Macaroni and Cheese

What do I cook when the grandkids come for a visit? Well, lots of things depending on which one, but I know I am safe if I have some Macaroni and Cheese on hand. Just in case.

All of my grandchildren like Macaroni and Cheese.

Doesn’t everybody?

If I have time, I make the recipe ahead and freeze portions in one-serving casserole dishes, then thaw and bake them until they’re hot enough.

Macaroni and Cheese is easy enough to make. And yet people ask me questions about it all the time. Mostly about the sauce separating or feeling grainy or gritty. So, here’s some tips for would-be Macaroni and Cheese makers out there. Followed by my standard recipe.

1. You can use a variety of cheeses, even blue-type cheeses, which give the dish a tangy taste. Although most people use cheddar by itself, that can make the texture grainy.

2. Use young cheeses such as asiago, non-aged cheddar, havarti, muenster, non-aged gouda, and so on. These have more water content than aged, older, drier cheeses and melt more easily, keeping the mixture stable.

3. Include American cheese; adding a bit of American cheese to the mix can stabilize the sauce too.

4. Use whole milk rather than skim because fat serves as a stabilizer.

5: Shred, chop or grate the cheese so that it melts more easily when you add it to the hot white sauce. Only add a little at a time and mix it in thoroughly before adding more. If you add cheese all at once there’s more of a tendency for the sauce to separate.

Macaroni and Cheese

• 8 ounces elbow macaroni

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

• pinch or two of freshly grated nutmeg

• 4 ounces American cheese, shredded or chopped

• 2 ounces Muenster, Gouda or a blue-veined cheese, shredded, chopped or crumbled

• 2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded or chopped

• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni until it is al dente, drain and set aside. In a saucepan melt the butter over low-medium heat. When it looks foamy, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, without letting the mixture become brown. Gradually add the milk and stir constantly using a whisk until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, American cheese, Muenster (or other) cheese and 2 ounces of cheddar cheese and whisk the sauce until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth. Stir the sauce into the cooked macaroni. Spoon into a baking dish and top with grated cheddar cheese. Bake for a few minutes until the grated cheese is hot and melty or the bread crumbs are golden brown.

Makes 4 servings

Eggless Lemon-Blueberry Tea Bread

Eggless Lemon Blueberry Bread

Even the most experienced home cooks make mistakes.

Like the one I made yesterday. I decided to bake a Lemon-Blueberry Tea Bread and as soon as I put the pan in the oven I realized I had left the eggs out of the batter.

Wow! That’s a biggie.

I did that once before, many years ago and made the big mistake of retrieving the loaf pan, scooping the batter back into a bowl, mixing in the eggs and then baking the bread as if nothing had happened.

Unfortunately, after the bread baked and cooled down, biting into a slice was like chewing day-old used bubble gum.

This time I just let the bread bake with a “let’s see what happens” kind of attitude.

The results were astonishingly surprising. What a boon for people who can’t eat eggs! This Lemon-Blueberry Tea Bread is delicious. Firmer, denser than one made with eggs, but tasty and tender without them.

So, here’s the recipe, including the eggs, but for egg-free diets — just leave the eggs out.

Lemon-Blueberry Tea Bread

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 large eggs (optional)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon zest

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup blueberries

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. (Add the eggs and beat them in). Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk. Beat to blend the ingredients to a smooth, even batter. Fold in the berries. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. While the bread is baking, combine the lemon juice and 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. When the bread comes out of the oven, pour the lemon juice mixture on top. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one bread

Rice Krispy Crusted Macaroni and Cheese

Mac and Cheese

"What are you going to be for Hallowe’en?"

It’s the question my granddaughter Nina asked recently as we were walking down the street.

So I said “I’m going as a grandma. And Grandpa is going as a grandpa.”

She thought that answer was so funny she stopped to laugh out loud for a long time. And said “but you are already grandma!”

So I told her that I was going to buy a gray-haired wig and a cane and go trick-or-treating looking like an old, bent-over woman. And I showed her how I would do it and what I would sound like when I said “trick or treat” with my best old-person voice.

But of course I am not going trick or treating because I am in Egypt. Yes, that’s right. Egypt. Cairo. Tahrir Square, the Pyramids, Sphinx and the whole bit. That’s why I haven’t been blogging as much as usual.

