Trevor

Mac ‘n Cheese, Baked

Mac ‘n Cheese, Baked
Serves 4

Note: this is not an ooey-gooey cheese-dripping version of Mac ‘n Cheese. It uses relatively small amounts of cheese, but the end result is still a rich-tasting, warm comfort food meal.

2 cups dry shell pasta (8 ounces by weight)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (5 ounces by weight)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 ounces by weight)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (1 ounce by weight)

  1. Preheat oven to 450F.
  2. Prepare pasta according to directions on package.
  3. Spray a 1 or 1.5 quart casserole with cooking spray (makes clean up easier).
  4. Drain cooked pasta.
  5. Combine pasta and remaining ingredients. Add to casserole.
  6. Bake uncovered, until the cheese melts and gets browned (about 10-15 minutes).

Nutritional data:
Calories:        301
Fat:               6.5g
Sat fat:          3.3g
Chol:             19mg
Sodium:       145mg
Carbs:         43.9g
Fiber:               2g
Protein:       15.6g

As I served it with my Roasted Carrots and Peas.

Chicken Lo Mein

Chicken Lo Mein
Serve 6 (or fewer if there are hungry teenagers involved.)
6 ounces angel hair pasta (dry)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced and quartered
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced (8 ounces by weight)
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/4 cup Asian Toasted Sesame salad dressing
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 pound precooked chicken, shredded and heated.
  1. Cook pasta according to directions.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large (10-11″ non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add olive oil.
  3. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Saute for 3-5 minutes, or until they are beginning to become soft.
  4. Add carrots, green peppers, red peppers and mushrooms.
  5. Turn heat to high and add wine.
  6. In a small dish, combine salad dressing and peanut butter. Warm in microwave to melt the peanut butter. Stir together.
  7. Add salad dressing/peanut butter mixture to the vegetables. Stir to coat.
  8. Add chicken. Stir to combine.
  9. Either mix the angel hair into the chicken-vegetable mixture, or portion out the pasta per plate and top with 1/6 of the chicken-vegetable mixture.

Nutritional data:
Calories:        345
Fat:              17.6g
Sat fat:           4.2g
Chol:              60mg
Sodium:        248mg
Carbs:          28.5g
Fiber:             2.3g
Protein:        18.6g

Baked Alaska (built on Lemon Cake)

This is my first attempt at a Baked Alaska. I made a two person piece and two individual servings because I didn’t know if any would work. I think this was a good first attempt, but I need to work a bit more on getting the meringue brown. (It went from was white for the first 3 minutes under the broiler, and then went from white to browned in about 15 seconds. I think it needed about another 10 seconds, but I panicked.)
All the various attempts.

The best single portion.
Already starting to melt.
Melty, but tasty.
Since I haven’t mastered the Baked Alaska (yet) I am not going to give the recipe here. (If you want it, you can easily find one online.) However, I will give the recipe for the incredibly lemony cake that I used as the foundation. It is part cake, part souffle, and total deliciousness.
Lemon Cake
Serves 8
3 tablespoon butter, softened
1 cup sugar (or I used Splenda)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup flour
3 egg whites
About 1 liter boiling water (for the water bath in the oven.)
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Spray eight 5 ounce ramekins or 6 ounce custard cups with cooking spray
  3. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and lemon zest, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in egg at low speed.
  4. Add half the yogurt, half the lemon juice and half the flour. Beat until smooth.
  5. Add remaining yogurt, juice and flour, beating until smooth. Set aside.
  6. With clean beaters, beat egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form.
  7. With a rubber scraper, fold half of the egg whites into lemon mixture, gently folding until no white remains. Repeat with remaining egg whites.
  8. Divide mixture between ramekins. Place ramekins in a 9×13 baking dish. Add boiling water to the baking dish to surround the bowls with about one inch of water.
  9. Bake until golden brown and just set in the center (about 30 minutes.)
  10. Transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes
  11. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm. As the cake cools, it will begin to collapse.
Nutritional data:
Calories:       105
Fat:               5.1g
Sat fat:          2.9g
Chol:             48mg
Sodium:        44mg
Carbs:          9.1g
Fiber:           0.7g
Protein:        6.7g
Note: the flavor is HUGE lemon, but the color is very pale. If you want it to look more “lemony” you will need to add artificial food coloring. But the aroma and flavor is so pronounced that everyone will know it is lemon cake just from the incredible smells coming from the kitchen.

Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 24 Mushrooms

24 large button mushrooms
2 slices bread, torn
3 tablespoons bacon bits (or 2 slices bacon, crumbled)
1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

  1. Remove stems from cleaned mushrooms. Finely mince the stems.
  2. Preheat oven to 375F.
  3. Preheat a 10″ non-stick skillet and spray with cooking spray.
  4. Add minced mushrooms stems. Saute until then get soft (4-6 minutes.)
  5. Add torn bread. Continue to cook and stir until the bread becomes well-mixed.
  6. Add bacon. Stir.
  7. Add cheese and remove from the heat. Stir until well-mixed.
  8. Fill each cap with a teaspoon of filling.
  9. Place all caps in a 9×13 baking pan.
  10. Bake, uncovered for 30-45 minutes, or until the mushrooms get hot and the stuffing browns.

Nutritional data (per mushroom):
Calories:     29
Fat:           1.9g
Sat fat:      1.1g
Chol:        5.5mg
Sodium:  72.4mg
Carbs:       1.2g
Fiber:        0.3g
Protein:     2.1g

Alternatives:
Onions, garlic instead of bacon
Crab meat instead of bacon
Onion and avocado instead of bacon and cheddar
Onion, sausage and mozzarella instead of bacon and cheddar
Sun-dried tomato, garlic and mozzarella instead of bacon and cheddar
Onion, black olive and feta instead of bacon and cheddar
Minced ham and shredded Swiss instead of bacon and cheddar

Baked Cod and Wilted Spinach with Parmesan Panko Crumbs

Baked Cod and Wilted Spinach with Parmesan Panko Crumbs
Serves 2

12 ounces cod fillets
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, mashed and minced
6 cups (9 ounces by weight) baby spinach, torn
1 tablespoon panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon parmesan cheese

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Place fish in a shallow oven-safe dish. Sprinkle with your preferred seasonings (I used Penzey’s Sunny Paris and Dill Weed.)
  3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or when the fish begins to flake apart. (Start checking for that at 20 minutes.)
  4. While the fish is baking, preheat a small non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
  5. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil.
  6. When the oil is hot, add the panko crumbs. Toss frequently to prevent burning.
  7. Then the crumbs begin to get toast colored, add the parmesan cheese.  Toss to combine and remove from the heat.
  8. In the last 5 minutes of the fish cooking, heat a large (10-11 inch) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining teaspoon of olive oil.
  9. When the oil is hot, add the garlic. Let it cook for a minute, and then add the spinach. (If you use a smaller skillet, you will need to do half at a time.
  10. Toss the spinach frequently. You want the spinach to wilt, not fry. This will start slowly at first, but when the leaves start collapsing it will finish quickly.
  11. Remove the spinach from the heat before all the leaves are wilted. Ideally, only about half the leaves will be soft and wilted when you remove the skillet from the burner. (They will continue to wilt as they sit in the pan.)
  12. Add half the spinach to each plate. Top with half the panko-parmesan crumbs. Place half the cod on the plate and serve immediately (this is a dish that will not wait for people to come to the table.)

Nutritional data (for 6 ounces of cod + one portion of spinach):
Calories:       250 (179 cod + 71 spinach)
Fat:             7.3g (2 + 5.3)
Sat fat:        1.3g (0.4 + 0.9)
Chol:    124.7mg (124 + 0.7)
Sodium:   263mg (177 + 90)
Carbs:         4.5g (0 + 4.5)
Fiber:             2g (0 + 2)
Protein:     54.9g (51.8 + 3.1)

Variations:
You can also use haddock, pollack or just about any white fleshed fish
Add crushed red pepper to the spinach
Replace the parmesan cheese with sesame seeds (and replace the olive oil with sesame oil)

Winter Wonderland? You bet!

