Day, I really needed to mash it all together. I just put on a pair of latex gloves and smashed it up with my hands). Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to. When the cake was well mixed with the frosting, I added a green food coloring, a drop at a time, until I got the cake to the bright green color I wanted.
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)
5. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
6. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
7. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.
8. Place in a styrofoam block to dry.
9. T0 make green candy to decorate with, I also melted about 1/4 of a package of candy melts with a small amount of green food coloring to drizzle over some of the cake balls. Others I sprinkled with green sugar crystals or colorful sprinkles.

I finally got around to taking that Pasta class at The Chopping Block. If you remember, part of my Christmas gift from David was my choice of cooking classes from The Chopping Block, a culinary school for home cooks here in Chicago.

I was anxious to take this pasta class in particular because I also received the pasta rolling and cutting attachments for my KitchenAid mixer for Christmas from my parents.

I really enjoyed the class. The Chopping Block’s kitchen is spacious and well-stocked, and these hands on classes are really fun. You start with the recipes for the day, and given instructions to prepare each ingredient as you go. All of the ingredients for each dish are brought to you station and everything is cleared for you, which adds to the fun (who wants to clean up?). The equipment is plentiful, high-end, and in good shape.

For this Pasta Workshop (which seems to be revamped every so often to include seasonal ingredients) we learned to make regular egg pasta dough and spinach pasta dough to start. Then we rolled out and cut our own pasta and used them to make three different dishes: Spinach Fettuccine with Prosciutto & Peas; Artichoke, Sun-Dried Tomato, & Pesto Lasagna; and Ricotta Stuffed Tortelloni with Mushrooms, Asparagus & Parmesan Cheese.

The Fettuccine dish came together really quickly. We basically crisped up the proscuitto, added cream, and reduced it for about 10 minutes to thicken the sauce. At the end, we tossed in a cup of fresh peas, sliced roasted red peppers, and some parmesan cheese, along with the cooked spinach fettuccine. Yum.

The Lasagna was a little dry, actually, but that would be easy enough to correct next time. For one, our teammates messed up the layers a little bit, and the top layer didn’t have any sauce on top of the final layer of pasta. For two, the pesto they had us make was extra thick, and a thinner sauce would have helped. For three, there wasn’t enough ricotta or mozzarella for my tastes. That being said, I have some good ideas for making this dish to my liking, and I’ve never liked a vegetarian lasagna so much.

The tortelloni wasn’t perfect either, but again, our teammates forgot to salt the water for the pasta, so that was a large part of it. I also think they may have undercooked the pasta just a little bit so that the filling didn’t have time to meld. Finally, I am not a fan of asparagus. Losing the asparagus would improve the dish a lot for me.

We finished up everything with about 1/2 an hour to spare, and sat down to eat a delicious lunch. The Chopping Block provides wine pairing options as well, and though I didn’t have a glass yesterday, I appreciate the option.

Finally, I love that The Chopping Block offers discounts in the store following every class. They give students 10% off on anything in the store after a class, or 15% on anything you used during your class. There are so many tempting things in that store for me, it’s kind of a dangerous offer, but I managed to control myself and just bought a cookbook.

I really enjoyed the class, and I can’t wait to take my next one.

One last note: My dad came with me this time, and I think he enjoyed the class, but I can say for sure that I enjoyed it more than I would have being there alone. Most people seemed to have a friend along, and there was a lot of group work going on, much moreso than with the knife skills class. If anyone out there is interested in going to one of these classes, let me know. I’d love to have a buddy go with me!

I adore the smell of baking bread, and I know that I am not alone. Dinner last Thursday was a chicken stew prepared in the crockpot, so when I came home and read on Seven Spoons about a bread that could be prepared in an hour, from start to finish, I was sold. I had to make a couple of quick substitutions, but I had most of the ingredients on hand.

The bread was very tasty–in fact, we ate most of it before dinner while we decided what to do about the disastrously inedible chicken stew (a story for another day). The bread was crusty, with a biscuit-like crumb. Warm from the oven and slathered with butter and homemade raspberry jam…I’d almost rather go hunt up the leftovers than sit here and tell you about it.

Irish-ish Soda Bread
Adapted from Seven Spoons
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (large flake, not instant)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup, 1/2 stick) cold, unsalted butter, diced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Set aside.