But I also just learned that our group, which has 9 women, will be having an early Halloween and we will be wearing gulabyas (Egyptian dresses) so I guess I will be in costume after all.

When my neighbors at home come to my door on the real Halloween and they realize I am not home I hope they don’t vandalize the place too much. One year our doors got sprayed with that stuff that comes flying out of a can like neon colored string and we had to have everything painted because the string didn’t come off.

It’s been years since I went trick-or-treating with my children. They are grown and go trick-or-treating with their own kids now. But I remember that Halloween night was always the turning point for the weather. It was always cold and frequently rainy on that night (why couldn’t nature wait one more day???)

So there was always something warm and delicious when we got home. Like soup or Mac and Cheese and certainly hot chocolate with marshmallows.

If you go trick-or-treating and need some warm nourishment afterwards, before the candy gobbling, try Macaroni and Cheese. I would give a nourishing and warm Egyptian recipe but —- more on that some other day. Here’s a good recipe for Macaroni and Cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese

• 8 ounces elbow macaroni

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• few grindings of nutmeg

• 4 ounces American cheese, cut into small pieces

• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated or chopped

• 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal (or similar), optional

• 2 tablespoons melted butter, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni until it is al dente. Drain and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the two tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the flour and stir it into the melted butter using a whisk. Cook for about a minute. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to form a smooth sauce. Add the salt, nutmeg, American cheese and cheddar cheese and stir until the sauce is smooth and thick. Stir in the macaroni and coat all the pieces. Spoon the macaroni into a baking dish. If you like a top crust, mix the cereal and melted butter and sprinkle on top of the macaroni. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cereal is browned and crispy.

Makes 4 servings

Simple Baked Apples

If you want to sell your house make Baked Apples. There are few foods as compellingly homey and delicious as this one and the sweet-smelling wisps of caramelized fruit that filter through the rooms almost say “you will love this place because this is a great kitchen and a wonderful home with delicious things to eat and everyone is happy here.”

When we sold our old house several years ago I remember the broker telling us to have stuff baking that smelled good and would make potential buyers feel at home. She suggested packaged dough to be baked into bread (you can buy frozen dough, challah, and such). But, me being me, I decided on baked apple things like pie, cake and plain old baked apple. 

I’m not guaranteeing anything here folks. Just sayin’. If the house smells good, it can’t hurt. And Baked Apples also have the added benefit of tasting absolutely wonderful. So everyone will eat them and you’ll have to make more and your house will always smell as good.

Fortunately Baked Apples are easy to make if you don’t get all fancy about them. And are especially good at this time of year when you can get fresh, new crop apples and also different, better-for-baking varieties (Rome Beauty, Cortland, York Imperial are best) than you can buy at other times of the year.

Here’s one of my simplest recipes. 

Baked Apples

• 4 large baking apples
• half a lemon
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts
• 4 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• 1 cup orange juice, apple juice or cider
• cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into 4 pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples, then remove the core and seeds, leaving about 1/2-inch on the bottom. Peel the apples 1/2 of the way down from the stem end on top, then rub the cut surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the raisins, nuts, one tablespoon of the honey or maple syrup and 3-4 tablespoons of the juice. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Pour the remaining honey and the remaining juice over the apples. Sprinkle the apples lightly with cinnamon. Dot the tops with butter. Bake the apples for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 

Egg Salad — My Go-To Staple

Egg Salad — My Go-To Staple

The kids are coming for the holiday weekend, so I’ve just made some egg salad. There’s always egg salad in my fridge. It’s like having salt and pepper in the cabinet, a no-brainer nibble. I make egg salad because everyone eats it. On a sandwich or crackers or cucumber slices or just plain on the plate. For lunch or as a snack or even for breakfast. 

Egg salad is my all-purpose go-to dish.

My son-in-law Jesse teases me about it. He rolls his eyes when he sees the fresh batch in the fridge. But then he takes it out and has some. If there weren’t any egg salad there he’d be upset that something was wrong.

I’ve tasted all sorts of egg salad over the years. My mother made it with onion and sometimes cooked potato. That was delicious. I’ve tasted egg salad with fresh dill. That’s good too. And there have been tastes of egg salad with olive, tuna, salmon, cooked peas and carrots and so on.

