Most people who know me have either heard me discuss my macaroni & cheese or have eaten it themselves. It’s one of my favorite things to make and share with others. I had a hankering for it tonight, but I have to admit that there is only so much of the same dish a person can eat. And for the sake of my marriage (surely the husband must be tiring of it by now) I decided to try something different.
So I started with my regular recipe for mac & cheese and cut the recipe in half. One difference to the basic recipe – I used half & half instead of milk (because we’re almost out). At the point where I finished making the cheese sauce, egg & all, I added some different things than I normally would. I threw the following into the cheese sauce:
- one crumbled piece of cooked turkey bacon
- 1/4 cup of crumbled goat cheese
- one half cup of frozen chopped spinach (really it was a fistful, but I’m estimating my fist holds about a half cup of frozen spinach
Then I moved onto step 6, combining the sauce with the cooked noodles. I poured it into a casserole dish and topped it with a few more crumbles of goat cheese. Side note – since I’m pregnant, I’m not eating unpasteurized soft cheeses since it’s been said that they can carry disease-causing organisms like the bacteria listeria, so I made sure to use a pasteurized goat cheese 
.
Here is the finished product:
Macaroni with Spinach, Turkey Bacon, & Goat Cheese
I thoroughly enjoyed it and hubby’s plate was clean as a whistle. I guess it was a success!
Posted in All, Recipes.
Tagged with cheese, macaroni, pasta, spinach, turkey bacon.
By KieshaG
– June 1, 2010
The past few months have been a wild ride! Being pregnant has totally changed my relationship with food and, during the beginning, not for the better! No energy to cook and at times no appetite either. Well, I’m glad that my energy is picking up and my desire to eat has been back in action. I’m sure it’s just the beginning of an intriguing and wild ride for 2010! The twin lobsters I had for lunch today, Teddy and Larry – yeah I named ‘em – can attest to that! But on to the cooking.
One of the things I’ve been loving has been sauteed spinach, but man cannot live on leafy greens alone (well, at least not this one). One weekday when I wanted my spinach, I opened the freezer and stared in to see what I’d have with it and decided the boneless chicken thighs would win. Without the bones, they would thaw faster than most other things I had on hand – great for afterwork cooking. I did a little quick thaw with some water in a bowl & decided on a plan super quick. Here’s what I gathered up after the chicken thawed:
This was one of the easiest things I’ve ever made.
- I placed the thawed chicken breasts in a bowl and seasoned with the McCormick’s.
- Then, using a micro plane grater, I grated about 1/3 of my fresh ginger root onto the chicken.
- Next, I coated the chicken in soy sauce and massaged it all together. You don’t need to put enough soy sauce in the chicken to drown it, just enough to make sure it’s all coated with the flavor.
- Heat up a skillet with olive oil and place the seasoned chicken inside. Be sure to pour all remaining soy sauce and ginger into to pan over the chicken as well. Cook until it is nice and caramel colored on that side then flip it to cook through on the other side. Depending on how big your pieces are, this shouldn’t take too long. I had four really small ones, so it took about about 8 minutes to finish cooking the chicken.
Here is the finished product:
Posted in All, Recipes.
Tagged with chicken, quick, spinach.
By KieshaG
– May 29, 2010
I haven’t been cooking in a big way this month so far. Lots of cooking is going on, just nothing to really make me want to take pics and write about it. Various spiced chicken and beef, mac and cheeses, random rices, etc. But sometimes it’s these super quick, tried-and-true meals that are so necessary to get you through the workweek. What I’ll do today is share with you a few links to quick meal ideas that you can stock your pantry for and whip up in no time. So check out these links and start making those grocery lists this weekend. And share your go-to meal with the class so we can all add it to our repertoire.
20-Minute Dinners from Better Homes & Gardens
Quick and Easy Meals from Recipe.com
More Quick & Easy from Martha
So as you gather your recipes, wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that can gather all the recipe ingredients into one handy shopping list for you? Well, I’ve got a suggestion for you. It’s called Ziplist.com and it’s pretty neat. Yep, I used the word neat .
It was launched last month and it’s part of a strategic relationship with Martha Stewart. You can choose from the many recipes in the Ziplist database or you can add a bookmark to your browser that allows you to pick up a recipe from any site and drop it into your shopping list. I find it awesome and I’d love for you to check it out and let me know if you find it useful.
Enjoy cooking & shopping!
Posted in All, General, Recipes, Reviews.
