Stovetop Macaroni And Cheese, The Evaporated Milk Version With Saucisses de Strasbourg

Macaroni and cheese was a familiar dish served frequently during my New York City childhood either in my home (from a Kraft box of course!) or a diner or a friend's house or . . . you get the idea, it was ubiquitous. My favourite of all was the version sold at the original Horn and Hardarts automat chain because of tomato paste being added to those delectable little pots of goodness giving a pleasant tang and deepening the colour closer to orange than yellow. I swear they were winking at me from behind their coin-operated glass prisons. As a preschooler, I would reply to the question where were you born with at Horn and Hardart though I actually was born at Horis Harding Hospital! Different preparations for this dish abound including making a bechamel sauce and adding spices like prepared mustard/cayenne, or even a bit of tomato paste a la Horn and Hardart.  The cheesy, creamy mixture can be poured into a baking dish. Chunks of mozzarella and/or beaten eggs can be mixed in before topping with bread crumbs and popping it in the oven. Mine substitutes evaporated milk for regular milk plus adds saucisses. Why? Its creaminess will last much longer without congealing before you get a chance to savour it slowly. After a long while it becomes a bit tacky, but never globby. The small amount of saucisses add lots of flavour, acting more like a condiment.

INGREDIENTS

makes four moderate servings or 6 small ones

• Evaporated (NOT condensed which is sweetened) milk, 410 g (400 ml)
• Cheddar, 227 g, freshly grated (packaged grated cheese has starch added to prevent sticking, causing the clumping when macaroni and cheese cools defeating the purpose for going the evaporated milk route.
• Pasta, (in my case, torti), 227 g
• Saucisses de Strausberg or frankfurters, 2-3
• For more oomph, add a large pinch of chili powder to the grated cheese

Grate the cheese. Measure out the evaporated milk and pasta. Unwrap the saucisses.

Put pasta in a medium saucepan and barely cover with water. If not using the saucisses, salt the water. If using, add them without salting the water.

Bring to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring all the time. In about five minutes, fish out the saucisses. Let cool and thinly slice. Reserve. Meantime, keep boiling and stirring until all the water is gone except for a bit of moisture on the bottom.

Add the evaporated milk and bring back to a boil.

Add cheese, lower heat, and stir non stop for about two minutes until the sauce is thick and smooth. Add the saucisses. Salt to taste.

A sprinking of fleur de sel at table gives a nice bit of crunch.

Its long-lasting creaminess is a delight. Any surplus can be frozen. It reheats readily with some regular milk. Keep in mind when pasta goes cold and is rewarmed, it becomes resistant starch which encourages your all important gut bacteria to flourish.

À la prochaine!

Iron Cookware Series: Roasted Salmon & Spiced Rhubarb With Fresh Pea shoots

Rhubarb is more than just pie or preserves or crumble. It pairs wonderfully with salmon.  Yes, it must be sweetened in this savoury instance, but not as much as in a dessert. The saltiness and sweetness makes a perfect match.

Harvested fresh from our potager, rhubarb and pea shoots are a delight. The rhubarb will be sweetened with maple syrup and flavoured with allspice (a mix of ground cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg can be substituted), ginger, and vanilla.

For each serving, you will need a portion of salmon, a large rhubarb stalk sans leaves, a small bunch of pea shoots or other greens like arugula, vanilla extract, ground ginger, and allspice (or a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves, all ground).

Preheat oven to 23o degrees C (450 degrees F). Slice the rhubarb into small pieces. Put a tablespoon or two of maple syrup (depending on the amount of rhubarb, such as with exceptionally large stalks its better to err on the sweet side as rhubarb can be extremely sour on its own), tiny dash of vanilla, pinch of ginger and allspice (or a mix of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) in a small bowl. Toss well. Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel. Preheat a slightly oiled iron skillet for about five minutes. Get it good and hot. Meanwhile season the salmon on both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sear it on both sides. Let a nugget of butter melt and add the rhubarb. Coat the rhubarb with butter and put in the oven. Depending on size and thickness of the salmon, cook from 6 to 10 minutes (mine took six). Longer cooking times will either require bigger rhubarb pieces or for smaller pieces to be removed while the salmon finishes roasting. When the centre can be flaked with a fork, it's ready. While it's cooking, thinly slice the pea shoots.

Spread the rhubarb on a plate. Place the salmon and top with pea shoots.

If desired, some fleur de sel can be sprinkled partout (everywhere).

Refreshing salmon with its subtle flavour, pea shoots with their grassy scent and natural sugars, and a-little-bit-gooey, pleasingly tart rhubarb made a very attractive trio indeed.

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Iron Cookware Series: Mashed Potato Cantal Onion Pancakes
Tuna Cakes with Gooseberry Sage Sauce
Rhubarb Crumble

À la prochaine!

Resistant Starch: Pasta Alfredo with Peas & Shrimp

Desserts or homey, slowly simmered meals are not the only edibles that can comfort.

Pasta drenched in Alfredo sauce rich in cream, butter, and . . . 

. . . cheese will pamper the self just as much.

Not only does cooking the pasta and peas and storing them overnight in the fridge the night before saves time the following day, such a process allows the starch to become resistant when the pasta is reheated. For two servings, ingredients and their amounts are in bold. Throw in two large handful of frozen peas (if fresh, add during the last few minutes of cooking) with enough pasta for two servings into boiling water and cook till just al dente. Drain, put into a container, and stir in a little oil to keep the pasta from sticking together. Cover and put in fridge.

The next day, in a suitably sized skillet, pour in 6-8 tablespoons of cream, bring to a simmer, add 4 tablespoons of sweet butter.

When butter is completely melted, add 8 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan.

Gently melt all the cheese while stirring frequently till sauce is thick and smooth. When a spoon is dragged across the sauce and stays parted for a few seconds, it's done.

Toss in the pasta, peas, and three handfuls of small, cooked shrimp (if frozen, first thaw and then squeeze out the liquid which can be reserved for fish/seafood chowders).

Stirring often, simmer for a minute or two . . .

. . . until everything is slicked with a scrumptious glaze and most of the liquid is gone. Salt to taste.

Cocooning, baby! That's the word the French use to denote setting up your personal environment in such a way that you feel cozy, protected from a fast-moving, demanding world. Afterwards, it would not be remiss, if you snuggle under a courtepointe douce (soft small quilt), propped up with a cushion here, a cushion there (especially for the feet), and read a book. Ah,  les petits bonheurs (the little things of happiness)!

À la prochaine!

Baby Beet Greens, Peas, Garlic, Parmesan Farfalle

The Calm One was out shopping for pasta he uses in his three pasta/three cheeses mac 'n cheese: penne, corkscrews, and pipes. Reaching for a box, he saw that it was already opened. So he reached for another, and that one also was unsealed. So he wriggled his long arms even higher, so high that when he grappled with a hopefully sealed package, he heard a crash on the other side of the aisle. Chastened, he hastily put it in the cart and after noting that the closure was intact, made a speedy getaway. And that is how we get to try new things. As the pasta was farfalle.

Rise, O steam!

Harvesting peas is a Goldilocks endeavour. The pod needs to be plump, but not so much that every molecule of air is replaced with pea. In other words, the pod should not be completely rigid but still a bit pliant.

Peas over a certain size will not be as sweet. The perfect pea placement is when they are just touching each other.

Beet seed naturally forms clusters so no matter how carefully it is sowed, there will be an opportunity to harvest baby beet greens by thinning, leaving about 10 cm (four inches) between beets so the rest can develop into ruby beauties.

