Linny's Kitchen: Play Dress Up with Your Mac & Cheese

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Play Dress Up with Your Mac & Cheese

I love Mac & Cheese! Easily it ranks right up in my top ten favorite foods to eat anytime. Mac & Cheese has been around since the medieval times with a recipe found in the oldest known cookbook, Libre de Conquina. As it has stood the test of time and become a favorite of most all kids, big and small, it is also a dish that can be and has been prepared in so many ways. Some have it homemade, semi-homemade, frozen or from a box. Nonetheless, there is not real right or wrong way to make mac & cheese.

Often times I like to dress up my mac & cheese with different ingredients to mix up the flavor a little bit. I start off with one of the Drake's Frozen Mac & Cheese Dinners. I love Drake's because it has the right amount of cheesy sauce and the bigger elbow noodles that are made from fresh pasta! They also use milk and cheese that has no artificial hormones or antibiotics. I will defrost the mac & cheese in the fridge ahead of time making it easier to mix in the ingredients before baking (and it cuts the baking time down by more than half.) Often I will also have to transfer the mac & cheese to a bigger baking dish to make sure there is enough room for all the ingredients!

Broccoli Mac & Cheese

To make Broccoli Mac & Cheese just add 2 cups of broccoli florets (defrosted) to 1 Drakes Mac & Cheese. Transfer the container of the Mac & Cheese to larger baking pan or dish. Mix in the broccoli and top with bread crumbs. Bake at 375*f until the top is brown and it is warm all the way through.

P.S. Sometimes if I have left over chicken I will add it as well ;)

Jalapeño & Bacon Mac & Cheese

This makes a great side dish to tacos, fajitas, mexican chicken or just on it's own! Just add one can of chopped jalapeño peppers and 6 strips of bacon that is cooked and chopped into small pieces. Mix the two ingredients to the mac & cheese and bake. Top with chopped green onions before serving.

Hot Dog Octopus!

How cute are these guys?!? They are such a great idea for a party or just for any day. All you need to do is slice the hot dog in half half way and then cut the halves in half again to make for legs ( I know it four legs shy of a real octopus but, it is for the cuteness factor.) Put the uncooked hot dogs in a pot of boiling water and cook as the instructions suggest. Top each plate of mac & cheese off with an octopus. For a little more flair you can add goldfish cracker and peas too.

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Linny's Tip - Cooking and Storing Potatoes

Potatoes should be kept in a cool, dark place with good ventilation. The ideal storage temperature is 45 to 50ºF. At these temperatures, potatoes will keep for several
weeks. But don't store potatoes in the refrigerator! When kept below 40ºF, potatoes develop a sweet taste, due to the conversion of starch to sugar. This increased sugar causes potatoes to darken when cooked. If you store potatoes at room temperature, try to use them within a week or so.

Keep potatoes away from prolonged exposure to light, which causes them to turn green. This greening causes a bitter flavor. If potatoes develop green areas or start to sprout, just trim off these areas before using.

Always add potatoes to cold water to boil. This ensures that potatoes will cook evenly throughout.

Linny's Tip: Tomatoes

Did you know tomatoes are second in consumption to potatoes!

However, there is one important thing everyone should know about tomatoes and that is how to store them. Tomatoes do not like the cold at all. In fact when you keep them in the refrigerator they will become mealy and loose their robust flavor.

Instead store them in a cool dark place with their stem side down for ripe tomatoes. For those tomatoes that a not quite ripe leave them on a sunny window sill and soon they will turn bright red and juicy ready to honor any salad or BLT!