Macaroni & Cheese

This is a Paula Deen recipe that I have altered. I could not stomach the thought of adding eggs to Mac & Cheese, so I left that out and changed some of the processes, and the recipe is still delicious.

2 cups elbow macaroni

4 Tbsp. butter, cut up

2 1/2 cups (10 oz) grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (1o 3/4 oz) condensed cheddar cheese soup

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup milk, room temperature

1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan and cook elbow macaroni for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. In a heavy saucepan, mix cheddar cheese soup, butter, salt, mustard, pepper and milk. Heat on medium until mixture is hot and slightly bubbly, stirring constantly.

3. Mix in sour cream and fold in cheese, stirring until all cheese is melted. Pour cooked elbow macaroni into cheese mixture and mix well.

4. Pour macaroni mixture into a buttered casserole dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Horseradish and Garlic Prime Rib

This is Tyler Florence's recipe ... I take no credit for it, except for having the good sense to watch his Ultimate episode on TV! I always follow this recipe to the T ... it is excellent just the way it is.

1 (3-rib) prime rib beef roast, about 6 lb.

5 garlic cloves, smashed & minced finely

1/2 cup grated fresh or prepared horseradish

1/2 cup sea salt

1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 parsnips

1 red onion, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Lay the beef in a large roasting pan with the bone sine down.

3. In a small bowl mash together the garlic, horseradish, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make a thick paste.

4. Massage the paste generously over the entire roast. Scatter the vegetables and halved onion around the meat. Drizzle with olive oil.

5. Roast the beef for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for medium rare (or 2o minutes per pound). Check the internal temperature of the roast in several places with an instant-read thermometer; it should register 125 degrees F for medium-rare.

6. Remove the beef to a carving board and let it rest for 20 minutes. Discard vegetables.

Note: I scrape off the horseradish & garlic crush before I start carving, but you can leave it on if you like. Just remember it is very salty and garlicky ... but some people might actually like that.

Pizza Rolls

Appertizers start appearing in our house during the holidays. If there is going to be a big dinner, then I'll serve several substantial appertizers instead of lunch. Here is one of Sarah's favorites. It's a very forgiving recipe and you can make substitutions quite easily without affecting the finished product.

4 cups (16 oz) shredded pizza cheese blend or mozzarella cheese

1 lb bulk Italian sausage, cooked and drained

2 packages ( 3 oz each) sliced pepperoni, chopped

1 medium green pepper, finely chopped

1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 jars (14 oz each) pizza sauce

32 egg roll wrappers

Vegetable oil for frying

Additional pizza sauce for dipping, warmed, optional

1. In a large bowl, combine the cheese, sausage, pepperoni, peppers and onion.

2. Stir in pizza sauce until combined.

3. Place about 1/4 cup filling in the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling; fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water and roll up tightly to seal.

4. In skillet, heat 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees . Fry pizza rolls for 1 - 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Do not crowd the skillet.

5. Drain the browned rolls on paper towels. Serve hot with warm pizza sauce.

Makes: 32 rolls.

Note: I do not use chopped peppers since two out of the three people in this family do not like it. Just reduce the amount of sauce used. If you do not like pizza sauce, just use a traditional spaghetti sauce, which is what I do a lot. I also use smaller wonton wrappers instead of the egg wrappers. If you want smaller rolls, just cut the egg roll wrapper into four squares ... works just as well as buying wonton wrappers. If it's just the three of us, I will use just half of the filling and save it in the refrigerator for using later.

Blackberry Cobbler

Blackberries fresh from the farm in Vermont, baked into a cobbler ... scrumptious!

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup water

A squeeze of lemon juice

4 cups fresh blackberries

Topping:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon

5 Tbsp. cold butter

1 egg, beaten

3 Tbsp. milk

1. Filling: In a saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add the water and stir. Add blackberries and stir gently. Add the lemon juice. Cook on low-medium heat and stir until thickened and bubbly. Keep warm while you make the topping.

2. Topping: In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder and nutmeg or cinnamon together. Cut cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Combine the egg and milk. Add to the flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined.

3. Butter an 8 x 8 baking dish. Pour filling into the baking dish. Spoon topping mixture over blackberry filling to cover the surface completely.

4. Place baking dish on a flat baking tray and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

5. Spoon into bowls while hot and serve with a scoop of ice cream.

Chicken in tomato cream sauce

I got tired of cooking the same old chicken recipes and opened up my 365 Ways to Cook Chicken (yes I like chicken that much) and I found this recipe. Sarah and John ate the meal happily, so this is a keeper and has appeared on our table many times.

3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Salt & freshly ground pepper

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 shallot, chopped

1 can (14 oz.) Italian diced tomato

1/3 cup sweet Vermouth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until cooked all the way through. Do not brown chicken. Remove to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

2. Add chopped shallot to pan and cook until soft, 1 - 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes. Add Vermouth and boil for 5 - 10 minutes until sauce reduces by half.

3. Pour sauce into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Return to pan. Add cream and simmer for two minutes.

4. Add chicken to sauce and heat through 3 - 4 minutes.

5. Serve over hot buttered egg noodles or with creamy mashed potatoes.

Note: If you do not have Vermouth, just use whatever drinking white wine you have. I've used Chardonnay in the sauce and it has been tasty, so don't be afraid to experiment. No wine at all? Just use well seasoned chicken stock and see what happens.

Crunchy Noodle Salad

Love the peanut sauce for the noodles ... you could serve it with chicken ... yummy! Had to stop myself from eating the sauce on its own.

1 lb. thin spaghetti

1 lb sugar snap peas

2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced

4 scallions (white & green parts), sliced diagonally

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves
Dressing:

1 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp. dark sesame oil

2 Tbsp. honey

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

2 Tbsp. toasted white sesame seeds, divided (optional)

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1. Bring a a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil and cook for 3 - 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.

3. For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 1 bbsp. sesame seeds (optional) and peanut butter in a medium bowl. Set aside.

4. Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallion in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining sesame seeds and parsley and toss together.

Note: I used two large raw carrots, julienned, instead of the sugar snap peas. I also added 1/2 cup of roasted chopped peanuts just before serving. Serve at room temperature. If you must refrigerate it, just allow it to come to room temperature before serving. This is also excellent topped with sliced grilled chicken pieces.

Peanut Butter Cookies

These are gluten free peanut butter cookies and they have officially become one of my favorite peanut butter cookies. They are soft with a nice sweet crunch from the coating of sugar. If one has to give up flour in a cookie, this is a good way to do it.

1 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter and sugar. Break egg into a small dish and beat lightly. Add to peanut butter mixture and mix well. Add vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly combined.

3. Roll a teaspoonful of mixture into a ball, roll in granulated sugar and place on making stone. The cookies will spread so allow room for that. Using a fork, form criss-cross designs on cookies.

4. Bake for 12 minutes.

5. Allow the cookies to cool on the stone for at least 8 minutes. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely before storing in airtight tin.

Makes 24 cookies.