Baked Mac N Cheese

This week's recipe (technically, last week....was a bit slow to post) is Alton Brown's Baked Mac N Cheese.....sadly, it was not as flavorful as we thought that it would be. I have made Alton Brown recipes in the past and usually they are pretty good. But this one just lacked in the flavor department. We gave it 3 stars just because it wouldn't be bad to eat again as a fail safe but.....this means that i am still on the hunt for a good Mac N Cheese recipe. I think that i will try the Neely's recipe next - it has bacon in it, can't go wrong with a bit of pork product in a recipe, eh?


Well, here's the recipe for those who would like to try it. :D

Baked Mac N Cheese
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoon butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

So...the last winter before we left Seattle we were in one of the largest snow falls Seattle had seen in YEARS and here we are in Washington DC and tada! We hit another place that hadn't seen snow in years and here we are watching the weather try to break the snowfall record of 1922! I think that we unknowingly brought Jack Frost with us to DC…. Do we take snow wherever we go? If we move to central america, will they see snow next winter!?!? O.O

Well, that being said, at least we got some fun pictures of our little Kiera in the snow. And some videos with Kiera’s cute little gait and a video of the snow – I say 21 inches but it turns out when I looked online it was over 24 inches! Enjoy!

Recipe of the Week

When I first got married my ability to boil water was sub-par let alone cook! So, I have been slowly over the years gathering recipes from friends and family and have a pretty good collection of yummies. But its always nice to try something new right? So, my challenge to myself this year has been to try at least one new recipe a week and so far so good. But then I thought to myself...Hey! You are finding some pretty good meals here - share 'em. So....here I am, blogging about my new recipe of the week. I'm excited and think that this will be a fun little adventure. Thanks for riding along. :D Enjoy!


So, this one was pretty yummy and the sauce had an unexpected flavor. :D We gave it 3-1/2 stars because of the reheat factor and amount of pots and dishes I had to dirty to make this sucker!! This time I made it with broccoli salad but I think next time I place the cutlets over lettuce and rice. Here it is and I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. :D

Milanese-Style Cutlets with roasted-pepper & tomato sauce
4 servings

For the sauce -
1/2 c diced onion
7 tbsp evoo
1 can whole tomatoes (15 oz)
1/2 c roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the cutlets -
1 c panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 c flour
12 oz veal, beef, pork or chicken cutlets (i used chicken)

Saute onion in 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan over med-high heat until onion is translucent, about 5 mins. Stir in tomatoes and roasted red pepper; cook until heated through.
Transfer mixture to a blender; puree until smooth. Return sauce to saucepan, stir in 2 tbsp parsley, vinegar, salt and pepper. Keep sauce warm until ready to serve.
Combine panko with the remaining 2 tbsp parsley in a shallow dish. Whisk together eggs and dijon in another shallow dish. Place flour in a third shallow dish Season panko mixture, egg mixture, and flour with salt and pepper.
Coat meat in flour, tapping to remove excess. Dip meat into the egg mixture, and then into the panko mixture.
Heat 4 tbsp of remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in two batches, saute cutlets in hot oil until they're crisp and golden on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer cutlets to a paper-towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil, then to a cooling rack so bottoms of cutlets don't get soggy. Add reminings 2 tbsp oil to skillet and repeat with remaining culets.
Serve cutlets with roasted-pepper and tomato sauce.
ENJOY!

As promised.....

Hello lovers of Kiera! Here are the videos I promised you from Kiera's recent trip to El Salvador. She is just the cutest thing ever, isn't she?! Enjoy!

El Salvador & Kiera

So, here are some photos of Kiera in El Salvador. Cute videos to follow! :D

Born Comedian :D

Kiera LOVES making people laugh!! Take a look at how cute this little one is!

Long distance makeup

For Amy's birthday, her only request was to Skype with Baby K....and who can say no to such an easy birthday request? So, we hopped onto Skype and Kiera was, of course, the ham. Giggling, and talking her Kiera-nese. Then once we put her down and put the laptop down to her level, she had a brilliant idea.......Auntie MiMi needs a makeover! So, she grabbed her "makeup case" and brush and did one right there on the spot. Is she a girly-girl or what?

Soooooo long

Okay, so first things first.....my apologies for not getting on here more often for Kiera's adoring fans. It has been a rough month and have been working many hours at my job - so excuses aside, here are some cute photos of Kiera. :D

Enjoy!

Future motorcyclist?