Beer Cheese Mac and Cheese

FOUND IT: This one is my own creation - concocted from a combination of a mac and cheese recipe from my mom and my Beer Cheese Soup recipe.

I recently realized somewhat suddenly that I've included a fair number of recipes here, but not my original mac and cheese recipe, the one that started my fascination with homemade mac and cheese. It's also the filling in my Mac and Cheese stuffed meatloaf. And now, it's going to be the 50th recipe on this site. That seems fitting, somehow.

Ingredients:

1 lb sharp cheddar, shredded
1 cup milk
1/2 cup beer
6 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons of butter, cut into small chunks
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and pepper
Your favorite pasta - I use Dreamwell's elbows, as they're a little healthier.

Warm the milk and beer over medium heat until they're just threatening to boil. While you're waiting for that to warm up, boil your pasta in a large pot. Once it's tender, drain it and set it aside.

Meanwhile, whisk the flour into the milk mixture, then add all the other ingredients except the cheese. Once the butter melts, stir the mixture until it starts to thicken (if you can drag a silicon spatula across the bottom of the pan and see the bottom before liquid fills in, you're there), then add cheese. Stir until the sauce is thick and all the cheese has melted, then set it aside.

Combine the pasta with the cheese sauce, and enjoy.

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

FOUND IT: At the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's 30 Days 30 Ways blog.
MODIFIED IT: To replace a couple of ingredients I didn't have.

This recipe isn't as spicy as I expected it to be, although using the Pepper Jack cheese the recipe calls for would almost certainly rectify that problem.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups pasta noodles, such as cavatappi (a 1 lb box should be sufficient)
• 4 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
• Half a medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup roasted red pepper (jarred or home roasted), finely chopped
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely minced (I made a half recipe but still used 2 jalapenos. For a full one, I'd use more.)
  

(Instead of attempting to finely chop these three ingredients, I pureed them all in a food processor.)

• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 ounces Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded (I didn't have the Pepper Jack, so I doubled up on this)
• Bread crumbs, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper and jalapeño pepper, cook, stirring occasionally until fragrant and tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is completely melted, whisk in the flour. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it turns a light golden brown color, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the milk until well blended. Cook the mixture, whisking or stirring frequently, until it begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Whisk in cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the cheeses to the mixture and whisk until completely melted and well incorporated. Remove from heat.

Grease a 2-quart casserole dish. Return the drained pasta to a large pot. Add in the sautéed vegetables and cheese sauce; mix until well blended. Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole dish. Cover with bread crumbs if desired.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, then allow to cool for at least five minutes before serving.

Round Steak Pinwheels

FOUND IT: I think the initial idea came from a 30 Minute Meals episode. I didn't write down a recipe, I just used the concept to create my own spin on it.

We don't eat a lot of steak in my house, for a couple of reasons: it's expensive, and my wife isn't a big fan. I like this recipe, though, and round steak isn't usually terribly expensive, so I make it from time to time.

Ingredients:

• 1 round steak, pounded thin and either quartered or cut into six longish strips, depending on whether you want large or small servings.
• Fresh spinach (roughly half of the bag of it you can get at the store)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• Sliced cheese (pick a favorite here. I've used cheddar, co-jack, swiss, muenster...all work)
• Salt and pepper (or your favorite steak seasonings)
• Soy sauce, to taste

In a medium skillet, heat the oil and add the spinach, sauteing until wilted. It won't take long.

Then, lay your steaks out on a work surface, and season as desired. Place half a slice of cheese on the steak, then a layer of spinach. Roll up the steak and secure with a toothpick. Place the finished rollups in an 8x8 baking dish, and add a little soy sauce to them.

Bake at 550 (yes, 550) for 20 minutes or until they've hit your desired level of doneness. Let them rest for a few minutes before cutting into them.

Deli-style Muenster Mac & Cheese

FOUND IT: At the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's 30 Days 30 Ways blog.