Tagged with bhg, easy, martha stewart, quick, recipe, recipe.com, ziplist.
By KieshaG
– March 11, 2010
I’m excited to introduce you to my friend in food and a downright darling lady, Alex. She’ll be sharing some tantalizing tips and recipes in this space with me. So what’s the scoop on my new contributor? Well…
Alex loves all things food: perfecting recipes, creating menus, exploring new tastes, searching for the best ingredients and of course, unwinding in the kitchen at the end of the day. She’s comfortable spouting cooking advice to whomever will listen, but she still calls her mom for help. 
There will be more contributors to come this spring, for now, show our new friend Alex some love!
Yes, that is a field of bacon...
Posted in All, Guest Blogs.
Tagged with Alex.
By KieshaG
– March 4, 2010
Baby, it’s cold outside! In the northeast US, it’s a full on snow-fest. We’ve got the type of weekend coming up where you hope your fridge and pantry are well-stocked so you don’t end up begging some poor delivery guy to climb Mt. Saint Snow to bring you an XL Meat Lover’s Pizza for dinner. This is when you need comfort food to take the edge off of the chill in the air, the cabin fever. You need Beef Burgundy, friends. I have several recipes I work for this dish. I’d like to think this is a relatively easy version. You’ll note that most people use mushrooms in their beef burgundy. I don’t because the first time I had it, there were only carrots and onions and my preference for that just stuck with me.
Easy Beef Burgundy
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bacon, chopped (doesn’t matter if it’s pork or turkey – as long as it’s smoky)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup of baby carrots - you’ll notice in the pic I used to illustrate I just made big rustic cuts of a regular sized carrot to substitute
- 1 cup frozen pearl onions, defrosted and drained (you can use fresh, but it requires boiling and peeling the fresh onions)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 pounds lean sirloin, trimmed and cubed into 1-inch pieces (I cut them smaller sometimes so they cook faster)
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup of red wine (for true beef burgundy, use burgundy wine. I’ve cheated and used other reds before)
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
- 1 bay leaf
- Bouquet of 3 or 4 sprigs each sage and thyme, tied with kitchen string
- Either potatoes or herbed egg noodles to serve over
Instructions
- Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper and then coat them with the 2 tablespoons of flour. I use my sifter to make sure I don’t get any small flour clumps on the meat. Sit aside on a plate.
- Heat a large deep skillet with a heavy bottom over medium high heat. Add bacon to the pan and brown. If you are using turkey bacon and it’s really lean, a little olive oil helps. Remove crisp bacon bits and sit aside.
- Add 1 1/2 tablespoons butter to the pan and melt into the bacon fat. Add carrots to the pan, sprinkle with a little salt & pepper and turn to coat them evenly with butter and bacon fat. Cook for a minute then add onions to the pan. Continue cooking onions and carrots for about 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer them to a bowl to the side and return pan to the heat.
- Add the rest of your butter to the pan and melt it, then add the floured meat to the hot pan and brown evenly on all sides. The smaller you cut your meat, the faster you’ll have to move here turning the cubes to brown them.
- After the meat is browned, add wine to the pan slowly while stirring. When the wine starts to simmer and you have loosened up all the yummy pan drippings that have stuck to the pan (I vote with a wooden spoon), add the stock, the bay leaf, and bouquet of fresh sage and thyme sprigs to the pan. Cover the pan. Bring it all to a boil then lower the heat to medium.
- Cook covered 5 minutes, then and add carrots, onions and bacon back to the pan. Simmer uncovered until it thickens. Taste the stew and add salt, pepper, or other seasonings as you see fit. Don’t forget to remove the herb bouquet & bay leaf before serving over the noodles or potatoes.
- All done – enjoy!
Sorry it's a bit of a foggy, steamy pic
Posted in All, Recipes.
Tagged with beef burgundy, beef stew, carrot, comfort food, pearl onion.
By KieshaG
– February 26, 2010
Stonewall Kitchen is having a contest that just might win you a free, beautiful appetizer book! Check it out and enter! All you have to do is answer the question: Cooking… is it better with photos? Click here to check out the contest: Stonewall Contest
Posted in All, General.
Tagged with appetizers, stonewall kitchen.
By KieshaG
– February 25, 2010
In exploring and sharing my love for food, I have discovered that many of my good friends also love, love, love to cook as well. Over the next few weeks, you’ll meet a few of them as they contribute to this space with their awesome dishes. Show them love!