Wednesday, at 1pm:

Thursday, at 1pm:

Welcome to winter in Wisconsin!
This storm was predicted a few days ago and it did not live up to the hype. But I’m not complaining! I only needed to run the snowblower a total of three times in less than 24 hours. In Wednesday’s photo you can also see that I ran the snowblower on the patio and in the backyard. That is another example of spoiling Ozzie. He doesn’t like to run in the snow. When I plow a few runways in the backyard, he has places to “do his business.” This is actually a benefit for me, too, because it makes clean up easier.
Anyway, Winter Break is finally here! I have about 3 weeks off from school. Three busy weeks which have three Christmas celebrations, two dental visits, a platelet donation, and a three day vacation for Tammy and myself in Chicago. (The in-laws will house-sit the boys.)
But finally, the end of the semester is done. That is a overwhelmingly busy and stressful time (and any other educators here will attest to that) but now I can get back to my fun here.
For the past couple weeks, the food has been pretty basic and not really a lot to write about, but that has recently changed.  Yesterday’s meal is an example. Oh, most of the meal is nothing particularly exciting. Roasted vegetables and a beef roast makes for a nice meal, but they are not truly special. However, Tammy found a new potato recipe and that was a killer recipe! Even Bennett (our 20 year old) ate several servings.
Sometimes I think that finding a good side dish to finish a menu is harder than choosing the main dish. When I make a new side dish, and it works so well, I am excited to share it with you. So if you are making a meal and need a new way of serving potatoes, I hope you try the Bacon-Spinach Mashed Potatoes. 

Bacon-Spinach Mashed Potatoes

Bacon-Spinach Mashed Potatoes
Serves 6 (approximately 1/2 cup or 4 ounces by weight)

3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/4 cup (2.5 ounces by weight) Fage Greek yogurt
2 tablespoon real bacon bits (or 1-2 strips, fried and crumbled)
4.5 ounces (by weight) baby spinach, torn

  1. Place potatoes in small pan, covered with water and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes are soft, and easily pierced with a fork (8-10 minutes–small dices cook faster).
  2. While the potatoes cook, heat a large (10-12 inch) non-stick skillet over medium high heat with the olive oil.
  3. When the oil is hot, add the garlic. Let it saute for 1 minute, then add the spinach.
  4. Turn the spinach frequently. It is finished when it wilts completely. Remove from the heat.
  5. When the potatoes of cooked, drain and place potatoes in a deep bowl.
  6. With an electric mixer, whip the potatoes. Add the yogurt and bacon bits.  Mix well.
  7. Stir in the spinach and serve.

Nutritional data:
Calories:      93
Fat:            1.6g
Sat fat:       0.5g
Chol:         1.7mg
Sodium:      88mg
Carbs:        17g
Fiber:        1.6g
Protein:     4.7g

Roasted Vegetables:
Choose your preferred veggies (I used fresh crimini mushrooms, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, and onions.)
Wash all veggies, and lay in a 9×13 pan. Drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil evenly. Sprinkle with your favorite herbs and spices.
Roast at 450 for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Nutritional data will vary with your veggies choices. Other options include adding baby carrots, zucchini, butternut squash cubes, potato cubes, cherry tomatoes, whole garlic cloves.

Roast Beef:

Let the roast rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours. Season it as you prefer.
Preheat oven to 325.
Place the roast in a pan.
Bake uncovered, 30 minutes per pound (for medium) or until an instant read thermometer reads 150.

Take it out of the oven, and cover loosely with foil. The roast will continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Did You Notice A Change?

Hi! It’s end of semester over here and I am kicking my feet as fast as possible, trying to keep my head above the rising waters. One more day and life will get back to normal (or whatever I consider “normal”.)

But for right now, I added a new feature to the blog. On the right side, right under the “Followers” (are you a follower yet?  If not, add yourself!) there is a cloud of labels. I added labels to all my recipes. The labels are key ingredients and other attributes of the recipes (such as “Easy”, “Salmon”, “Grilled”, “Feta” and “Dessert”.) If you don’t know how those clouds work, the more often I use a specific word as a label, the larger the size of the word in the cloud. The number after the word indicates how many recipes correspond to that label.

