White Cheddar Mac and Cheese

White Cheddar Mac and Cheese

My gang loves macaroni and cheese. Like many other Southerners, they consider it a vegetable!

This is a really good recipe. I love the flavor of the white cheddar, but you can use regular, if you prefer. A mixture of the two is nice, also! 

This recipe makes a large pan (9x13-inch) of mac and cheese and is great for serving a crowd. You can half the recipe for a smaller group and bake it in an 8x8-inch pan. It does heat over well!

Since I was serving baked beans with bacon the day I made this, I didn't add the bacon garnish to this batch of mac and cheese, but the dish is really tasty with the bacon crumbles. But, what savory recipe isn't usually improved by adding a bit of bacon?!

Oh, by the way, you don't really have to bake this. If you prefer, or if time is short, you can just combine the cheese sauce with the noodles and dish it out! 

White Cheddar Mac and Cheese

1 pound elbow macaroni
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5½ cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
Freshly ground black pepper

Optional Garnish:
4 slices bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Add salt.
Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes; drain. Return to cooking pot and cover with cold water.
Melt the butter over medium-high heat.
Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute; whisk constantly.
Gradually add milk.
Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth.
Add 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Drain macaroni. Return to cooking pot.
Pour cheese sauce over macaroni. Stir gently until all the macaroni is coated well with the cheese sauce.
Spoon into prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Garnish:
While the pasta bakes, cook the bacon until crispy; crumble.
To serve, sprinkle the bacon over the macaroni and cheese.

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with Broiled Peanut Butter Icing

 Peanut Butter Sheet Cake 
with Broiled Peanut Butter Icing

This cake has a soft, smooth, moist texture. The icing is very flavorful! A great combination!

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with Broiled Peanut Butter Icing

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup peanut butter
1½  cups brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup warm water
1 cup buttermilk*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
Cream butter and peanut butter until smooth with an electric mixer.
Add brown sugar; mix until smooth.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Add warm water and buttermilk, mixing until smooth.
Gradually add flour, combining until just mixed.
Pour mixture into prepared baking pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until it tests done with a toothpick.

Icing:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup extra-chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup milk

Preheat broiler.
Cream butter, sugar, and peanut butter with an electric mixer.
Beat in milk until smooth.
Spread over warm cake.
Place iced cake under broiler.
Broil only a few seconds - just until topping starts to bubble. Watch very carefully!

Cool at least 30 minutes before serving.
  
*Buttermilk Substitute:
Place a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line
Allow to stand for five minute.

Smoked Sausage and Texas Toast Breakfast Bake

 Smoked Sausage and Texas Toast Breakfast Bake

This recipe was a result of my cleaning out my freezer. My Sunday school class gave it a thumbs up!

  

Smoked Sausage and Texas Toast Breakfast Bake

1 (13.5 oz.) box frozen Texas toast with cheese, thawed (I used New York Brand's Five Cheese Texas Toast)
1 pound smoked sausage, chopped
1 chopped onion
1 cup chopped green peppers
4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cook spray.
Sauté chopped smoked sausage, onions and peppers, until sausage is lightly browned and veggies are tender.
Cut thawed bread slices into cubes. Layer half of cubes into prepared dish.
Top bread cubes with half of sausage mixture.
Sprinkle two cup of the cheese over the sausage.
Repeat layers.
In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, mustard and salt; pour over layers.
Cover with foil and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight.
Place covered casserole dish in oven.
Turn temperature to 350.
Bake for about 45 minutes.
Uncover and bake a few minutes more, until top is golden brown.

Aunt Jesca’s Cornbread Salad

My friend Judy gave me this recipe many years. It was a recipe George’s aunt, Jesca, had shared with her. It was the first Cornbread Salad I had ever eaten. Although, I’ve had many versions since, this is still by far my favorite and the only one I personally make.
I love having my recipes on my computer, mainly because it makes them so easy to share with others. There are few recipes though that I’ve purposefully never added to my computerized recipe file. This recipe is one of them. I just love taking out this old 5x7-inch ruled index card with Judy’s handwriting; love seeing her notation that the recipe was from Jesca; and love being reminded of that sweet, long-ago day in her kitchen on Poyner Street, where I took my first bite of Aunt Jesca’s Cornbread Salad. Great food! Great memories! 