Posted in All.
By KieshaG
– February 23, 2010
I can’t gush enough about the wonderful gift I recently received from my friend Kelly. She stopped by her favorite spice store in Chicago, The Spice House and sent me an amazing amount of goodies. I have family in Chicago, so next time I head there, I will make it a point to go there, because when I opened that box of goodies, I absolutely squealed with delight. So let’s break it all down, here’s what’s in my treasure chest:
- Chinese Five Spice Powder
- Trinidad Lemon Garlic Marinade
- Szechuan Peppercorns
- Gateway to the North Maple Sugar Seasoning
- Baharat Spice Mixture
- Moroccan Spice Mixture
- Salmon Seasoning
- Pure Tomato Powder
Seriously?! So happy.
Of course I had to get right down to business and make something from my box of goodies. On Sunday, all I had to do is make a light sauce to accompany the Lobster Ravioli I got from the fresh pasta station at Whole Foods. So I decided to go ahead and put a little bit of work in, use one of my new spices and cook in advance for Monday, the day when I have the least desire to cook after coming home from work. (Side note: since I am well aware of this, on Sunday I typically cook a large stew or pasta dish or roasted whole chicken that will last two days on Sunday). I opened the treasure chest of spices and considered the thawed whole boneless, skinless chicken breast in the fridge. I decided that the Moroccan Spice Mixture is the winner. Per the Spice House site, this spice is “hand mixed from: Kosher flake salt, cumin, coriander, sugar, hot curry powder, ground cardamom, and Chinese cassia cinnamon.” It’s smoky, ever so slightly sweet, and just divine. I could imagine it tasting great with sweet potatoes or with lamb or with a rustic mixed root vegetable medley of some sort. But today, it’s chicken time. Here’s what I did:
- Sliced one small onion and added the slices to a pan of 1 tbsp of melted butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil and sauteed until translucent
- While the onion cooked, I cut the chicken breast in half. It’s just a tad easier for me to handle two breast pieces than one huge whole breast. I then seasoned the chicken breast with a touch of salt and pepper and a generous amount of Moroccan Spice Mixture.
- I pushed the onions to the side of the pan and added the seasoned chicken breast pieces to the pan and sear on both sides
- Poured 1 cup of chicken stock to the pan, stirred the onions around in it a bit, covered with a lid and cooked on a low fire for about 10-15 minutes.
- I placed the chicken breasts and all the liquid in which they cooked into a container and let it cool before placing it in the fridge for the next day.
…then the next day…
When I got home from work, the only thing left to do was heat up the chicken and make a side dish. I commissioned the hubby to make the side dish. I decided that dish would be a fun couscous. This is a great way to take a break from the usual potatoes or rice or pasta that people usually make on the side when cooking. Cous cous is one of the easiest things to cook because it just is so quick! So here’s the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cups of plain cous cous
- 1 cup of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup of golden raisins
- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans or blanched sliced almonds
- one scallion, chopped
- salt
- 1 tbsp of butter
Instructions:
- Saute the raisins and nuts in the butter until the raisins are starting to become translucent
- Add the cup of stock and salt (maybe 1 tsp would do the trick) and bring to a boil
- Add the cous cou and scallions, stir until all the cous cous is wet, cover, and turn off the heat
- Let the cous cous sit for 5 minutes, then fluff with a spoon or knife
- Top with fresh sliced scallions.
You’re done! How easy is that!
I heated the chicken in the microwave and sliced it up and let it soak up more of the juices it cooked in while the cous cous was cooking. I served them together and the meal was totally satisfying without being heavy and just such a pleasure to make since it was already half done when I walked in the door. The Moroccan Spice Mixture from The Spice House was indeed a hit and I can’t wait to try another one of my spice goodies.
Posted in All, Recipes.
Tagged with almond, cardamom, chicken, corainder, cous cous, cumin, curry powder, Morocco, pecan, raisin, The Spice House.
By KieshaG
– February 22, 2010
A while back I recommended a creamy mushroom soup recipe to a good friend. Just talking about it got me wanting to make my own. So I indeed did. It hit the spot for me. I had it with a crunchy piece of sourdough toast, which you may have noticed is the only bread I seem to always have. I love it so much, maybe one day I’ll work up the guts to try baking some myself.
