Macaroni and Cheese!

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Macaroni and Cheese

A meal to empty the fridge to feed 6 big people with leftovers for lunch

Recipe based on Betty Crocker Recipe.

Ingredients

2 lbs uncooked elbow macaroni
1 cup butter or other fat
1 cup flour (whole wheat works fine)
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
8 cups milk
8 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (2 lbs)

Add-ins

2 lbs ground pork or bulk sausage

1-2 cups chopped onion

1/2-1 cup chopped spring garlic

2 bunches radishes, thinly sliced or small cubes

1/4-1/2 lb spinach, cut into 2 in squares or so.

Instructions

*In a medium pot or frying pan, brown the meat.  You can reserve the drippings as a portion of the fat for the sauce if you like.

*While meat is browning, chop and sauté the hard veggies: onions, garlic, radishes, etc.  Cabbage stems or broccoli would also be included in this step if you are using them.  I end up with a medium pot of cooked veggies by the time I am done with at least as much volume as the meat.

*Set the meat and veggies aside while you prepare the sauce and noodles.

*Put a large pan of water on to boil, cook your pasta, drain and return to your large pot while making the sauce.

*Make a roux: melt the butter/fat.  Add in your flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  Whisk and simmer until the flour smells toasty.

*Slowly add your milk, while whisking to prevent scorching.  Bring to bubbling.  add cheese in portions.  melt before adding the next handful.  You can use the whisk to keep stirring to help melt and prevent scorching.

*Once your noodles and sauce are ready, combine the meat and veggies with the noodles and stir-then add the sauce and stir again.

*If you are using chopped spinach, you may add it to the noodles with the other vegetables.  The steam and heat from the noodles will wilt the spinach just fine.

*Serve and enjoy!*

Spinach: The basics

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Spinach is one of those lovely vegetables that is inexpensive, ubiquitous, really really good for you, and extremely versatile!  Shall we break it down just a bit and give that huge-looking half-pound bag you just bought some ideas that make it suddenly not very much after all?

What to look for: 

The darker, the better.  Especially within a bag or box or other group of spinach.  Those are going to be the youngest, most nutritious leaves.  If you are finding lots of yellow-green leaves, chances are the leaves were some of the older ones on the plant or that bag of spinach may have been on the shelf for a while.  Frankly, it won't taste very good.

Crispy and crunchy.  The way to test?  No, don't squish or pouf or otherwise abuse the bag of spinach.  After that the only thing I can say is that it WAS crisp.

Parmesan Spinach Cakes

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Parmesan Spinach Cakes

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/parmesan_spinach_cakes.html

From EatingWell:  September/October 2008

4 servings, 2 spinach cakes each | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

12 ounces fresh spinach

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, or low-fat cottage cheese

1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

2 large eggs, beaten

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper