Road Recipe: Mac and Cheese

Who doesn't love mac and cheese? I know my husband is obsessed with it, and we always have plenty of boxes of Annie's mac and cheese in the cupboard for his go-to bachelor meals when i don't want to cook. Annie's has several varieties that include organic pasta and real cheese. The ingredient lists are short and wholesome, and although a box of mac has more calories than i need on a frequent basis, it's a great option for camping or quick weeknight fixes.  I never make it as is, though. You know me, i like to mix it up. My stovetop mac methods include playing with additional herbs or veggies, meat and oil. I also like to add more cheese. For our first night on the road at South Llano River State Park i made our mac thusly:

• 2 boxes Annies mac and cheese - Cheddar shells
• 1/2 cup milk
• Chopped jalapenos
• Dash smoked paprika
• Big spoonful of ricotta cheese
• Large can tuna

I usually cook the pasta about 1-2 minutes shy of the box directions, about 7-9 minutes total. I usually throw half the jalapenos in the boiling water and the other half at the end. If i'm using sausage or hot dogs, i chop them and add them to the water first. Throw in the pasta, bring to a boil and cook then drain. Add the tuna first, then the milk, any oil (truffle oil!!!) or butter if you're using it and the cheese dust and remaining peppers. Stir well then mix in the cheese. I often do the cheese mixing right in the bowl i'm serving in so as not to dirty the pasta pot. When using tuna, i like to put it in first so that it warms up with the residual pot warmth, then add the cold milk etceteras.  Add chopped cheddar last if using so that you get yummy globs of not-totally-melted cheese here and there. The ricotta totally made this batch: creamier than normal and very flavorful.

Some other variations i like:

• Tuna and Peas with Peace Parmesan (my favorite!)
• Buddy's Chicken Sausage with extra cheddar and jalapenos
• White Cheddar Shells with truffle oil and dried basil

Chilly Loaf (Turkey Meatloaf with Peppers)

This was scrumptious. Did not take any pictures, but did write down the recipe. I'd like to make it again, so i'll post it despite no pictures.

It's hot pepper season around here, so i've been trying to use my surplus in new and unusual ways. I made a delicious thai curry with homemade yogurt last week, lack tomatoes during the heatwave so no salsa, and made chilly last week also. This time, i'll skip the soup and just make a loaf 'o chilly. You could probably use any meat with this recipe, but don't skimp on the peppers: Firey kick is good for that heart!

• 1 pound meat, i used ground turkey
• 1 heaping cup diced red ripe jalapenos with seeds, plus one habanero with seeds removed
• Tsp smoked paprika
• Drizzle olive oil (the turkey meat has no fat)
• Several splashes worchestershire sauce
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup finely diced jicama
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• Pinches chilly powder and cumin
• Salt and pepper
• Tomato paste - 2 spoonfulls plus enough to coat the top of the loaf

Mush it all together and bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 for an hour- covered for the first 45 minutes.
The loaf was delicious and spicy, but i was almost more excited about the side dish i made: mashed potatoes.

I'm normally not very good at making mashed potatoes, but i gave it a shot and they turned out AMAZING.

• 2 red potatoes, diced into even chunks
• 1 LARGE garlic clove
• Homemade yogurt - thin and not super duper tangy
• Pinch dill
• Salt and Pepper

Boil the potatoes with the garlic clove. When potatoes are soft and just shy of falling apart, drain well. With a potato masher smush up the potatoes with the dill, salt, pepper and perhaps a pat of butter. Add yogurt last so as not to cook the beneficial bacterias. I probably used about 1/2 cup at the most, probably more like 1/4 cup. The resultant spuds were creamy, soft, and super delicious! Not scary yogurty like some yogurt mashed potatoes i've had. The yogurt complimented while not overpowering.

PS - For leftovers the next night, i took the leftover meat loaf, chopped it up and mixed it with some of the leftover crushed tomatoes i used as i was out of tomato paste, brought to a simmer, served on soft buns: sloppy joes!

This post also found at Simple Lives Thursday.

What To Do With a Texas Hill Country Surplus?

