Wicked Good Mac and Cheese

Happy Leap Day! Do I have any Mitford fans among my readers? (I know at least one is in my sweet friend Ginny.) I could get lost in Mitford any time, day or night. And have ... many times over. I'm a huge Jan Karon fan and have read every single "Father Tim" book available and some of her children's books, too.

So it comes as no surprise that I also have her Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader and flip through the pages often - if for no other reason than to relish a bite of Mitford in my mind for a quick pick-me-up to my mood.

If you are familiar with Mitford, then you also know what a very good cook Puny is. This macaroni and cheese is adapted from Puny's recipe found in the above-mentioned cookbook. I've altered it to fit the needs and tastes of my family. I named it "wicked good" because it's quite wicked with its richness and unbelievably good in its taste. It's not healthy by an stretch of the imagination, but I like to think it's better for you than the old baked mac and cheese version I used to make with Velveeta and other cheeses. Maybe.

The girls had been asking for macaroni and cheese for a while recently - it had been quite a spell since I'd last made any form of it - so I decided to make it for our Valentine's Day entree. Obviously I didn't take the time to make great photos out of this dish - but I wanted you to see the new casserole dish my sister gave me for Christmas. Isn't it sweet?

Projected time, start to finish, a little over an hour
(Printable Recipe)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, plus a little extra
1/3 cup brown rice flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
2 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 cups shredded Colby jack cheese
1 pound gluten-free elbow macaroni or shells, cooked al dente according to package (I used Tinkyada, and always use the energy-saving method. It works best)
2 slices fresh bread (I used Udi's multi-grain), broken into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3-quart baking dish and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside when finished (you might want to lightly toss in a little olive oil). You'll want to keep the pasta a little al dente, so check it several minutes earlier than the package says to cook it for.

While pasta is cooking, combine 1/3 cup of butter and brown rice flour in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk until smooth, then slowly add milk. Continue to stir with whisk until mixture is smooth and thickened.

Add sour cream and cream cheese, whisking in until combined and smooth again.

Add salt, nutmeg, mustard, cayenne and black pepper. Whisk lightly until mixed well. Stir in shredded cheese.  Season more to taste if necessary.

Add macaroni to cheese mixture and gently mix together. Pour into baking dish.

In a small bowl, melt a tablespoon or two of butter and toss with bread pieces. Sprinkle over top of macaroni.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until bubbling nicely.

Enjoy!

On another note, today's photo of beauty is actually from last night. Yesterday's post mentioned how terrible the dust and wind were yesterday. That is true, but sometimes dusty days bring beautiful evenings with the sun. It covers the sun just enough to give the sky an incredible hue.

Go find beauty today!

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Chicken and Mushroom Penne with Sundried Tomato Pesto Feta Cream Sauce

If you're wanting to cook for Valentine's Day this year and are still trying to decide what to make, this just might be your dish. It's delicious!

My baby sister graduated from Texas A&M a couple of years ago and her graduation dinner was held at her favorite restaurant nearby, Caffe Capri in Bryan, TX. We talked to them ahead of time about gluten-free needs for several family members and they assured us it would be no problem and they regularly fixed gluten-free versions of a few dishes for patrons who needed them. I am happy to say that we had no problems, and the meal was so delicious that I needed to try to recreate the dish we ate, as living about 12 hours away made it impossible to dine there very often.

The dish they served us was a version of their "bowtie affair" which is described as "bowtie pasta with a sundried tomato pesto, mushrooms & chicken in a feta cheese cream sauce." They served it to us with gluten-free penne. I successfully recreated this dish to the best of my ability last year and don't know why I'm only now sharing it with you. (My cousin has been holding her famous carrot cake recipe ransom for this recipe, so I'm looking forward to now trying to make her cake gluten-free!) I made it again the other night and was once again struck by how delicious the flavor combination is. The whole family loves this dish.

In my version, I make feta cream sauce an all-in-one with homemade sundried tomato pesto (you can buy ready-made sundried tomato pesto but 1. Not all versions are gluten-free and 2. Homemade tastes much better), then serve the sauce over a bed of penne topped with chicken and mushrooms. You could certainly try tossing the pasta with the pesto (say that 10 times fast!) first, then combining the chicken and mushrooms with the feta cream sauce and serving over the pesto pasta.

To save time in preparing all of it, you could make the sauce ahead of time and reheat it. I find it stores pretty well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple of days. The sauce is worth making alone just serve over some type of pasta, even if you don't want the chicken etc.

