Macaroni and FOUR Cheeses

Instead of studying for my midterm in October (I know, this is way late), I spent 2 hours making macaroni and cheese, since I had some leftover Vermont cheddar from a farmer's market up in Vermont. This recipe is adapted from 100 Best Vegetarian Recipes, by Carol Gelles. The original recipe uses only three cheese, but I added some parmesan. I also substituted the Worcestershire sauce with Sriracha.
Ingredients:
12 ounces macaroni (it calls for elbow; I used shells)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
1.5 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Gouda (smoked is good, too)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese (I just sort of grate it in until I feel like there's enough)
Sriracha to taste
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cook the macaroni until al dente; drain
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and stir in the flour until absorbed.
4. Using a whisk, stir in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Make sure to scrape the bottom so that there are no clumps. Stir in the cheeses, sriracha, and salt. Remove from heat and continue stirring until the cheeses are melted. Stir in the cooked macaroni. Pour into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5. Bake 30-45 minutes or until the top is browned.

A Passover Feast!

For Passover, I try and keep Kosher. As someone of Ashkenazi descent, this means no grains, no rice, no corn, no legumes, and no string beans. Given that everything these days is made with soybean oil and corn syrup, this gets difficult. Why do I do this, since I'm not technically Jewish nor am I ver religious one way or the other? I don't know; I take it as a personal challenge. Luckily, quinoa is not a grain. It is actually a grass, just like wild rice. The first night of Passover, things went really well in my quest to keep Kosher. I made a nice salmon with quinoa and broccoli, so here it is!



Start by cooking the quinoa. This can be done over the stove or in a rice cooker. I used a rice cooker, and then towards the end, I put the broccoli florets in the steamer basket. Make sure you use fresh broccoli, not the old stuff in the back of your vegetable crisper. That's what I did, and it brought the dish down. After the quinoa and broccoli were done, I mixed them together and added some red wine vinegar. Don't forget salt! I sometimes do, and this could have used it.

Now for the salmon. This was the highlight of the meal. I tried a little experiment, and made an impromptu grill on my stove. I have a tortilla warmer, which I heated over a burner and then wrapped the fish in tinfoil and put it on the warmer. You could also do this in the broiler. It should take about 15-20 min for the fish to cook through, depending. I like my salmon a little on the rare side, so I think I had it cooking about 7 min on a side.



I used tinfoil for easy clean up, but it's not necessary. First, I rubbed some olive oil into the fish, and then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I also sliced up some onion, and sprinkled some minced garlic on, as well as some dried Italian herbs. If you have fresh herbs, those would be better. Since I had some parsley, I also tossed some springs in the package. If you have a lemon, that adds a tangy flavor to the salmon. You can get creative with what you put on the fish. Once I had it seasoned to my liking, I wrapped it up and tossed it on the "grill."

While I was waiting for the fish to cook, I assembled the quinoa and broccoli.

After this meal, my attempts at keeping Kosher became less than successful. Oh, well. There's always next year!

Book Review: "Quick and Easy Tofu Cookbook"

My mom got me this book (by Yukiko Moriyama) for Christmas, and I've been enjoying it. It's a bit dated (who uses the word Oriental anymore?), and some of the recipes are kind of out there, but it's also got some great ones. They are also very quick, and very easy. They don't require much prep work, and most of the ingredients are pantry staples. Heat up some rice in the rice cooker, and get to work on the meal. The rice will probably take longer. All the recipes are illustrated with photos, and all the ingredients are shown in a photo as well. This can be seen in the image below, although it's kind of blurry.



I've made the above recipe, Chinese Style Tofu with Red Pepper Sauce" a few times now, and it's come out great. I do the curry variation, because I really like curry.

Chinese Style Tofu with Red Pepper Sauce, adapted from Quick and Easy Tofu Cookbook



Ingredients (I've halved the recipe, since the original calls for 24 oz tofu, which is a lot for one person):
1 block tofu, cubed
1/4-1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or 1 fresh red chili pepper)
Oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tablespoons cooking wine
1/2 cup stock (bullion cubes are fine)
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
Peas (the recipe calls for three tablespoons, but I usually put in more)

While you're assembling the dish, put some rice (brown or white) in the rice cooker to serve alongside the tofu.

Take the cubed tofu and dip it into hot water for 30 seconds (I don't know what this step does), and drain well.

Heat the oil in a wok; add ginger, green onions, garlic, and red pepper and stir-fry.

Add the ground beef and stir-fry; add 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce and reduce heat to medium. Add the curry, the rest of the soy sauce, the wine, and the stock. Bring to a boil. Add cornstarch mixture, and stir. At this point, I also like to squirt some sriracha in, but it's probably not necessary.

Add tofu and peas; simmer until thick.

Serve with rice. This lasted me 2-3 days.