Thanks to my in laws for a wonderful weekend of river-play, and a bushel of fresh peaches and peppers from their gardens. I have plenty of hot peppers for our consumption growing in my own gardens, but as you can tell by reading most of my recipes - i like a little fire in every bite! I happily accepted Pops' pepper surplus and plan on storing about half and experimenting with the rest.

Storing peppers is quite easy and can be done in a variety of ways:

• Blend up into a hot sauce that will keep over a year (vinegar based)
• Pickle
• Dry (cayennes and other thin walled peppers are best for this, but jalapenos can be dried/smoked and stored in adobo sauce for chipotle peppers)
• Freeze

Freezing is my most frequently used method of storing hot peppers. You don't need to blanch them or even cut them up as they cut easily and cleanly while still frozen. I just cut their tops off and pop them into a sealed freezer bag. I only recently finished last year's habanero harvest - so convenient to have them on hand, ready to dice and pop into any recipe. They won't thaw as a nice crisp, firm pepper suitable for a stuffed popper, but frozen peppers are perfectly wonderful for cooking with.  I usually go out and pick peppers only when they're destined for supper - but my serranos are popping and ripening like crazy, so many have headed to the freezer or into hot sauces (olive oil emulsions). The jalapenos are outdoing themselves as well - i think black bean-cheese stuffed/ turkey bacon wrapped poppers are in our near future!

I really enjoyed the sour pickles i fermented a few weeks ago, and enjoy pickled jalapenos on nachos and salads - so, why not try my hand at those? The bag of peppers i was given is a mixed lot - mostly serranos and jalapenos, with some other peppers that look to me to be anaheim type peppers. I'll save the serranos for hot sauce and salsa, and pick out the larger peppers to be pickled. I saved some of the unused brine from the cucumber pickles, so i can make a smaller batch of these pepper pickles. ( so many Ps! )

Simply chop the jalapenos, toss in a mason jar along with some garlic cloves and a little onion bulb or two, cover with the brine and hold down with another jar and lid to keep the peppers covered in liquid. Set at room temperature for 5-7 days depending on the temp of the house (covered with cloth to keep the flies out) and wait for the peppers to change color and taste the way you want them. Store covered in some brine in a smaller jar in the fridge. Should keep for a good long time.
I separated into two jars as i wanted to leave plenty of head space for any fermenting bubble action.

Note: Leave MORE HEADSPACE THAN THIS - in only a few hours both jars began to overflow with the brine. Fill the jars about half way up with brine, and maybe place jars on something absorbent.

And what about those peaches, you ask? I may make a crisp, and will definitely make some peach salsa to accompany some locally caught trout a good friend gifted us - recipes later in the week. Or perhaps we'll just slice them and enjoy them fresh and raw along with our evening glasses of wine (and maybe some vanilla ice cream?????).

Happy New Year!

I'd never heard of this before moving to Texas, but apparently it is good luck to eat black eyed peas on New Years.  So for the last two years we have done so, and with peas i grew in our garden.
This year was extra special: i broke out the frozen tomato sauce i stored this summer and created a meal entirely (except a dash of cumin and salt) made from homegrown ingredients.

New Year Peas:

• About 2 cups dried black eyed peas
• a 32 oz tupperware full of cooked down tomatoes (cherokee purple, brandywine and early girl if you're wondering) that also included garlic and onions
• 2 diced jalapenos
• cilantro, about 2 tablespoons of frozen diced
• 2 ice cubes of turkey stock (so i didn't grow it, i made it though)
• and a few sprinkles of frozen corn to help with the protein chain, also not grown by me
• dashes cumin and pepper
• salt to taste

Cover the dried peas in the tomato sauce with one jalapeno, bring to a boil then turn down to simmer covered and cook until the peas are still just a bit crunchy. Add second jalapeno and simmer until peas are cooked to your liking. I like them to be cooked all the way through, but not to the 'mush' point. The peas absorb all the beautiful tomato juice and get a lovely plump sheen to them. Over cooked and canned peas lack the same individual texture as fresh or dried peas cooked to perfection = was just a little crispy about 10 minutes ago deep in the middle and is now perfect.

Served with some tillamook cheddar cheese to remind me of home. was delicious!