Using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour cutting and work the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the buttermilk/egg mixture, mixing until you have a rough dough. Use your hands to turn and lightly knead the bread in the bowl, incorporating all the dry ingredients.

Working quickly, turn the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and knead gently for about 30 seconds; the dough should be soft and elastic. Form the dough into a boule, about 8-inches across with a gentle dome and slightly-flattened top. Dust the surface of the bread with a sprinkling of flour, then use a sharp knife to slash a shallow cross from edge to edge of the loaf. Transfer bread to prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If the crust gets too dark during baking, tent loosely with foil. Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes, then enjoy.
Makes 1 loaf.

Note: Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, everyone!

As the name suggests, Tom Colicchio’s Think Like a Chef isn’t just a collection of recipes. Like the name says, Collicchio has set out to demonstrate how a true chef makes dinner: not from a written recipe or list of ingredients, but from a quality ingredient and inspiration.

The overarching theme of the book is one I hear him reference over and over again as head judge on Top Chef, mainly that when you taste great food, you know that it’s coming from someone who cares about food, thought about the ingredients, and really put their heart into it. And yes, that sounds a little bit like Carla “putting the love” in her food, but I think it goes deeper than that. For Collicchio, being a chef means respecting the ingredients enough to use the proper technique to make them shine.

The book opens with something of a memior, as Collicchio describes the development of his culinary career, with special care to show how his background and family shaped the chef he ultimately became. The early food chapters describe some very basic techniques (pan roasting, braising, blanching, stock-making, and sauce-making) that are building blocks for any asipring cook. Collichio explains them well, breaking them down step by step, and illustrating with gorgeous, uncomplicated recipes designed to teach by doing, and really inspire you to get in the kitchen and start trying them out.

The following chapters focus on the ingredients (as Collichio’s cooking does) and gives you a glimpse into how Tom’s recipes must develop. A chapter on Roasted Tomatoes, for example, teaches you what to look for in quality tomatoes (apparently, “Everybody knows the best tomatoes come from New Jersey”), how to roast your carefully chosen tomatoes, and then five different recipes that showcase these roasted tomatoes. The best part of this approach is that you turn the page at the end of this section imagining what else you might do with roasted tomatoes.

And that, I’m sure, is the point.

This book is beautifully photographed, and a pleasure to read. And even though many of the recipes use ingredients that aren’t often found in my humble home kitchen, they inspire me to expand my culinary repiortare ever-so-slightly. I guess you might say they inspire me to “think like a chef.” Go figure.

The book includes a foreword by Danny Meyer, and a preface and introduction from Collichio himself, and concludes with a resources section, as well as a detailed index. In between, you’ll find the following sections and recipes:

1. Techniques:

• Roasting (Roasted Chicken, Pan-Roasted Striped Bass, Pan-Roasted Sirloin, Roasted Herbed Leg of Lamb, Salt-Roasted Salmon, Pan-Roasted Sweetbreads, Pan-Roasted Soft Shell Crabs with Pickled Ramps and Creme Fraiche, Pan-Roasted Lobster with Bay Leaf, Pan-Roasted Salsify)
• Braising (Braised Short Ribs, Braised Beef Cheeks, Braised Fresh “Bacon,” Braised Red Snapper)
• Blanching
• Stock-Making (White Chicken Stock, Brown Chicken Stock, Lobster Stock, Veal Stock)
• Sauce-Making (Beurre Fondue, Beurre Blanc, Apple Cider Sauce, Basic Vinaigrette, Tomato Vinaigrette, Lemon-Rosemare Vinaigrette)

2. Studies

• Roasted Tomatoes (Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic, Roasted Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant Lasagne, Roasted Tomato Risotto, Clam Ragout with Pancetta, Roasted Tomatoes, and Mustard Greens, Sea Bass Stuffed with Roasted Tomatoes, Seared Tuna with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette and Fennel Salad, Braised Lamb Shanks with Roasted Tomato, Caramelized Tomato Tarts)
• Mushrooms (Pan roasted Mushrooms, Roasted Sea Scallops with Mushrooms, Marinated Mushrooms, Salmon Braised with Mushrooms, Polenta Gratiin with Mushroom “Bolognese,” Pan-Roasted Quail with Swiss Chard and Mushrooms, Caramelized Mushroom Tarts)
• Braised Artichokes (Artichokes Braised in Olive Oil and White Wine, Artichoke Salad, Artichoke Vinaigrette, Oricchiette with Artichokes, Cabbage, and Cranberry Beans, Artichoke Ravioli with Artichokes, Peas, and Asparagus, Quick-Braised Striped Bass with Artichoke and Zucchini, Slow-Braised Chicken with Artichokes, Artichoke & Tomato Gratin)