I prefer young and even older beet greens to spinach in terms of taste and texture

Ingredients are in bold. For one serving, put a couple of fistfuls of farfalle in boiling water. Contrary to traditional advice, use just the amount of water to cover as giving the pasta the room to swim does not do anything necessary and takes more time to bring to a boil, plus a more flavoured water makes a better sauce. Cook for ten minutes. Toss in a handful of shelled fresh peas. Simmer for a few minutes or until the peas and pasta are mostly done as their cooking will continue in the sauce. Keep a few tablespoons of cooking water aside. Drain and reserve. In the same pot, saute a minced garlic clove over low heat in a tablespoon of olive oil for about a minute or until fragrant. No browning please! Toss in a handful of chopped baby beet greens. Stir until tender, just a few minutes. Add the pasta water or in my case a combo of pasta water and chicken stock. Stir in the pasta and peas, coating them with the sauce. Simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. If the peas and pasta are getting overcooked, pour out any remaining liquid and give the dish a final stir over the heat. Salt to taste and serve with freshly grated Parmesan and freshly milled black pepper. I thoroughly enjoyed scoffing it down as it tasted FRESH! Thank goodness for the potager.

You are looking for a glazing effect not a soupy one

Lavender out in the front garden fills the air with its fragrance.

A pollinator busy at work.

Though expansive garden vistas are lovely, I tend to gravitate towards a peekaboo perspective giving a layered view: Queen Elizabeth rose, a veggie bed, and lavender.

There are not many strawberries left to harvest, but luscious raspberries make up for the slack. Most days there are enough for a morning feast with cereal or for dessert or for a late night snack.

The first daylily opened a bud the other day. Each day there will be new flowers hence their name.

One of our five plants

À la prochaine!

Bearded Irises, Tulips, Rosebuds, Asparagus Recipes & Eli the Kitten!

The Bearded Irises have started their wave of violet-blue that eventually will progress down a side of the central garden path.

The vanguard as they get the most sun

Many blooms are yet to come.

They resemble a shoal of minnows!

Days are sunny enough to warrant wearing a straw hat. This one which The Calm One was given at a community event fits snugly unlike the tattered one it replaced. That old companion often went flying into the wind with me running after it, but regardless served me well for six years. There's lots of work at hand presently and a simple pleasure of wearing a bonny hat puts me in the right mood. Seven of the annual veggie beds have been planted with just four more to do (tomatoes, shelling beans, parsnips, and kale).

Onion, newly planted potato, and pea beds

To make sure that the laundry doesn't act like my old straw hat, the washing is secured with many a clothespin.

Roses unfortunately are subject to blackspot, a fungal disease which rapidly defoliates them. Since a few spots have appeared, our ten bushes have been sprayed the first windless day of the season.

Triumph tulips bloom in midseason along with Darwin Hybrids, that is, before lily-flowered, fringed, and parrot tulips.

Candytuft ground cover and tulips

Miss Elegance gleams like the finest porcelain with delicate tinting of white and pink.  Their stunning blooms are an excellent choice for cut flowers.

Though a creamy, pureed asparagus soup is wonderful, so is a clear one made with a broth from simmering the woody ends and trimmings in water for twenty minutes. Strain, boil some egg noodles in it, stir in a beaten egg or two, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and top with asparagus tips/Parmesan cheese.

Just as delicious is buttering some cooked spears, topping with poached eggs and Parmesan, then seasoning the whole lot with salt and freshly ground black pepper. A sprinkling of breadcrumbs would be nice also.

Butter, egg yolks, and cheese combine to make a sauce as you eat

Eli the Kitten greeted the new straw hat with eager curiosity. Yes, his eyes are that fabulous: topaz with an emerald circle surrounding his pupils. Going on five months old, he still energetically rushes Dirac the Cat so they get together only when we are in the room with them, otherwise they are kept apart for Eli's safety and Dirac's peace of mind.

À la prochaine!

Abundant Early-Summer Rains & Snails...and the comfort of warm food & feline company

Gardeners are known to complain about both the abundance and lack of rain in a manner matching the staccato rhythm of a cloudburst richochetting off a tin roof. We spade-wielders come from a long tradition of supplication including dancing wildly about in the hope of divine intervention. And when we do get a stormy series of deluges, we suddenly realise how profoundly wet, rain is. If there's a Drizzle Demiurge, I will gladly offer a percentage of my harvest to it—perhaps some huge gooseberries not only so engorged with water that they are double their usual size but also are fungus-free for the first time in the six and half years we have been chez nous.