But back to the mushrooms. My husband is the type who picks mushrooms out of any dish in which they’re included. Even he seemed to love this version. I think I won him over because this soup didn’t include any big pieces of mushroom. Serving this heart-warming bowl of earthy goodness could be a good way for you to introduce mushrooms to the picky eater in your life. Give it a shot and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 9 or 10 ounces of fresh mushrooms. (i had shiitake & portabella)
- fresh thyme
- olive oil
- one small onion
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon of powdered sage
- 3 cups of vegetable stock
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- truffle oil
- thyme sprigs for garnish
Instructions
- Wipe your mushrooms with damp paper towel (do not rinse).
- Remove the gills from the portabella mushrooms before slicing. If you don’t, they will dissolve into the soup and will color it a really dark color that it is not supposed to be.
- Slice all the mushrooms and toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil and thyme.
- Spread them across a baking sheet and place in 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes
- Chop one small onion and saute in olive oil until soft
- Add in the 2 cloves of chopped garlic with one teaspoon of fresh thyme and one teaspoon of powdered sage. Truth be told, I would have tried fresh sage, but I didn’t have it on hand.
- Add in the roasted mushrooms and the 3 cups of vegetable stock or broth. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and puree the soup with a hand blender. Taste it. Add salt and pepper if need be.
- Add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 cup of heavy cream and a few drizzles of truffle oil. Blend with the hand blender one more time. If you really don’t even want miniscule pieces of mushroom to be visible in your soup, you could strain it at this point.
- Ladle soup into bowls and drizzles a bit of truffle oil over the top and drop in a sprig of thyme to garnish if desired. Bon appetit!
Posted in All, Recipes.
Tagged with cream, heavy cream, mushroom, recipe, soup, truffle oil.
By KieshaG
– February 21, 2010
Better late than never – a romantic dish you can make for your sweetie on Sunday. Lobster and shrimp swimming in this creamy and delicious risotto is a perfect meal for conjuring up thoughts of snuggling up to your loved one. I’m glad to not be cooking this Valentine’s Day, but this is what I made for my last anniversary and it was a hit. I started with a recipe from Lobster at Home by Jasper White. Gorgeous book.
I am sure my adaptation does not do justice to Jasper’s original recipe. The heart and soul of Jasper’s recipe is the homemade Lobster Broth, which I shortcut by using seafood stock from the grocery store. I threw in shrimp & asparagus cause I wanted to…I used cheese with the seafood (which I hear some folks don’t like) I buy the lobster on the day I want to cook it which is a good move, but I have the butcher kill it for me…I’m sorry, I just can’t…yet.
Ingredients
- 1 1.25 lb lobster
- 4 ounces of shrimp
- 2 cups of seafood stock
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- optional – one or two stalks of asparagus, tough ends broken off steamed or boiled, then cut into 3/4 inch pieces.
- optional – 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
NOTE: You can cook your lobster and shrimp ahead of time, just keep them refrigerated until you are ready to make your risotto and bring them back to room temp before adding to your final dish.
- Boil the whole lobster and set aside and let it cool. Once it’s cool, extract all the meat from the tail, claws, and knuckles. Chop the meat into 3/4 inch chunks and place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate.
- Boil the shrimp in for about three minutes in the same water you just boiled the lobster. Let cool, peel, cut each shrimp into chunks of similar size to your lobster pieces. Place in the bowl with the lobster, cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to make you risotto.
- Pour the Seafood Stock into a a small pot and heat it up and keep it hot for the duration of your cooking.
- Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a separate heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted.
- Throw in the onion and cook it gently until they are golden – about 5 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir constantly for 1 minute. NOTE: do NOT use a metal spoon! It would impart a metallic tinny taste to your risotto from all the constant stirring and metal rubbing against the saucepan. Not delicious. Use a wooden spoon please!
- Ladle in about 1/3 cup of the hot seafood stock. Stir constantly until the broth is absorbed.
- Add another ladle of broth and stir constantly until the broth is absorbed and repeat this process until the rice is al dente, which means you want it to be firm, but not hard. Don’t rush the process. Only work one ladle at a time! The texture of the entire pot should be creamy, and not soupy or sticky.
- Stir in the lobster, shrimp, and optional veggie (I chose asparagus, but baby peas are also an excellent choice) and remove from heat.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in remaining butter, and optional cheese as well.
- Serve at once! (preferably on a warmed plate/bowl)
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Posted in All, Recipes.
Tagged with lobster, recipe, rice, risotto, romantic, shrimp, valentine's day.
By KieshaG
– February 12, 2010
