Blue Crab Macaroni and Cheese

I went to Baltimore for New Years and on New Years Eve enjoyed Gruyere mac and cheese with Blue Crab at the Pratt Street Ale House. It was a wonderfully sinful bit of deliciousness to ring out 2012. I didn’t think much about it after that, but then I got some cheeses for Christmas and among the cheeses was a gruyere. I thought about the mac and cheese from New Years Eve and set about to recreate it.

8 oz of pasta (I used a garden penne)

2 cups of milk (or cream)

2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a combination of gruyere, creamy gouda, blue cheese, and parmesean)

3 tbls of butter

1 medium sweet onion

3 tbls of flour

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of pepper

1/2 tsp of shaved nutmeg

1 pound of lump crab meat

Cook pasta as per box instructions. Preheat oven to 325. In a saucepan melt butter add salt, pepper and diced onion – simmer until onion is translucent, add flour and whisk until smooth. Slowly add in milk and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and gradually add in the gruyere, gouda and blue cheese.  In a greased casserole dish, add pasta, stir in cheese mixture and blue crab – sprinkle the top with parmesean cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes – until bubbling. Serve immediately.

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Vegan dinner of Quinoa and Beans and Vegetables

This was my dinner tonight – so yummy and very filling. It is also super easy.

Start with chopping a couple of peppers (I had red and yellow peppers) about a 1/2 a large onion and a carrot (shredded). Saute in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a dash of salt and red pepper and about 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Saute for a few minutes. Add a cup of quinoa (not cooked) and a can of black beans (rinsed and drained). Stir and add 2 cups of water. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed (stirring frequently). Quinoa will bloom when it is cooked. When quinoa is done – remove from heat and stir in about four cups of fresh spinach – stir until wilted. Serve with shredded cheese (for non vegan) and some hot sauce.

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Pasta Salad

IMG_3478

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

Is this not the worst picture of pasta salad you’ve ever seen? I’m not proud of it, but I’ve had so little time to cook since September, taking professional looking pictures isn’t even in my top 50 things to do.

Anyhoo- I needed a salad to take to a Christmas party, so I decided to throw this one together. There was no recipe. I bought some refrigerated cheese tortellini, chopped up some pepperoni, diced a block of part skim mozzarella cheese and threw in some marinated artichoke hearts. I tossed it with a little homemade balsamic vinaigrette and that’s the end of the story. Except for next time, I’ll add olives. It needed the zing.

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blueberry poundcake

blueberry poundcake

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

This was my main Saturday project. I have yet to make a poundcake at high altitude, and I decided to wait no more.

I found this recipe in an issue of Paula Deen’s magazine. I know. I have said so many times I can’t stand to watch her, but everytime I pick up an issue of her magazine, I want to cook every dirn thing in it!

So when I saw this recipe, I could not resist. And it turned out beautifully. I think my Mom would be proud!!

Blueberry Poundcake from Paula Deen

2 c. (4 sticks) butter, softened
3 c. sugar (I subtracted 6 tablespoons for altitude)
6 large eggs
4 c. all purpose flour
1 T. baking powder (I subtracted 3/4 t. for altitude)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I added 3 tablespoons for altitude)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)

Preheat oven to 350 (I used 375 because of altitude). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed, blending well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
Fold in blueberries, and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until a wooden cake tester comes out clean. Shield top of cake loosely with foil halfway through cooking to prevent excess browning. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

This was yummie!! My next post will show what I did with it for dessert Saturday night!

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Talapia, red quinoa, roasted asparagus

Talapia, red quinoa, roasted asparagus

Originally uploaded by lyricalmezzo

Terrible picture – great dinner.
I started with talapia fillets which I salted, peppered and then dredged in flour. In a saute I added about 2 tbls of butter over medium heat.
When the butter starts to bubble – add the fillets – cook until golden brown on both sides.
I de-glazed the pan with a dash of wine and then added capers and parsley – YUM! The asparagus was a simple roast with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and the quinoa was simply steamed – if you haven’t cooked quinoa before – it cooks like rice. Its a nice flavor and a healthy alternative to rice.