I modified this one a fair amount, because I liked the concept but not necessarily their execution of it. If you'd like to see it done a different way, follow the link over to their site.

With that said, my wife really liked the way this turned out, and was especially happy with the muenster and bread crumb topping. This recipe makes a lot, though, so cut it in half if you're only serving two people.

Ingredients:

• Bread crumbs for topping (Follow the link for a recipe to make them - I just used some I had on hand.)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces (about 2 cups grated) sharp white cheddar
  
• 2 tbsp brown mustard
  
• 1/2 cup gherkin pickles, drained and chopped (I omit this)
  
• 8 slices Muenster Cheese

In a large pot of boiling water, cook elbow macaroni until just al dente (about 6 minutes). Do not drain yet, but turn off heat and let pasta sit in the hot water while you prepare the cheese sauce.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Sprinkle flour over butter and stir continuously with a spoon as the mixture forms a paste and begins to brown a little, roughly 2 minutes. Then add milk a little at a time, stirring with a whisk after each addition. The paste will be lumpy at first, but will smooth and blend eventually.

Once all milk is added, stir in chili powder, salt and ground pepper. Increase heat to medium, and continue stirring until sauce starts to thicken, about 8 minutes*. Reduce heat to low. Add the cheddar and stir until fully melted. Add the mustard and remove the cheese sauce from the heat.

* - I define "starts to thicken" in this case as the point where you can drag a silicon spatula along the bottom of the pan and see the bottom of the pan before the liquid fills in.

Drain the macaroni in a large colander and rinse under hot water to remove extra starch. Drain well and return to pot. Stir hot cheese sauce thoroughly, then pour it over hot macaroni. Toss the pasta to coat evenly. Pour this mixture into a 8x8 square or 9 inch round baking dish. Cover the top with slices of Muenster, then a thin layer of bread crumbs.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. If the cheese on top isn't browning at this point, turn on the broiler and finish it off that way. Let it rest for a few minutes to cool, then serve.

Caprese Mac & Cheese

FOUND IT: At the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's 30 days 30 ways with Mac & Cheese blog.

Here's an interesting take on mac and cheese. It's very un-traditional, but if you choose a good mozzarella the cheese flavor really comes through, and it also has an intriguingly strong lemony flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp pepper, divided
• 1 pound pasta (medium shells are the recommendation)
  
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 8 ounces Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
• 1 8-ounce ball Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced

In a baking dish, combine grape tomatoes, olive oil, basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Toss to coat and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove and let stand.

At the same time bring water to boil over high heat in a soup pot (recipe calls for a medium saucepan, I wanted more room); add pasta and cook until tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and let stand in a separate bowl.

In the same sauce pan, combine milk, butter, shredded Mozzarella Cheese, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring continually, over low heat until the cheese melts into a thick sauce, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the drained pasta back into pan and toss to coat.

Pour the pasta and cheese mixture into an 10×14-inch oven-safe dish (I used a nine inch round) and top with baked grape tomatoes. You can use the juice from the bottom of the tomato pan as a marinade for the fresh mozzarella, if desired.

Place the seasoned Fresh Mozzarella on top of the pasta and tomatoes. Broil on high for five minutes or until cheese is melted and browning.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

FOUND IT: At Cooks.com

My wife needed a dish to pass for a work Super Bowl party, and requested these. I still have a ton of pumpkin in my freezer, so I was more than happy to use a little bit of it for this. The recipe could still use a little tweaking - the filling is a little plain.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
5 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I ran mine through the food processor)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat version)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp nutmeg

Combine flour and brown sugar in medium bowl, then add butter to make a crumb mixture. Stir in nuts. Set aside 3/4 cup of this mixture for topping.

Press remaining mixture into bottom of 8 x 8 x 1 1/2 inch basking pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Put it in the fridge to cool while you make the filling. Don't remove it until you can handle it without burning yourself.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla and nutmeg in large mixer bowl. Blend until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake an additional 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.