Same recipe, different place

It has become tradition that I leave my daughter (Jessica) with a homecooked meal whenever I visit. It was my intention to make "Smoky Mushroom Mac n' Cheese" for her this weekend, but she opted out. So, I stopped on the way home from Abilene to purchase the ingredients for myself. Two words sum it up... HER LOSS

I've attempted traditional mac 'n cheese a few times, and each yielded poor results. However, this version was fantastic!! I enjoyed the dish with some roasted asparagus and a glass of Pinot Noir. If you want to give this recipe a whirl, preparation is key. Quite a bit of chopping is involved, so take care of that first and you'll enjoy the rest of the ride.

Smoky Mushroom Mac n' Cheese
   1 lb. campanelle pasta (I could not find this variety, so I settled for farfalle)
   2 tbls butter
   1 tbls olive oil
   1/2 cup diced shallots
   1 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (I used a 1/2 lb. each of brown, button, and baby bella mushrooms)
   1 tbls fresh thyme, chopped
   2 cloves garlic, minced
   3 tbls flour
   3 cups 2% milk
   7 oz. smoked gouda, shredded
   3 oz. gouda, shredded
   salt & pepper
  
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Cook pasta about 2 minutes less than package directions; drain & set aside.
3. In large saucepan, heat 1 tbls. of butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 3 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and thyme; cook 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes.
4. Add remaining 1 tbls. of butter to saucepan. Once melted, add flour and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in milk and continue stirring until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes until thickened.
5. Remove from heat and stir in cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Mix together with cooked pasta.
6. Pour mixture into an ungreased 13x9x2 baking dish. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

How do you say "gobble, gobble" in Spanish?

I made Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps from Skinnytaste.com. 

This recipe is super easy and it's nice to know I can now make taco seasoning myself if I don't have any on hand.

A couple of notes:

•  Use a non-stick pan with a lid.  Non-stick because it uses extra-lean ground turkey and there is no oil in the recipe.  I can't imagine the clean-up if you used a regular pan.  I don't like to scrub crud off my pans - call me crazy.  A lid because it calls for it, but not until the end of the recipe when you may not have realized you needed a pan with a lid!

• It calls for a 4oz can of tomato sauce.  I don't think there is such an animal.  An 8oz can is teeny tiny, so I can only imagine you'd need a magnifying glass to open a 4oz can.  So buy the 8oz and use half.

• This would be a good recipe to double and freeze the turkey stuff since it uses half a can of the tomato sauce, half an onion, and about half a small bell pepper.  If you're anything like me, the other halves of stuff like that sit in the fridge until they start growing things, then go in the trash.

• Cook the turkey mixture for an extra 5 minutes with the lid off if the liquid isn't absorbed.  Mine was still soupy until I cooked it longer.

 Quite frankly, the hardest part of this recipe was peeling the lettuce layers.  I only had one come off that wasn't torn badly.  I have a new-found respect for the people who do this for PF Changs!  Let's hope they have a decent benefits package...


 I added a little cheese and plain yogurt as toppings.  At 134 calories a serving (2 tacos) before toppings, I figured the extras weren't going to hurt.

Shallots, Shallots Everywhere

Jennifer and I cooked this dinner on February 3rd.  The intent was not to have quite so many shallots in one meal, but it turned out in our favor. 

The main course was a salmon recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.  I don't love salmon, but for some reason I like this recipe.  It is simple to put together and difficult to over cook the fish. 

• Salmon Baked in Foil on the Food Network

The two side dishes were cheesy baked farro and Ina Garten's green beans with shallots.

• Cheesy Baked Farro on the Food Network

• String Beans with Shallots on the Food Network

I need to work on my food styling skills, but here is a picture of dinner.  We were too hungry to plate the salmon.  The only suggestion I would make is to get the farro ready to put in the oven and then assemble the salmon.  This way you can place the salmon and the farro in the oven and both should be done around the same time.  Enjoy!

Bill & Jennifer