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smoked salmon

smoked salmon

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

Not bad looking, huh? I had bought some smoked salmon as a treat for myself because I’ve worked like a dog trying to get this house set up. Usually I eat smoked salmon in the morning on a bagel, but this particular day I wanted to have some for lunch. I wanted a bagel, but not a big thick one. So I took one of the bagels I bought from the bakery down the street and cut it horizontally in about 4 slices. I toasted the slices and voila! The perfect crispy foundation for a smoked salmon sandwich!

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smores!

smores!

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

After we grilled some pork chops the other night, I had a craving for a smore.

So we broke out the bamboo skewers, the marshmellows and all the other fixins, and I got what I was after.

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Ice Cream Sandwich

Ice Cream Sandwich

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

It would seem after looking at the last few posts I’ve written, that I’m in a sandwich mood lately.

Dev and I have become really spoiled when it comes to ice cream. Sometime last year I purchased a cheap countertop ice cream maker. You know, the kind you have to store the barrel in the freezer til it’s time to use it. I think ours has a 2 quart capacity.

Anyhoo, we now can have really good home made ice cream whenever we want.

The other day I had a batch of vanilla in the freezer, when suddenly I had a WICKED craving for an ice cream sandwich. The kind I usually buy at the store has a 2 chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream in between, so I thought, why not make a batch of home made cookies and then use the home made vanilla to make the sandwiches?

So that’s what I did.

I used the sweet cream ice cream base recipe from my Ben and Jerry’s book for the vanilla ice cream:

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup whole milk

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy (1 to 2 minutes). Whisk in sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended (about 1 minute more). Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend.

I put the mixture in the freezer for about 10 minutes while I set up my ice cream maker. Then I turn on the machine, pour it in, and in about 20 minutes I have soft serve vanilla ice cream. I scoop it into a plastic container and put it back in the freezer to harden up before serving.

For the sandwich part, I used a Paula Deen recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies…

1 cup (2 sticks) butter; at room temp
2 cups packed brown sugar (I used light brown)
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups self rising flour
2 cups chopped pecans
chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar, then beat in vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, continuing to beat. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.

This recipe made 24 really big cookies for me. You can make them smaller if you aren’t using them for sandwiches.

So after the cookies cooled, I chose 4 of the biggest and made the ice cream sandwiches out of them.

It wasn’t entirely successful. I really think you need to use a softer cookie to make these, because when you bite into the sandwich, you want the cookie to give and allow you to get to the ice cream. These were a bit stiff. But they still tasted really good!

As for the foot in the picture, you all know who that is. Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with that boy….

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Broccoli Quiche

broccoli quiche

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

I love broccoli and I love quiche. I love them even more together. I have made this quiche at least a thousand times (with several variations). I use frozen broccoli, whatever cheese I have left in the fridge (this time it was a bit of cheddar, pepper jack and romano), and my basic quiche base (2 cups cream, 4 eggs, hot sauce, nutmeg, salt and pepper).
I like this because it is so versatile. We ate it for dinner Thursday night, lunch on Friday and breakfast this morning.
I should just keep a quiche in the fridge all the time.

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Onion Rings!

homemade onion rings

Originally uploaded by All Things Mimi

This was my first attempt at home made onion rings. I got the idea watching Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics on Foodtv.
Basically, I just cut a yellow onion into thin slices, soaked them in buttermilk and hot sauce for about 15 minutes, then dredged them in a mixture of flour, corn meal, salt and pepper. They fried for about 1 minute per batch.
I was very satisfied with the result, and they were delicious on my turkey burger. But my gosh, what a mess they make in the kitchen. I think I will have to experiment with a baking method. Maybe then I can justify having them more often!

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