Baked Macaroni and Cheese

What is more "comfort food" than macaroni and cheese?  It is warm, cheesy, gooey and tastes great.  This is an easy recipe with easy to find ingredients.  I like to make this recipe in the summer with BBQ ribs and in the winter with a roast.  This recipe can be made and cooked right away or can be make and frozen before baking for future use.  It doubles easily as well.  Make extra and keep it in the freezer for later.

Ingredients:

1 lb Rotini pasta
6 TBS butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk, heated
1 lb shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
1 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper
non-stick spray

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook the pasta in boiling water for 6 minutes.  It will still be firm, but it will keep cooking in the oven.

Cooking the pasta

Strain the pasta and set it aside.

While the pasta water and pasta are cooking, prepare the sauce.

Heat 4 TBS butter in a large pot, until melted.

Melted butter

Add the flour and whisk until smooth, cooking it for 2 minutes. 

Flour added and ready to whisk in

Add the heated milk slowly to the flour and butter mixture, whisking constantly. 

After 2 minutes, ready for the milk

Bring the mixture to a boil.  It will be thick.

All thickened

Remove the pot from the stove.  Add the cheese, leaving out 1/4 cup.  Fully incorporate the cheese.

Cheese added

Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and completely cover the pasta with the cheese sauce.

Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the mix into a large casserole dish, sprayed with non-stick spray.

Into the casserole dish

Melt the remaining 2 TBS butter. 

Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the macaroni and cheese.

Drizzle the butter over the top of the crumbs.

Place the casserole dish in the oven, covered for 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven, remove the lid, add the remaining cheese, and cook for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Remove the dish from the oven.  Serve.

Pulled Pork

Sounds good doesn't it.  Pulled pork makes me think of the summers I spent in North Carolina with my grandparents.  They would take us to a place called Simms Country Barbecue, located in the southeastern part of the state.  There we would have pulled pork, BBQ chicken, sweet tea and country music and dancing.  It is a great memory of my childhood that comes to mind whenever I think of pulled pork.

This recipe is easy but it does take time.  I use a home smoker that cost just $40 at a local discount store.  I use charcoal to create the smoke and heat.  You can use whatever smoker you have.

Special equipment:

Smoker

Ingredients:

6 lb pork shoulder
prepared yellow mustard
BBQ rub (recipe below or at http://homemadeonli.blogspot.com/2011/09/bbq-pork-rub.html)
One - two gallons of liquid ie: water, stock, juice or wine
BBQ sauce (recipe at http://homemadeonli.blogspot.com/2011/05/bbq-ribs-with-homemade-bbq-sauce.html or your favorite)

BBQ Rub:

Ingredients:

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

Here's how to make the rub:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir to combine.

Here's how to make the pork:

Place the pork in a large bowl.

This is a 5.5 lb piece of pork

Slather it with the prepared yellow mustard, completely covering it with the mustard.

Covered in mustard

Cover the pork with half of the BBQ rub.

Covered in rub

Place the shoulder in the fridge for 2 hours or over night.

This is after 2 hours in the fridge

Prepare the smoker as per the directions and get it up to temperature.  My smoker has a gauge that says "Ideal."  This is between 225 and 250 degrees F.

Pour a liquid into a pan in the smoker.  You can use water, chicken stock, apple juice, orange juice or wine.  I use whatever I have on hand.  I think a mixture of apple juice and chicken stock is best, but use up what you have at home.

Place the pork into the smoker.  Let it cook for 6-8 hours, until it reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees F.  Make sure the liquid bowl is not empty.  If it gets to less than 1 quarter full, refill it.

When the meat reaches 170 degrees, slather it with 1 -1.5 cups of the BBQ sauce.

Once the meat reaches 190 degrees, remove from the smoker and let it cool for 30 minutes.

Pull the pork using 2 forks or your hands (with heavy duty gloves on!). 

Serve plain or with some of the remaining sauce.  Eat on a plate or on a roll as a sandwich.

BBQ Pork Rub

I do not like to use store bought sauces and rubs for my BBQ cooking.  This rub is great for pork whether it is ribs or pulled pork.  It can also be used for chicken, burgers or anything else you want a sweet rub for.  It is simple and can be stored in the pantry until you need it.

Everything in the bowl

Mixed and ready to use.

Strawberry Peach Jam

Making jam is so simple.  I love to make jam to can the fresh flavors of summer.  Sometimes, I do not have enough of one kind of fruit on hand to make a jam.  This recipe is great for when you have some strawberries and peaches left but not enough to make their own jam.  It is sweet and delicious.  It is also simple to make.  I used frozen berries from my garden and peaches I had frozen from the farm stand.  I had just enough to make this recipe and I am so glad I did.  It has a beautiful color and will go great on fresh buttermilk biscuits.  This recipe is canned in a water bath canner.

Yields: 7 half pint jars

Ingredients:

4-1/4 cups prepared fruit (about 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries and 1-1/2 lb. fully ripe peaches)

2 Tbsp.  fresh lemon juice

1 box powdered pectin 

1/2 tsp.  butter or margarine

6 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

 

Here's how:

 

Prepare your water bath canning pot and jar as usual.  I use the dishwasher to sterlize the jars.

 

Clean the strawberries and hull them.  Crush strawberries thoroughly, one layer at a time using a potato masher or in the food processor. Measure exactly 2-1/4 cups prepared strawberries into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot.

 

Peel, pit and finely chop peaches. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared peaches into strawberries in saucepot.



Stir in lemon juice.

Pour the pectin into prepared fruit in sauce pot. Add butter to reduce foaming.

