Gourmet Portobello Mac & Cheese

One of the most important things I've learned about residence and fellowship is that sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get things done.  Brian and I are in the middle of a crazy stretch... his call weekend, my work weekend, his regular work week, my night shift stretch, etc.  You get the picture!  I wasn't willing to let a whole week pass without spending at least a few hours with my hubs which meant one thing... ROAD TRIP!  This long, crazy stretch will be so worth it when we're able to load up and head to Arkansas for a long weekend!  YEHAW!

I was able to find a few hours this weekend to sneak up to Wilkes-Barre.  After hearing for days that Brian was either at Panera or chewing on sunflower seeds for dinner, I thought it would be nice for him to have a real meal for dinner.  I've always heard that the way to a mans heart is through his belly :)  I loaded up the Prius with a few spices, a few bags of groceries, and Brian's cast iron skillet.

I'm a firm believer that macaroni and cheese should be it's own food group!  I love it.  All kinds. All shapes.  All combinations of cheese.

This dish is one that reminds me of something you would get at a fine steakhouse.  It's perfect for a dinner party but in all honesty is probably "too much" for just a normal date night for two.  This is mainly because the cheese can get a bit pricey and it makes way too much for just two people.  It would be perfect for a group of four to six.   I promise if you pull this out at your next dinner party your guests will leave full, happy, and begging for the recipe.  It doesn't hurt that it's baked and served in cast iron. Cast iron makes everything better!  We served this with Brian's pan seared scallops but it would also be awesome with a big, juicy, medium rare steak.  It's rich, it's savory, and it's delicious.  Mmmmmm.

My next project is to find some individual size cast iron skillets...  I see a dinner party in our near future!  Who's coming??

Enjoy.
xoxo

The iPhone photo DOES NOT do this justice :) 

Gourmet Mushroom Mac & Cheese

(recipe from leitesculinaria.com)

Ingredients

• Handful coarse sea salt, to taste
• 1 pound macaroni (a classy macaroni called cavatappi is shown in the photo above)
• 10 ounces portobello mushrooms, stems trimmed level with cap, gills removed
• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Leaves from a few sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Leaves from a few sprigs fresh tarragon, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup tightly packed grated white Cheddar, plus more to taste
• 2/3 cup tightly packed grated Parmesan, plus more to taste
• 8 ounces Taleggio, rind removed, diced or sliced
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

• 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• 2. Preheat the oven to 400˚F (200˚C).
• 3. Arrange the mushrooms in a single layer on a baking sheet, stem-side up, and brush with oil. Season lightly with salt, sprinkle with the herbs, and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Remove and let cool slightly. Dice the mushrooms and set aside.
• 4. Preheat the broiler to medium.
• 5. Put the cream in a large saucepan and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat. Add the Cheddar and Parmesan and half the Taleggio, and stir well to melt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (If a thicker sauce is desired, add more cheese to taste.)
• 6. Dump the drained macaroni into a large bowl. Stir in half the mushrooms and the hot cream sauce and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer the macaroni mixture to a 2-quart casserole or a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (be sure your baking dish is broilerproof; do not use a glass or ceramic dish). Top with the remaining mushrooms and Taleggio and a good grinding of black pepper. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes, until the top is golden. Serve immediately.

**I made this is a large cast iron skillet. I poured just enough peanut oil to coat the bottom and prepared exactly as the directions suggest.  It was so good, so pretty, and SO easy to clean up!**

Mom's Tomatoes Provencol

Ok. So just when I think I’ve tried ALL of my Mom’s most amazing foods she does some sort of magic trick and pulls out a recipe that she tells me she’s had for years!!  Where in the world have I been? My life of preparing side dishes has now been changed forever.

I am absolutely not exaggerating when I tell you that this is one of the most amazing side dishes I have ever tasted.  It is a perfect combination of fresh tomatoes, herbs, and garlic!

This is, hands down, going to turn in to one of my favorite, go-to side dishes when we have guests.  It is so fresh and so flavorful yet warm and satisfying at the same time.  It’s also the perfect side dish when you want to add an item but you don’t want something super heavy.  We paired these tomatoes with salmon.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it!  Try it… you won’t be disappointed!

Tomatoes Provencol

4 large ripe tomatoes (I used vine tomatoes)

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 tbs chopped fresh basil

1 tbs chopped fresh parsley

6 tbs dry bread crumbs

3 tbs olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

½ tsp salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix all together in bowl to form a paste. 

Wash and dry tomatoes. Remove stems and cut tomatoes in half through the width.  Put cut sides up on baking dish.  

Spread paste over each tomato half and drizzle with olive oil.  I actually had quite a bit of left over paste.  I had enough for at least 3-4 more tomatoes!  Buy extra tomatoes :)  

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve hot.