3. Trilogies

• Asparagus, Ramps, & Morels (Ragout of Asparagus, Ramps, and Morels, Baked Free-Form “Ravioli” with Asparagus, Ramps, and Morels, Sole with Morelss, Ramps, and Asparagus, Asparagus Soup with Morel Custard, Pan-Roasted Poussin with Morels, Ramps, and Asparagus, Morel, Ramp, and Potato Gratin)
• Lobster, Peas, & Pasta (Basic Boiled Lobster, Fettuccini with Lobster and Peas, Basic Pasta Dough, Chilled Pea Soup, with Lobster, Pasta, and Pea Salad, Spiced Roasted Lobster with Pea Ravioli, Lobster Risotto with Peas, Lobster Spice, Lobster Butter)
• Duck, Root Vegetables, & Apples (Roasted Duck, Root Vegetables, and Apples, Braised Duck with Apples, Root Vegetable and Apple Ragout with Duck Crepes, Basic Crepes, Duck Confit, Root Vegetable Soup with Apples and Duck Ham, Duck Ham, Duck Rillettes, Duck, Root Vegetable, and Apple Terrine)

4. Component Cooking

• Spring Vegetables (Pickled Ramps, Pan-Roasted Ramps, Pan-Roasted Spring Onions, Rhubarb Chutney, Fava Bean and Pecorino Salad with Prosciutto, Swiss Chard Cannelloni with Chanterelle Sauce, Pan-Roasted Asparagus)
• Summer Vegetables (Summer Vegetable Ragout, Ratatouille, Eggplant Caviar, Pan-Fried Eggplant, Corn Relish, Corn Chowder, Creamless Creamed Corn, Corn and Potato Pancakes, Zucchini with Lemon Thyme, Pan-Roasted Zucchini, Pan-Fried Zucchini Blossoms, Pickled Watermelon Rind, Tomato Consomme, Green Tomato Chutney, Pepper Chutney)
• Fall Vegetables (Braised Red Cabbage, Roasted Savoy Cabbage with Raisins, Roasted Endive with Whole Spices, Glazed Endive Leaves, Endive Chutney, Onion Confit, Honey-Glazed Onions, Puree of Onion Soup, Onion Marmalade, Balsamic Onion Marmalade, Potato, Leek, and Bacon Pan-Fry, Diced Potato-Leek Soup, Roasted Potatoes, Leeks, and Bacon, Boulangerie Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts with Bacon)

5. A Few Favorites

• (Lentils, Foie Gras Terrine, Poached Foie Gras, Pan-Fried Oysters, Cured Salmon, Lemon Confit, Cannellini Beans, My Favorite Chicken Soup)

In conclusion, I would recommend Tom Colicchio’s Think Like A Chef for the ambitious home cook or growing foodie. The book is well-written, and full of information about Colicchio and his personal style of cooking. I think  most anyone whould have osmething to leanr here, but if you’re skittish in the kitchen, you’ll probably be intimidated by a lot of these recipes. I, personally, am excited to try a number of these dishes. I picked up the paperback version of the book, which is well worth the $15-20 price tag.

I know you’ve all been dying of suspense, just waiting to hear the results of last week’s poll. Just how much cheese do we keep in this place anyway?

Let’s find out!

1. Parmigiano Reggiano
2. Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp White Cheddar
3. Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese
4. Shredded Colby-Jack Blend
5. Sargento Light String Cheese
6. Dubliner Cheese
7. Smoked Gouda
8. American “Cheese”
9. Grana Padana
10. Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese Wedges
11. Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese (Yes, in the green can!)
12. Cream Cheese
13. Cottage Cheese

Only one person guessed correctly: My mom! I guess she supported my cheese habit for so long that she knew how deep the addiction really goes. I can’t help it. Cheese is my favorite food, and there are so many great types, good for so many different things!

Forewarning: This garlic bread is so yummy, we’ve had it three times since I came across the recipe about a week and a half ago.

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman‘s blog. The cheese topping is the perfect amount of gooey, but the bread stays crisp under all that cheese because it’s toasted first in a skillet. We never let a crumb of this bread go to waste–a few minutes in the toaster oven makes even the leftovers delicious!