Berries, peaches, lemon juice and pectin in the pot

Place the pot on the stove and bring the mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in sugar.

Sugar in the pot

Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

All done and ready for the jars

Fill the prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars in canner. Process for 10 minutes.

Jars layed out and ready

Fillejars in the canner

Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)
Store upside down if desired. 

Done and ready to store

Organic Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

I love the strawberry and rhubarb combination.  The tang of the rhubarb mixed with the sweet berries is just a great flavor.  When I found this recipe from the Williams-Sonoma cookbook called "The Art of Preserving" by Rick Fields and Rebecca Courchesne, I knew that this was the best way to can the flavors of summer's sweet fruits.  This jam can be used the same way you use any other jam; my favorite way is on a warm English muffin.  This recipe takes about 9 hours to make but it is not active time; the mixture must sit in the fridge for that amount of time.  The active time is less than an hour.  I made this recipe using organic ingredients - the berries from my garden, the rhubarb from Sang Lee Farm, organic sugar purchased at Costco, and lemons and oranges from Whole Foods.  Use conventional or organic ingredients but no matter what, make this jam.

Ingredients:
2 oranges, organic blood oranges preferred
1 1/2 -2 lbs rhubarb, cut into 1/2 pieces, about 6 cups
3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced, organic preferred
4 cups sugar, organic preferred
1/2 cups lemon juice, fresh and organic preferred

Here's how:

Cut the ends off each orange.  Cut each orange in half cross-wise and remove the seeds.

The insides of a blood orange.  The name is self-explanatory.

Place the orange halves in the bowl of a food processor and process until roughly pureed.

Place the orange puree to a bowl.   Add the rhubarb, strawberries, and sugar and toss to combine.

Berries, rhubarb, sugar and oranges all in

Ingredients all mixed in

Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight or at least eight hours.

This is what the mixture looks like after 8 hours.

The next day or eight hours later, prepare your sterilized jars and water canner.

Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan and add the lemon juice.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to medium heat and cook for 10-25 minutes.  (I had to cook mine for 25 minutes.  Use the frozen plate test to test.)

Jam is ready for jars

Ladle the hot jam into prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Make sure the rims are clean before putting on a lid.  Place on the lid and screw tops.

Process the jars for 10 minutes in a water bath.

Jars processing

Remove the jars and let cool for a day and then store. The jars can be stored for up to one year.

Bread and Butter Pickles

My cucumbers finally started to produce in August and have been fruiting ever since.  I wanted a recipe for pickles that was easy yet different.  The recipe I used is from "The Art of Preserving" by Rick Field and Rebecca Courchesne, a Williams-Sonoma cookbook.  The pickles are not too sweet and not too sour.  They are easy to make and all of the ingredients can be found in your local grocery store.  These pickles are canned in a water bath.  They are delicious as a low calorie snack or on a hanburger.  If you have left over cucumbers, make these pickles.  If you do not want to can these pickles, you can pack them in the jars and let them sit in the refrigerator for at least a week and eat them right from there.

Ingredients:

6 lbs cucumbers, Kirbys preferred (I use Early Russian) cut into 1 1/2 inch diameter, cut into 1/4 inch sliced
1 yellow onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 TBS plus 1 tsp Kosher salt
6 ice cubes
4 cups cider vinegar
1/4 cup plus 1 TBS sugar
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Yields:
6 one pint jars

Special equipment:
Water bath canning pot
6 one pint canning jars and lids

Here's how:

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers and onions.

Cucumbers

Onions and cukes combined

Add 1 TBS of salt and ice cubes.

Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours.

Drain in a colander, rinse and set aside to drain well.

Have your sterilized jars and lids ready as well and your water bath.

In a large saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, turmeric, cherries and the remaining salt.  Add 1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS water and bring it all to a boil.  Make sure the salt is dissolved.

Everything is in and coming to a boil

Place the onions and cucumbers into a bowl. 

Add the mustard seeds, celery seeds and red pepper flakes.  Stir to combine.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the cherries from the water mixture and add to the cucumber mixture.  Stir.

Everything is ready for the jars

Pack the cucumber, onions and cherry mixture into the jars as tightly as possible.  Leave 1/2 inch space from the top.

Jars packed

Ladle in the hot water mixture, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Wipe off excess from the rims.

Cover the jars with lids and bands.  Process for 7 minutes. 

Ready to be processed

Remove from water bath and let sit for 2 weeks to allow the flavors to develop. 

Done and ready to sit for 2 weeks.

Jars can be stored for up to 1 year in a cool, dark place.

Strawberry Ice Cream

I have frozen summer.  Yes, that's right, I froze summer...well, the flavors of summer.  I froze the strawberries I grew for future use.  So I decided on this cool, fall day, to bring back the flavor of a warm sunny day by making ice cream.  This recipe is easy and makes use of frozen berries
Whether you freeze your own or buy them in the store, frozen berries work well to make this delicious ice cream.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen whole strawberries
3/4 cup whole or 2% milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Special tools:

Food Processor
Ice Cream Maker (I use the 1.5 quart Cuisinart)

Here's how:

Place the berries in the bowl of a food processor and process until chunky.

Berries into the processor



Pour the milk, sugar and salt into the bowl of the food processor.

Process until smooth.

Pour in the heavy cream and vanilla.  Pulse 3 times until incorporated.

Cream added berry and milk mixture

Pour into a prepared ice cream maker. 

Mixture into the ice cream maker

Churn for 5-10 minutes until thick.

All done churning.

Eat now for soft serve or freeze for a hard ice cream.