Category: Main Dish

Posted on » by Dana & Nancy » Theme:

Bacon Crusted Beer Mac and Cheese

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat elbow noodles
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
8 ounces milk
8 ounces beer
8 ounces freshly grated cheddar cheese
4 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch of black pepper
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare water for pasta and boil according to directions, shaving 1-2 minutes off of cooking time since pasta will continue to cook in the oven.

Heat a saucepan over medium high heat and add butter. Once melted and sizzling, whisk in flour to create a roux and cook until bubbly and golden in color, about 2 minutes. Add milk and beer into saucepan whisking constantly, then add cheeses and stir until melted. Turn heat down to medium and continue to stir, cooking for 5-6 minutes while mixture thickens. It will most likely NOT thicken like regular mac and cheese because of the beer, but you want it to thicken a little bit. Stir in pepper and paprika.

Add noodles (once cooked and drained) to a casserole dish, then pour cheese over top, mixing gently to combine. Top with panko bread crumbs and an additional sprinkle of cheese if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

 

Posted on » by Ashley » Theme:

Beef Rendang

Beef Rendang
BBC Food

A rich South-East Asian curry made with coconut milk and melting tender beef. Serve with jasmine rice and steamed greens.

Less than 30 mins preparation time
Over 2 hours cooking time
Serves 6

2 lemongrass stalks, dry outer leaves removed, roughly chopped
3 medium-sized red onions, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled
25g/1oz fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
75g/2½oz chunk galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
3 plump red chillies, roughly chopped without deseeding
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1.5kg/3lb 5oz beef chuck steak (or any good braising beef), trimmed and cut into 3cm/1¼in cubes
400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp soft light brown sugar or palm sugar
2 tsp tamarind paste or freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp flaked sea salt, plus extra to season
ground black pepper
toasted coconut flakes, to serve (optional)

In a food processor combine the lemongrass, onions, garlic, ginger, galangal and chillies. Blend to a fine paste (you may need to remove the lid and push the mixture down a couple of times with spatula until the right consistency is reached).

Heat the sunflower oil in a large flame-proof casserole and fry the paste gently for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for two minutes.

Add the beef to the pan and stir to coat in the paste and spices. Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly until the meat is very lightly coloured all over. Pour the coconut milk and 400ml/14fl oz cold water into the casserole. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, sugar, tamarind paste or lime juice, soy sauce and salt and bring to a simmer.

Reduce the heat and leave to gently simmer uncovered for about 2½-3 hours, or until the meat is meltingly tender and the sauce is very thick, glossy and rich. Stir the beef occasionally towards the beginning of the cooking time then more often as the coconut milk reduces. You don’t want the sauce to stick. Season to taste with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Spoon the curry into warm serving dishes, pick out the kaffir lime leaves and cinnamon stick, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut, if using.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Chicago Pizza

Water: 3.2 oz
Bread Flour: 5.7 oz
Yeast: 1/3 ts
Salt: 1/4 ts
Olive Oil: 2 ts
Corn Oil: 7 ¾ tsp
Butter/Margarine Softened: ½ tsp
Sugar: 1 1/8 tsp

1. Mix all (except butter) for several minutes in a bread machine.
2. Add butter for the last minute so it’s just incorporated
3. Form into ball and put in fridge overnight.
4. The next day take ball out at least 2 hours before making pizza
5. I put the dough ball into my previously oiled 9″ deep dish round pan with 2″ high straight-sides. Patting it out flat by hand, I tried especially to crimp or pinch the edges of the crust very hard to give the crust a nice real thin edge.
6. I then put in a layer of sliced Mozzarella cheese
7. Added some provolone cheese pieces, then a sausage
8. Filled with sauce (next time I would use less)
9. Sprinkle with parmesan
10. I baked the pizza on my pizza stone on the bottom oven rack, which I previously heated up for an hour at 475 degrees F.
11. I reduced the heat to around 450, turned the pizza 180 degrees after 15 minutes, put the oven’s convection (fan) feature on for the last 10 minutes, and then took the pizza out after cooking for around 22 minutes.