Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese

 

It feels like I have been waiting fifty years for the new season of Lost to start.  I LOVE this show.  Terry and I didn't even get into it until the middle of the second season when our friend Kevin insisted that we borrow his copy of the first seasons DVDs and give them a try.  Terry and I literally immersed ourselves into the first season and were hooked, we watched the first half of the second season on the internet and then we became regular watchers.  Last night we invited over our fellow Lost worshipers, my cousins, Timmy and CCB (crazy cousin Bud) for dinner and to watch the sixth and last season premier.  These boys really appreciate my cooking so I decided to indulge them and pull out the recipe for Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese.  I first became acquainted with this recipe when Joe reviewed it on his blog, Culinary in the Desert, and it got rave reviews on the CLBB.

Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese
(Adapted from Joe and from Rachel Ray)

16 ounces dry cavatappi pasta
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 jalapeño chiles, seeded, ribs removed and thinly sliced
2 serrano chiles, seeded, ribs removed and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups milk
8 ounces cream cheese, sliced into cubes
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
8 ounces (about 2 cups) shredded Mexican-blend cheese

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and place back into the pot off heat.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Stir in jalapeños, serranos and garlic - cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add to the pot with the drained pasta.

Preheat the broiler.

In the same saucepan, add milk, cream cheese and onion - heat over medium-low, stirring, until very smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour in to the pot with the pasta and add the cheese - season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, tossing well to coat. Scoop mixture into a casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Place under the broiler and bake until lightly browned on top, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove and let cool slightly before serving.

Makes about 6 servings.

 

 In a large pot of boiling, salted water, add pasta and cook according to package directions.  Drain and place back into the pot off heat.

 

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Stir in jalapeños, serranos and garlic - cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add to the pot with the drained pasta (I forgot this step and left it in with the next step.) Preheat the broiler.

  In the same saucepan, add milk, cream cheese and onion - heat over medium-low, stirring, until very smooth, about 5 minutes.

 

 Pour in to the pot with the pasta and add the cheese - season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, tossing well to coat.

 

Scoop mixture into a casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Place under the broiler and bake until lightly browned on top, about 3 to 5 minutes.

First off, Lost was AMAZING, as I imagined it would be, just like our Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese!  It seems like it would be a tedious recipe, but it is not at all.  There are very few steps and those steps foster delicious results.  It really does taste like a pasta version of the Jalapeno Popper football snacks that we all know and love.  In my photos I made a mistake and left the jalapenos in the pot with the cheeses, but it still turned out great.  Before sticking the dish under the broiler I added some Panko bread crumbs and a light spray of cooking oil to create a crunchy topping.  Between the four of us we ate almost the entire thing, and it was served as a side dish!  I have already thrown this one into the "winner" pile and I am sure I will return back to it many times in the future.  

-Heather

Stuffed Pizza Sticks

 

Saturday night was spent having a fabulous time with great friends, it sure was fun but I am not used to staying out so late anymore.  Being ridiculously tired from the festivities of the weekend, I was not in the mood to cook dinner at all on Monday night.  I even skipped the gym.  Just when I was about to ask Terry to pick up some take out on his way home I remembered a really simple recipe that I had seen recently on Joe's blog, Culinary in the Desert, for Stuffed Pizza Sticks.  They seemed easy enough, and I had the ingredients on hand, so I gave them a try.

Stuffed Pizza Sticks 

(Adapted from Culinary in the Desert and Rachael Ray)

16 ounces prepared whole-wheat pizza dough (I used Joe's recipe from Culinary in the Desert.)
6 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup pepperoni, chopped
Diced green pepper

Diced red onion

Cooking spray Marinara sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Evenly divide dough into 4 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll each piece of dough into a large rectangle. Scatter the top of each rectangle, keeping one long edge clean, with the shredded cheese, basil, chopped pepperoni, green pepper and red onion. Fold the ends of the dough in on each rectangle, then starting with one long side (the one opposite of the clean side), roll dough up, jelly-roll style, pinching seam to seal.