Cheesy Garlic Bread
Adapted from PioneerWoman

• 1 loaf of crusty bread (french or italian)
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
• 3/4 cup Monterrey Jack cheese (grated)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 green onions, white parts removed, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves minced garlic

1. Preheat oven to 425. Mix cheeses and mayonnaise in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Cut the loaf of bread in half, and then half each piece again. Working with 1/4 of the loaf at a time, heat  a little less than a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and add 1 clove of minced garlic. Place one of the pieces of bread in the skillet and toast in the skillet. Watch the garlic, to be sure it doesn’t burn. Repeat with remaining olive oil, garlic, and bread.

3. Spread the prepared cheese mixture on each slice of bread, and bake in a 425 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and brown.

You won’t be disappointed!

Mmm. Oatmeal raisin cookies.

They might be my favorite  cookie of all time. They’re also something of a challenge for me to make.

When I was in college, long before I cooked with any skill or seriousness, I decided to bake cookies for David for his birthday. In some ways, I blame the equipment. My kitchen today is full of quality equipment that were unattainable luxuries to my college self: my KitchenAid mixer, my Calphalon baking sheets, my Wilton cooling racks, parchment paper, a working, full-sized oven. But I was in love, and I was determined.

So one Friday night, after waiting tables at the Olive Garden for about 6 hours, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning baking oatmeal raisin cookies for David.

I’d been planning this for weeks. I was broke, and couldn’t afford a proper gift for his birthday, but I’d bought a Simpson’s Cookie Jar, and all the packing materials. I had plans to drop the cookies at the mail center on my way to work the next day. I just had to bake the cookies.

I followed the recipe on the Quaker Oats package. It seemed like a good plan at the time. The results tasted okay, technically, but the texture was all wrong. They were thin, and crunchy. Completely flat, not anything like the soft, chewy cookies that my grandmother makes. I wanted to cry.

In hindsight, I can tell you that the ingredients were too warm (the only thing that gets cold in a dorm-sized fridge is cheap beer), the leavening probably didn’t work, and the oven was probably too hot. Oh, and I mixed them by hand, which didn’t get any air into the dough at all. Knowing what I know now, those cookies were destined to be a failure.

Since then, I’ve searched for the perfect chewy oatmeal cookie recipe, and this one from Smitten Kitchen is very, very close. They’re crisp at the edges, but chewy at the middle. The recipe calls for chilling the dough, but I was impatient and skipped that step, so they weren’t quite as thick as they could have been. Still, they came out nearly perfectly. I’m pretty sure I’ve found my go-to oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts, if using them.

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they end up slightly less thick.

The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

Crockpot recipes really are fantastic. Even though I absolutely love to cook, and making dinner is one of my favorite parts of the day, there is something very satisfying about coming home from work to the smell of dinner simmering away. No exception here. When I opened the door and walked into the kitchen, I was met with the delicious scent of slow cooked pork chops.

The picture below doesn’t do this dish justice. It’s not pretty, or flashy, but it was one of the tastiest dishes I’ve made in the crockpot in a while. The recipe calls for a regular can of soup, but I substituted 98% fat free cream of chicken soup–I don’t find enough of  a taste difference to warrant the extra calories in the full fat version. I used a regular packet of ranch dressing, but I don’t think it would suffer if you wanted to lighten it further by using a fat free packet of dressing.

Ranch Crockpot Pork Chops with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Adapted from www.picky-palate.com.

• 4 pork chops, 1 & 1/2 inch thick
• 1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
• 10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 4 lbs peeled, cubed yukon gold potatoes (I leave the skin on for my mashed potatoes most times. I like the taste of them!)
• 5 Tablespoons real butter
• 6 cloves roasted garlic (leftover from a Chicken & 40 Cloves)
• 1- 1 1/2 Cups warm milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

1. Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.

2. Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Place onto stovetop over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, garlic, milk, salt and pepper.

3. Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot.

Note: I ended up thickening this sauce with a corstarch slurry, because it was a little thin for my tastes. Otherwise, I’d call this perfect. We used thick cut pork loin chops that stood up well to the crockpot cooking.

I’m cleaning out the fridge right now, and I thought this might be a fun poll:

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I’ll post the answers once everyone’s had a chance to vote!

P.S. If you live here, don’t cheat! Just guess!