Aunt Jesca’s Cornbread Salad

Fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes are best in this! Don’t go using low-fat mayo here! Cut calories elsewhere! Full-octane Hellman’s is the ticket for this particular application!

2 pones* cornbread (I’ve never measured the amount in cups, but I’m guessing it’s 5 - 6 cups. If you get too much cornbread, just add another dollop or two of mayo!)
1 cup chopped green onions
½ cup chopped green peppers
2 or 3 tomatoes
2 cups mayonnaise

Jesca’s recipe lists these two ingredients as optional. I’ve never add them myself, but I’m sure they’d be good.
1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos
1 cup chopped celery 

You can add a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper, if you like.

Crumble corn pones and add other ingredients. Chill. Delicious with country vegetables!

*Corn Pone - (Regional cuisine - Southern US) corn bread, especially a plain type made with water, sometimes shortened to pone

Creamy Crawfish Pasta

 Creamy Crawfish Pasta

We had been craving crawfish since we watched an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats the other night. This dish satisfied our yearning!
We love Alton Brown and always learn so much from his shows! On his crawfish episode, this brainy Marietta, Georgia resident gave validity to our calling this little crustacean - "craw" fish and not "cray" fish, as some would have us believe it should be called. We all know it's "craw"fish, right?!  
Alton's Wikipedia bio says he's a Christian! I thought some of you might be interested in that! He genuinely seems like a really nice guy!
I picked up a package of frozen, fully-cooked crawfish tails the other day and just sort of just threw this pasta dish together with things I had on hand. I thought it turned out really well. The family all raved, which is always a good sign! I didn't have any parsley in the fridge, but it would surely have added a nice touch of color to our plates. You could also saute a chopped green pepper along with the onions and sausage. Shrimp could be used instead of crawfish in this dish. Better yet - use shrimp and crawfish!  
Now that would be some kind of good!

Creamy Crawfish Pasta

1 pound dried pasta of choice, prepared according to package directions
1 pound frozen, fully-cooked crawfish tails, thawed
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 pound Cajun sausage, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 - 4 cups sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups cream, half-and-half, or milk
1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
Cajun seasoning, to taste
Chopped parsley

Put pasta on to cook.
While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet.
Add onions and sausage. Sauté until onions are tender and sausage is browned.
Add mushrooms and sauté until tender.
Add garlic and sauté a minute or two more.
Sprinkle in flour, stirring until smooth. You can a bit more butter here, if you like.
Gradually add cream into flour mixture, stirring until thickened.
Stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese
Add salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste. 
Drain pasta and return to pot.
Pour sauce over pasta.
Toss until pasta is well-coated with sauce. 
Gently fold in fully-cooked crawfish tails.
Let pasta simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Plate and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Garnished with chopped parsley, if you like.

More great recipes at Tasty Tuesday!

Ro*tel Tomatoes - Chicken Spaghetti and Ro*tel Dip

My sweet and hilariously funny blogging buddy, Mub, asked about Ro*tel tomatoes in the comment section under Cornbread Tomatoes. I thought I'd answer her question in a post, since some others might not be familiar with Ro*tel Tomatoes.

Hey, Mub!

Ro*tel Tomates are just canned stewed tomatoes that have been kicked-up with some green chillies. If you can't get Ro*tel tomatoes in the Netherlands, just throw in some canned green chillies or chopped jalapeno peppers with a can of stewed tomatoes.
I'm not sure about the rest of the country (USA), but in the South, we do love us some Ro*tel tomatoes. We actually just call it Ro*tel. As in - "I added a can of Ro*tel, and it was just what that recipe needed!" I doubt there's hardly a pantry in my town without at least one can of Ro*tel. Most of us don't like to cut it that close though, so we keep several cans on hand. We put it in dips, stews, casseroles - whatever we're cookin' that we think needs a little kick! We particularly love to pair Ro*tel tomatoes with Kraft's Velveeta cheese product. Note the word - product. I honestly don't know all the ingredients in a loaf (yes, loaf!) of Velveeta, I just know it melts like a dream! Two universal (well, at least below the Mason-Dixon Line), all-time favorite uses for Ro*tel tomatoes and Velveeta are Chicken Spaghetti and Ro*tel Dip.
Chicken Spaghetti is one of those dishes that folks will almost argue over. We all have our favorite version, and no one's is as good as our own momma's. So, here is the basic version of Chicken Spaghetti. It's the one most new cooks start out with. Over the years, as our cooking skills increase, we start to fool around with the recipe and really make the dish ours. I have my own version that I just may have to make really soon, since writing this has done thrown a hankerin' on me!