That was not a difficult task, but it was fussy. Using “side dish” and “side dishes” created two different labels. Misspelling a label once also created different labels. So I needed to label everything, then go back and consolidate multiple versions of the same attribute together.

What does that mean for you? You can consider this an interconnected index of all my recipes on the blog. The cloud will make it easier for you to find recipes that you want. If you want a breakfast recipe, clicking on “Breakfast” will open all recipes connected to that label. I hope this feature makes the blog easier to use.

It also quickly illustrates what my cooking is like. Apparently, I use chicken, mushrooms, eggs and spinach a LOT!

Roasted Carrots and Peas

Roasted Carrots and Peas
Serves 6

6 large carrots, peeled, and cut in quarters lengthwise
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Seasoning (black pepper, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder is what I used)

  1. Preheat oven to 450 and place a baking pan in it while heating.
  2. Place carrots in a Ziploc baggie.
  3. Top with olive oil and seasoning. Toss to coat.
  4. When the oven is hot, put the carrots in the hot pan.
  5. Roast for 25 minutes.
  6. Add peas, mix together. Roast another 10 minutes.

Nutritional data:
Calories:   79
Fat:           2.7g
Sat fat:      0.4g
Chol:           0mg
Sodium:  90.3mg
Carbs:     11.9g
Fiber:        3.7g
Protein:     2.9g

Tomato, Spinach and Feta Topped Chicken Thighs

Tomato, Spinach and Feta topped Chicken Thighs
Serve 4
1 tablespoon olive oil
Your preferred seasoning (I prefer Penzey’s Greek Seasoning)
4 chicken thighs (skin on, and bone in)
Topping:
1 medium onion, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
2 cups diced tomatoes, or about 16 grape tomatoes, halved.

4-6 ounces of fresh baby spinach
4 ounces white wine
Black pepper to taste
4 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese, divided
8 kalamata olives, sliced

  1. Drizzle olive oil over skin side of chicken thighs. Sprinkle seasoning and herbs on, and let rest for 30 minutes (in the fridge.)
  2. Preheat a 10-11 inch non-stick skillet over med-high heat (if it has a lid, that will help.)
  3. Preheat oven to 350F
  4. Lay chicken thighs in skillet, skin side down. Sprinkle additional herbs.
  5. Fry until the skin browns (8-10 minutes). Turn over and brown the opposite side.
  6. Lay the thighs in an 8×8 baking pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165F. (If you insert a sharp, narrow knife into the thickest part of the thigh, clear juices will run out when fully cooked.)
  7. Carefully pour any residual grease out of the skillet. Reserve one teaspoon of grease. Do not wash or wipe the skillet clean.
  8. The topping will take 15 minutes, so time it accordingly.
  9. In the same skillet saute the onion in the reserved teaspoon of cooking grease until translucent (5-6 minutes over medium-high heat.)
  10. Add tomatoes, and let cook, undisturbed for 2 minutes.
  11. Add the garlic and stir everything together. Cook for one minute.
  12. Lay the spinach over the onions and tomatoes. If possible, add all, otherwise just half at a time.
  13. If all the spinach fits, pour the wine over the spinach. (If you have a lid, cover the skillet now and reduce the heat to low.)
  14. If only half the spinach fit, start with half the spinach and half the wine. When the spinach wilts, add the remaining spinach and wine.
  15. To serve, place a chicken thigh on the plate and top with 1/4 of the topping. Add 1 tablespoon feta, and 1/4 of the sliced olives.
Note:  I am providing the nutritional data for the topping only. You can made this with chicken thighs (my preference), or breasts (my wife’s preference.)  Skin on, or skin off. Large pieces or small pieces. One thigh (my portion) or three thighs (my college son’s portion.) All those options will vary, and to give you the number for what I ate will not mean much to you. But regardless of how much protein you serve per portion, the amount of topping remains unchanged.
Nutritional data for the topping:
Calories:    132
Fat:            7.8g
Sat fat:          2g
Chol:        12.3mg
Sodium:     266mg
Carbs:        8.3g
Fiber:         2.2g

Protein:      3.6g