Projected start to finish: 45 minutes-1 hour (unless you make sauce ahead of time, see above)
(Printable recipe)

Sundried tomato pesto:
1/2 tsp. dried basil (or about a small handful if you have fresh)
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 5.8 oz. jar sundried tomatoes in olive oil (if you can only find 8 oz. jar, estimate about 6 oz.)

Feta cream sauce:
1 pint heavy whipping cream (or you could use 1/2 pint cream and a cup of milk to make it less heavy)
1 4 oz. container crumbled feta cheese

Chicken & mushrooms:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 small package (about 8 oz.) fresh mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1 package gluten-free penne (I use Tinkyada in these photos. Schar also makes a good one), prepared according to directions until al dente

Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente. (I like the energy-saving method on Tinkyada's noodles.) When it's finished, rinse with cool water, drain and toss with olive oil. Set aside.

Blend tomatoes (with olive oil they were packed in), garlic and basil in food processor until pesto consistency.

Dice onion and saute in olive oil in large pan while cutting chicken into small (1/2 inch to 1 inch) pieces. Add chicken to onions and cook through. Salt to taste, and add a little pepper at the end.

In a smaller pan, heat sliced mushrooms over medium-low heat and sprinkle just a bit of kosher salt over them. Toss occasionally, and cook only until softened a little from their fresh state.

Heat cream over low-medium heat in a small or medium saucepan and add crumbled feta. Stir often and continue heating until feta is melted and blended with cream. Whisk pesto into cream until blended well. Salt to taste if necessary.

To serve, place penne on plate, top with chicken and mushrooms, then spoon sauce on top.

Enjoy!

Multi-Grain Fettuccine

Fresh, homemade pasta is always a treat. It seems to taste even better not only because it is, but because you know that someone worked harder to make it for you.

I've always been impressed with homemade pasta, and was excited - and at the same time a little intimidated - by this month's Gluten-Free Ratio Rally challenge of homemade pasta. Jenn over at Jenn Cuisine is the host for our rally posts this month, so be sure to check out her rally post where she also lists the links to the recipes all the other food bloggers participating this month have posted. There are some really amazing dishes that you don't want to miss out on, including Jenn's tagliatelle with smoked salmon. Oh yum!

Logo designed by Anile Prakash

If you are interested in why I'm involved in this rally each month and what it's all about, check out my first rally post of peach poppy seed bread, where I explain my excitement and reasons for getting involved. I'm learning a lot and encourage you to give ratio baking a try - it gives you the freedom to make a reality nearly any food idea you have in your head. I have a list of the rally posts in their own category in the index.

I was in for some serious work with the homemade pasta challenge. Prior to a few weeks ago, I'd never attempted homemade pasta even with gluten. I'd always wanted to, but never did. And now I was going to make it gluten-free having no firsthand experience with the way it was "supposed" to be done.

I still have a long way to go before any kind of perfection, but I can safely say that I eventually turned out a great-tasting pasta with a good texture that didn't fall apart during or after cooking and didn't get mushy. The entire family agreed it was good stuff.

I learned three major things in this pasta-making challenge:

1. If you don't have a pasta roller, you can forget about your workout that day because you'll get a good one rolling your pasta.

2. It's most definitely worth the extra work

3. I need a pasta roller

You see, without a pasta roller I just couldn't get the pasta rolled quite thin enough to suit me. So you'll notice it's a little thick - though not nearly as thick as the first trial! I ultimately got the best luck rolling it between parchment paper, but it still didn't get as thin as I wanted it. It worked, though, and was definitely edible.

You may also notice that some of the pieces aren't very long. I got careless a few times during my rolling and let the paper bunch up a little and crease. When I tried to peel the pasta off the paper, sometimes it broke along the creased areas. Also, the dough wasn't rolled out in an even length, so I had some short sides.

I called this "fettuccine" but in reality some of the noodles are much wider and some much more narrow than that. (I need a pasta cutter, too!) I cut the noodles using a smaller pizza wheel, but I never have been good at straight lines. I honestly don't think I could draw one if I had a million bucks at stake. Bottom line is, it's pasta. You can cut it/shape it any way you choose. I thought about attempting a ravioli, but I decided I just wanted this to be simple. I needed this to be simple. 

And I wanted to get the true taste of the pasta, so I served it in a simple way without sauce. There will be plenty of time in the future for me to play around with more homemade pasta creations - starting with some of the recipes from my fellow rally bloggers. After I get a roller.

I used Michael Ruhlman's pasta dough ratio of 3 parts flour: 2 parts egg for this recipe (9 ounces flour: 6 ounces egg).