Copious watering paradoxically prevents fungal development on gooseberries

Gooseberry roots may delight in drenched soil, but said soil does not delight in being spaded as such action compacts particles into a oxygen-deprived environment for seeds and transplants. Inclement weather is forecast all the way up to Sunday which delays the planting of the last few veggie beds. So whenever the rain lets up, whether several minutes or longer . . .

. . . I am out doing what I can do like weeding, deadheading, and trimming. The patches of ivy we inherited with this place languished as the weather at first was fairly dry for many months. Then they flourished as precipitation increased the last couple of years. So much so, that a rusty fence and a pergola with peeling paint are on their way of being cloaked with luxuriant foliage.

Ivy needs two haircuts yearly (spring & fall) to look thick and healthy

A neighbour hunted for snails in our garden one dusky evening following some rainfall. She found over a hundred! They are destined for the cook pot. Moi? I'll remain content at present with just photographing snogging snails. Having eaten some (not the snogging variety!) at a restaurant, I agree with my sister's description of their taste and texture resembling that of chicken hearts. Buying already cooked snails and clean shells makes preparation fairly easy, but doing it from scratch involves a lot of work.* However, escargot is a fabulously delicious and thrifty component of French culinary tradition. Plus when they are eaten, they can't eat leafy greens in the veggie patch!

Windy, wet weather calls for comforting food. We have recently switched to buying free-range chickens which are sold in France in regular supermarkets under the Label Rouge (red label). Their depth of flavour and dense, but tender, flesh makes us accept that we previously were eating a pale imitation. And what stock it makes! A Haitian friend said decades ago regarding her eating experience after first moving to New York City: Nothing tastes good here. Tomatoes don't taste like tomatoes. Chicken doesn't taste like chicken. I doubt she would say that about this chicken and pasta soup with an Asian flair: Put some homemade chicken broth (recipe here, though photos are corrupted in this old post, text is correct!) into a pot, add minced garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Stir in a fistful or two of broken tagliatelle. While pasta is cooking, crack an egg into a small cup and carefully slide its contents into simmering water in a shallow pan. After a minute or two, turn off the heat and let sit until the soup is ready which will give the yolk a jellied consistency. Trim any raggedly edges right in the pan. Salt the soup to taste, pour into a bowl, and place egg on top.

Spicy beef and chicken enchiladas (recipe here) are wonderful any day but especially when it's gloomy and cool. We made some changes/improvements which include increasing the amount from eight to sixteen and only baking the ones destined for immediate consumption. The others are frozen (without the cheese topping) in their rolled-up, sauced, but unbaked state. When those are ready for the oven (partially thawed is best), cheese is then sprinkled. Dousing with less sauce and not crowding them when being baked results in a firmer enchilada with some crisp edges, but still a tender one. Our favourite toppings are mashed avocados and crème fraîche. Since we have enjoyed a Cahors wine with enchiladas in the past, I wanted to try another red from our cellier, a Côtes du Rhône. But, I forgot to take the bottle out in time to bring it to room temperature! Happily, there are plenty in the freezer with which to do this pairing fairly soon.

Looks like a vanilla/pistachio ice cream banana split with raspberry sauce!

The saucers under potted plants can get completely filled with rainwater causing some roots to become waterlogged, so I tip them over, causing a flow which captivates Dirac the Cat.

When the most beautiful cat in the world (OK, OK, there may be a few just as beautiful) decides that the tide is coming in too fast, he jumps up on the potting room's windowsill to keep his paws dry.

Can this pillow be upgraded to a softer one?

When rested, he enters the room . . .

. . . for a play session.

À la prochaine!

*Much interesting information at this link for snail preparation such as:  DO NOT cook a dead snail. And never give a snail the benefit of the doubt. If you think a snail might be dead, poke it with a sharp object and if it does not react, do not cook it and Wash the unshelled snails at least 3 times in vinegar and water (one cup of vinegar to two gallons of water) to eliminate remaining mucus.