All good. But not plain old egg salad. I am an egg salad purist. I like it plain and always make it the same way. People say they like it because it’s dry, not overly loaded with mayonnaise — I use a microplane to crush the hard cooked eggs (you use less mayo that way). The only thing I change is the dish I serve it in. 

Everyone loves my egg salad, which is basically this: 

Egg Salad

• 8 hard cooked eggs
• 2-1/2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard if you must

Crush the eggs using the finest grater possible (microplane is best) into a bowl. Add 2-1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise, season with salt, pepper (and mustard if you like it) and mix with a fork. Add slightly more mayonnaise if the egg crumbles don’t hold together.

Makes 4 servings

Soft Matzo Brei

“There’s no French Toast during Passover.” That’s what I told my grandkids when they were here for a few days for Seders and sleepovers. They’re used to French Toast when they come to grandma’s house because I always have a spare challah in the freezer, or we make one and then have leftovers, and everyone on earth knows that the best French Toast is made with challah.

But never mind that. “Israeli Toast” is on the menu, is what I told them.

You know. Matzo Brei. It’s the same thing as French Toast but instead of using bread, you use matzo.

But here’s a dilemma. Topping for French Toast is easy: either maple syrup, cinnamon sugar or jelly. A lot of people do the same for Matzo Brei. But when I was a little girl my grandma served Matzo Brei sprinkled with salt and topped with a big blob of sour cream. Sometimes applesauce.

My husband Ed always thought this was weird. But it’s how I served it to my own daughters too, who think it’s weird to drizzle matzo brei with anything as sweet as maple syrup. If I had sour cream in the fridge, that’s what they would choose. But we’ve switched to fat-free Greek yogurt instead.

“Israeli Toast” or Matzo Brei is so easy to make. And a delicious switch from every other cereal-based breakfast. So if you want to give it a try, here’s my recipe:

Matzo Brei

• 3 pieces of matzo

• hot water

• 2 large eggs

• salt

• butter

• sour cream or plain Greek style yogurt

Break the matzot into small pieces into a bowl. Cover with hot water and let it soak until the pieces are soft. Drain any non-absorbed water, then squeeze the pieces to extract as much excess water as possible. Add the eggs to the soft matzo pieces and mix until the matzo and egg are well combined. Sprinkle to taste with salt. Heat the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the egg-matzo mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt, or, if you must, with maple syrup.

Makes 2-3 servings

Mom’s Raisin Bran Apple Crisp

Wanna Sell Your House? Smell this!

Yesterday I baked a Banana Bread that I couldn’t eat because I’m allergic. But I always have leftover bananas around so I make Banana Bread a lot. I love the aroma. In fact, I mentioned yesterday that it is one of the best kitchen smells there is.

Which reminded me about when we were selling our old house. The real estate agent told us to make sure there were some good aromas coming out of the kitchen in order to entice prospective buyers.

So I got to thinking about the good smells that come out of a kitchen and what I could bake or make to make my kitchen be the one someone wanted to cook in and therefore buy my house. I even wrote one of my newspaper articles about house-selling aromas.

Choices I considered: fresh coffee, tomato sauce, fresh-baked yeast bread, anything with baking apples.

Well, fresh coffee is the easiest but you can’t have it going all day or it tastes and begins to smell bitter.

Yeast bread is my favorite, but I didn’t always have the time to bake one.

Tomato sauce may be among my favorites but the garlic could be off-putting to some.

So, apple it was. Baked apple. Apple pie. Apple Crisp. 

Fortunately we had some wonderful desserts during that time. We did sell the house too!

Here’s a recipe with an intoxicating aroma — my 

 Mom’s Raisin Bran Apple Crisp:

•  2 tablespoons butter

• 4-5 large, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced

• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• pinch or two of salt

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• 2 cups slightly crushed raisin bran cereal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter and set aside to cool slightly. Combine the apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter and place in a baking dish. Cream the 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons butter with an electric beater until well combined. Beat in the flour. Add the raisin bran and work it into the creamed mixture gently, leaving the bran flakes more or less intact. Sprinkle this mixture on top of the apples. Cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

Makes 8 servings