Hope you love this as much as we did!  Until next time... when Mom whips out a new secret gem!

xoxo

Whole Wheat Pizza Topped With Caramelized Pears, Prosciutto, Blue Cheese & Balsamic Glaze

I promise I'm not exaggerating... you HAVE NOT LIVED until you've had this pizza!!  It has officially made our list of, "If you could have one last meal what would it be?"

Brian and I both agreed that it's probably our favorite thing that I've ever made. Ever.  If you're from Tennessee then you know how serious I am when I tell you that this rivals any Scratch Pizza or Cooties  pizza on the menus.  That's serious talk right there.

The crust is a whole wheat crust that is perfectly crispy with toppings that blend so well together.  A perfect combination of sweet, savory, and bold.  It can easily be made veg friendly by leaving off the prosciutto.

Please, please, please do yourself a favor and make this pizza.  The other option is for you to come to Pennsylvania and Brian and I would LOVE to make it for you and serve you with the most perfect beer to go along with it.  

Brian's beer of choice this evening.

This process does take a while because it involves a homemade crust that has to have time to rise.  No big deal... throw the crust together in a few minutes and leave it for an hour or so while you read a few chapters in your favorite novel or fold some laundry.

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Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1 1/8 Cups Luke Warm Water

3 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Tbs Honey

Mix the water, yeast, olive oil, and honey together in a bowl.  Stir together and let sit for approximately 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes you will notice that there are "bubbles" forming.  At this point you can add 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Save the other 2/3 cups to add after stirring the first 2 cups in.  After you stir the first 2 cups in the dough will be very sticky.  Now add the remaining 2/3 cups.

Even after  I added the second batch of flour my crust ended up pretty sticky and wasn't forming into a ball.  I slowly added All Purpose Flour until it started behaving and stuck together in a ball.  Remove the ball of dough from the bowl and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the bowl.  Toss the ball of dough back in an coat with the olive oil.  Cover with a dish towel and leave it for at least an hour (better to wait 90 minutes) in a warm place.

After you've waited 90 minutes and you're feeling super productive because you've been able to multitask during this step, return to your dough.  Punch a hole in the dough to release the air and knead with your hand for a minute or two.

FLOUR YOUR WORK SURFACE!!  I made this mistake and we had a sticky, sticky mess.  Flour a piece of parchment paper and place your dough on top.  Use a rolling pin to roll out your dough to a thickness of approximately 1/4 - 1/2 inch.  Flip over onto a pizza stone.  We dusted our stone with All Purpose Flour and corn meal to prevent the pizza from sticking to the stone.  It gave it a perfect, crispy crust.

Let the rolled out crust sit for 10 minutes to allow it to rise and then add the toppings.

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Toppings

2 Pears (I used Asian pears)

1 Tbs Olive Oil

2 Tbs Unsalted Butter

2 Tbs Light Brown Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

6-9 ounces freshly grated Fontina cheese (the block I bought said 9 ounces, but once I removed the wax I'm sure it was a bit less)

2 Shallots

4 Garlic Cloves

5 Prosciutto Slices

3 Ounces Blue Cheese

Preparing your toppings could be a good task to take care of while you're waiting on your dough to rise.  Though it definitely won't take you the entire time.

Start the pears first.  Cut them in half lengthwise and remove the core.  Then slice thinly.  I cut them in half again so my slices weren't quite so long.  Add olive oil and butter into a skillet on medium heat.  Add pears, salt, and nutmeg. Cover and sauté for 15 minutes.  Add brown sugar, stir together, cover again and sauté for 10 more minutes.

Shred Fontina cheese, mince your garlic, and slice shallots into thin slices then separate the pieces.  Keep all of these separated in different bowls.

Cut prosciutto into 1/4- 1/2 width slices and then cut the slices into 3-4 pieces. You should end up with pieces that are 1/4 inch by 2 inches.  This is just personal preference but the small pieces worked really well for us.

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Putting It All Together

Brush crust with olive oil.  Add 3/4 of the fontina cheese.  Dispense shallots and garlic equally over crust.  Add pears equally over crust and then add prosciutto.  Add 3 ounces of blue cheese crumbles.  Top with the remaining fontina cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese brown.

After you put the pizza in the over start working on the balsamic glaze.  I would wait unit your pizza has been in for 15 minutes or so and then start the glaze.

Heat saucer on medium and add 1/2 balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp honey.  Bring to boil and it will (finally!) begin to thicken.  Be patient... it takes a while.  

Your pizza will most likely be done before you glaze is finished.  This is good because it allows the pizza to cool.

Drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Pour yourself an ice cold beverage, turn on the Cardinals game, and ENJOY!!

I know this sounds labor intensive but it really isn't.  Even if you feel like it's a bit of a pain once you put that first bite in your mouth you will realize that it was so worth it!

Enjoy!

xoxo