Transfer logs to a parchment-lined baking sheet, pinched seam side down.  Lightly coat the sticks with cooking spray.  Place pan into the oven and bake until the logs are golden, about 18 to 22 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Serve with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Makes 4 servings.

  

Evenly divide dough into 4 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll each piece of dough into a large rectangle.

  

. Scatter the top of each rectangle, keeping one long edge clean, with the shredded cheese, basil, chopped pepperoni, green pepper and red onion.

  

Fold the ends of the dough in on each rectangle.

  

Starting with one long side (the one opposite of the clean side), roll dough up, jelly-roll style, pinching seam to seal.

  

 Transfer logs to a parchment-lined baking sheet, pinched seam side down.  Lightly coat the sticks with cooking spray.  Place pan into the oven and bake until the logs are golden, about 18 to 22 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Serve with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Stuffed Pizza Sticks were a great change of pace for Terry and me.  Although I enjoy the elaborate dinners that I often try to throw together it was really nice to make something that was simple, easy and delicious.  I thought that rolling them into their baking shape might be difficult, but I found it more simple to do than transferring  a thin pizza crust onto a pizza stone.  I made my own WW dough, but you could certainly just buy some prepared dough from your local grocery store. These pizza sticks can be stuffed with anything under the sun, just don't fill them too full or you might see some ingredients oozing out of your dough.  A side salad accompanied my pizza stick and Terry had his with, well, more pizza sticks.  Both of us really liked dipping them into the warm marinara sauce.  I am pretty pumped to try some new flavor combinations inside of the sticks.  These would be a blast to serve at a small sports party...I would recommend trying them the next time you feel like having a little fun in the kitchen.

-Heather      

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy

It is an extremely rare event when Terry and I deicde to stay in on a Friday night.  Last Friday we chose to take it easy and go to bed early so we would be ready to help our friend Stephen celebrate his 30th birthday the following evening. Since we were doing things we normally wouldn't do to start with, I continued the theme when I picked out a recipe with steak in it.  We very rarely eat red meat and besides ground beef, I am a little intimidated by working with this versatile protein.  The recipe for Cooking Light’s Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy has been lingering around the CLBB as of late.  Top sirloin steak was on sale at Von's so the stars seemed to be aligned, it was time to give this one a go. 

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy
Adapted from Cooking Light, JANUARY 2010


2 cups uncooked egg noodles (I made brown rice instead)
Cooking spray
1 pound top sirloin steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 (8-ounce) package presliced baby bella mushrooms
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 fresh thyme sprigs (I used dried)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, optional

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. While noodles cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan; cover.
3. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Add pepper, salt, and thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Return beef to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard thyme sprigs. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

Yield:  4 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup beef mixture and 2/3 cup noodles)

CALORIES 344 ; FAT 12.5g (sat 5.3g,mono 4.2g,poly 1.2g); CHOLESTEROL 95mg; CALCIUM 28mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.7g; SODIUM 538mg; PROTEIN 27.3g; FIBER 1.7g; IRON 4.3mg 

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides.

Remove from pan; cover.

Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds.

Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly.

Add pepper, salt, and thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened.

Return beef to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard thyme sprigs. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

This was SUPER good.  I was nervous that the steak would be chewy, but it remained tender.  I didn't have any fresh thyme, so I sprinkled in some dried thyme instead and the flavor of the herb was still easily detected.  We enjoyed some pasta the night before, so instead of egg noodles I made brown rice to accompany CL's Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy.  This recipe pulled together very quickly, I think it took me longer to cut and trim the steak than it did to cook the meal.  The next time that I prepare this dish I will definitely serve it with a side of some sort of green vegetable.  I am also looking forward to to smothering some egg noodles rather than brown rice to see which starch works the best.  I would strongly recommend giving this recipe a try, it will be especially good during these cooler months.

-Heather