Basic Chicken Spaghetti

Recipes like this account for most of those extra pounds we carry around in our beloved South!

2 pounds chicken breasts
1 large package spaghetti noodles
1 can Ro*tel tomatoes with chilies
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 small loaf (1-pound) Velveeta cheese, diced
1 small onion and 1 green pepper, chopped and sautéed with a stick of butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
Boil chicken and de-bone.
In the same water, boil spaghetti and drain.
Mix all ingredients together, except cheddar cheese.
Bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Garnish with cheddar cheese and serve.

Ro*tel Dip

Here’s the bona fide recipe for what we simply call - Ro*tel, the official dip of the South. I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked - “Hon, why don’t cha make us a little bowl of Ro*tel?” Any cook down here who can’t pull this dish together on a moment’s notice isn’t considered to be worth their salt! Kids of all ages love this stuff! It’s gotten many a mom through many a teenage party! As long as you can keep the Ro*tel comin’, you’re in good shape!
If you want to “get fancy with it,” throw in a pound of browned, drained hamburger meat or pork sausage. And please don't limit this dish to dip status alone. It makes a wonderful sauce! Pour this stuff over some baked potatoes or French fries, and your family and friends will love you forever!
For those of you who live locally, Oby's has the best waffle fries with Ro*tel! Dude, my father-in-law, loves these! There's an Oby's in Oxford and Starkville, the two closest college towns. It's my theory that it's the waffle fries with Ro*tel that keeps the college kids rollin' in Oby's doors!

Ro*tel® Famous Queso Dip

(NOTE: I’ve never seen this served with vegetables! I honestly think you'd get laughed out of town!)

Prep Time: 5 min.
Total Time: 10 min.

1 lb. (16 oz.) Velveeta Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into ½” cubes
1 can (10oz.) of RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

MIX a 10oz. can of RO*TEL with a 16oz. package of Velveeta Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product cut into ½” cubes.

HEAT Microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes. Stir after 3 minutes.

EAT Stir and serve with tortilla chips or assorted cut-up vegetables.

Makes 3 cups or 24 servings, 2 Tbsp. each

More great recipes at Tuesdays at the Table!

Cornbread Tomatoes

Cornbread Tomatoes

I found several boxes of frozen veggies and 4 of my frozen mini-meatloaves during my tidying of the freezer. So, we're having the meatloaves with some butter beans, shoe peg corn and Cornbread Tomatoes for supper. This is the kind of food I love the most!
The Cornbread Tomatoes will be a hard sell for some of you, I know. It doesn't really sound or look good, but it really, really is!
This dish is difficult to describe. It’s hard to say whether it’s a salad, a relish, a side dish, or even a bread. I think it’s all of these rolled into one! 
I first ate a similar dish several years ago in the tea room of McCarty's Pottery in Merigold, MS. Larry had treated me to a trip to Mississippi's premiere pottery makers for my birthday. It's a good man who will drive a woman two hours to look at pottery! We ate lunch at the facility's restaurant, and I ordered this delicious tomato dish, aptly named Merigold Tomatoes! I loved it! When we got home, I quickly began to try to duplicate the dish!  I always think of that fun day when I make Cornbread Tomatoes. What sweet memories!

“Ponder well on this point:
the pleasant hours of our life are all connected
by a more or less tangible link,
with some memory of the table.”
~Charles Pierre Monselet (1825-1888)

Play around with these ingredients. If you like a lot of spice, use a second can of Rotel tomatoes in place of the stewed tomatoes. Don’t care for the heat from the Rotel tomatoes? Use 2 cans of stewed tomatoes and leave the Rotel tomatoes out.
 Making this dish is a great way to use leftover cornbread. It reminds me a bit of Cornbread Salad. On Favorite Recipes Friday, I will be sharing my favorite recipe for Cornbread Salad.

Cornbread Tomatoes

2 cups cornbread crumbs
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can stewed  tomatoes with onions, green peppers and celery
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ - 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 - 4 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill. Stir before serving.
Great with veggies!