I'm not even going to attempt giving you a projected prep time for this because it's going to entirely depend on whether you have a pasta roller or are using a rolling pin, how familiar you are with making pasta and whether you have kids running through your kitchen, among other things. The cook time will also vary according to how thin you are able to roll your pasta, so I'll only give an estimate.

Multi-Grain Fettuccine

1 oz. tapioca starch (29 grams)

1 1/2 oz. teff flour (43 grams)

2 oz. sweet rice flour (57 grams)

4 1/2 oz. brown rice flour (128 grams)

6 oz. eggs (3 large eggs)

1/4 oz. extra virgin olive oil (6 grams, or 1/2 tbsp.)

1/2 oz. water (14 grams, or 1 tbsp.)

(The topping I used is simply some zucchini sliced into sticks and sauteed in some extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt, and seasoned with black pepper. I placed it on top of the pasta and topped the zucchini with grated parmesan. It was fantastic.)

Sift flours together in large bowl and make a well in the center. 

Add oil, water and eggs into the well and begin to incorporate the liquids into the flour. I used my stand mixer with the dough hook for most of this, but Ruhlman suggests using your fingers to do all the mixing. I did end up using my fingers and hands after most of the liquid was absorbed.

When the dough is at a good consistency, make a disk out of it, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Cut into 4 equal pieces and roll dough out between two sheets of parchment paper or in a pasta roller as thin as you'd like it. Cut using a pastry cutter or small pizza wheel, or pasta machine.

Have ready a large pot of well-salted boiling water with some olive oil in it, and place pasta into boiling water. Cook until al dente or as tender as you'd like it. My cooking time varied between about 4 minutes to 9 minutes, and all of the pasta held up well.

Drain pasta when finished cooking and then toss with a little olive oil. Top with whatever you desire.

Enjoy!

And don't forget to check out all the other delicious homemade, gluten-free pasta recipes posted in Jenn's post! (And thank you, Jenn!)

Brooke from B & the Boy! made Ravioli w/strawberry filling and chocolate berry sauce
Caneel from Mama Me Gluten Free made Multi-grain fettuccine
Charissa from Zest Bakery made Linguini with smoked salmon and creamy vodka sauce 
Erin from The Sensitive Epicure made Ravioli w/ shrimp, spinach, mushrooms, & cheese filling in browned butter
Gretchen from Kumquat made Vegetable lasagna
Jenn from Jenn Cuisine made Tagliatelle with smoked salmon, peas and parmesan
Lisa from Gluten Free Canteen made Lokshen kugel
Karen from Cooking Gluten Free made Homemade gluten free pasta
Mary Fran from Frannycakes made Pasta with pink vodka sauce
Meaghan from The Wicked Good Vegan made Vegan gluten-free homemade pasta, in creamy artichoke tagliatelle
Meg from Gluten-Free Boulangerie made Fettuccine with sun-dried tomatoes
Pete and Kelli from No Gluten, No Problem made Tortellini
Shauna of Gluten Free Girl made Gluten free fresh pasta
Silvana from Silvana’s Kitchen made Lemon-poppy pasta with tomato, corn and basil
Tara from A Baking Life made Fazzoletti with wild mushrooms and spring onions
TR from No One Likes Crumbley Cookies made Tomato basil pork raviolis

Product of the week

I just knew I would have a great recipe posted for you today. I got the photos edited yesterday and believed with all my heart the writing would happen today. I'm sorry. I've had a lot of things going on the last couple of weeks and the blogging has slowed down a little.

I do plan, however, to have a couple more recipes posted this week and/or weekend. I recreated a couple of  popular favorites we haven't had since going gluten-free and can't wait to share them with you. Later. This week or weekend.

In the meantime, I did have time to feature a product:

Are your children begging for alphabet soup but you can't give it to them because it's not gluten-free? Schar makes the only replacement I've found so far. No, it's not the entire alphabet or numbers or shapes. But this Anellini pasta made by Schar comes in cute, tiny "O's" or zeros, if you prefer the numbers. I've found that they don't hold up too well in a soup as leftovers, but they do pretty well in the bowl if you add them at the end of your cooking.

Product I can't live without of the week

Tinkyada has the best gluten-free pasta for most purposes, in my opinion. I've tried nearly every other brand and they end up mushy or too grainy, or break apart too easily. Schar comes close, but you have to watch how you cook it. Many people like Tinkyada even better than gluten pasta, and I'm thankful that we found it fairly early on into our gluten-free life. We tried a few before we found it, and I had pretty much given up having pasta again. Until Tinkyada. It's that good.