EASY EGG RECIPES

EASY EGG RECIPES

Eggs are the most basic ingredient you can have in your fridge. Even if there is nothing else in the house that you could throw together for a meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you can always figure out something to do with an egg. Eggs are also something everyone in my house will eat, depending upon how they are prepared. Poached, fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, sunny-side-up - or however they are prepared - is an individual choice. But the fact remains, EGGS are a "must."

Following are some basic recipes that require eggs as a main ingredient. The availability of the other ingredients will be easy to get at the grocery store. You may already have some on hand.

Egg Salad

• 4 tbsp. mayo or Miracle Whip - we ONLY use Miracle Whip in our house =)
• 1 tsp. mustard - we prefer regular but you could also use Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 tbsp. dried chives or parsley
• 6 hard-boiled eggs - peeled and chopped
• 1/2 small green pepper - chopped
• 4 Romaine lettuce leaves

Mix the mayo/Miracle Whip, salt, pepper, chives or parsley, and mustard in a large bowl. Stir in the chopped eggs and bell pepper until well-blended. Serve on Romaine lettuce leaves. You can also make sandwiches using your favorite type of bread.

“Crabby” Deviled Eggs
Emeril Lagasse is a favorite of mine on the Food Network. I made these eggs for the group I play cards with back in 2001 - they loved them! Trying them again in my kitchen was a pleasant reminder of how much I miss my friends.

· 12 large eggs
· 3 tbsp. mayo or Miracle Whip
· 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
· 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
· ¼ tsp. salt
· ¼ tsp. hot sauce
· ½ lb. lump crabmeat – remove shells/cartilage
· paprika - optional

Hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and rinse quickly with very cold water for 5 minutes. Peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks from the whites and place in medium bowl. Mash yolks with a fork. Add mayo/Miracle Whip, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and hot sauce; mix well. Add crabmeat, gently stir to m ix. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the egg white halves and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle with a little paprika. Makes 12 servings.

Egg and Crescent Roll Casserole

• 6 eggs
• 2 (8-oz.) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine (butter is better!!)
• 1/2 cup green onions - chopped
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 (14 1/2 oz.) can chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables - or whatever kind you prefer
• 2 cups cooked ham - diced
• 1 egg - beaten

1. Hard boil 6 eggs. Peel the eggs and chop them once they are cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Separate 1 can crescent rolls into 2 long rectangles. Press rectangles over bottom and 1/2-inch up sides of greased 13x 9 -inch (3-qt.) baking dish. Bake 8 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown.
3. Melt butter/margarine in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add green onions; cook and stir until crisp-tender. Stir in flour, thyme, pepper, and broth. Cook 3 to 4 mins., or until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Stir in vegetables, cook 4 to 6 mins. or until veggies are crisp-tender.
4. Stir in ham and hardboiled eggs; cook 3 to 5 mins., or until thoroughly heated. Spoon veggie mixture over partially baked crust.
5. Spread the other can of crescent rolls onto waxed paper and make 2 more long rectangles. Overlap the long sides 1/2-inch and press edges and perforations to seal. Press or roll to form 13x9-inch rectangle. Cut slits into the top of the dough or use a cookie cutter to cut a shape out of the dough. Reserve any cut-outs you decide to make for baking time,
6. Invert the dough rectangle over hot filling, and remove the wax paper. Place cutouts on top. Brush with beaten egg.
7. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Do you have any favorite egg recipes? I'd love to try them!

The Power of Cream Cheese

The Power of Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is a very versatile ingredient around which you can create simple, delicious food that the whole family will enjoy. I use my coupons to buy cream cheese in what seems like "bulk." As long as you don't open a package of it and put it back in the refrigerator, it should store well in your fridge for a while - just be sure to check the expiration date. I've discovered that freezing cream cheese doesn't work well, so I don't recommend it.

FYI - America's Test Kitchen has rated the KRAFT Philadelphia Cream Cheese as the best - but you can try other brands and judge for yourself.

Here are some easy recipes to try using your favorite brand of cream cheese that would be great to serve at a Super Bowl or any other type of party.........

Taco Spread

• 8 oz. block softened cream cheese
• Salsa - jarred or your own
• tortilla chips or flour tortillas
• tomatoes - chopped
• lettuce - shredded
• any other of your favorite taco toppings

Pour any flavor or heat intensity salsa over 8 oz. block of cream cheese - or onto 4 cut squares of cream cheese. Sprinkle with your favorite taco topping - such as tomatoes, lettuce, etc. Serve with warm tortilla chips or warmed flour tortillas.

Confetti Cheese Balls

• 3 oz. package cream cheese - softened
• 4 oz. cheddar cheese- shredded
• 1/2 cup ripe olives - chopped
• 1/2 cup green peppers - chopped
• 1/4 cup pimento - chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans - chopped
• 1/4 tsp. parsley - minced
• crackers or bread sticks

Beat the cream cheese with the shredded cheddar cheese. Stir in 2 to 3 tbsp. chopped ripe olives, chopped pimento, and chopped green peppers. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls and roll half in chopped pecans and minced parsley. Serve with crackers or bread sticks.

Hot Pizza Dip

• 8 oz. package cream cheese - softened
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce - your choice
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese - shredded
• soft or hard bread sticks for dipping
• other pizza toppings - your choice

Spread softened cream cheese in a 9-inch pie plate. Top with 1/2 cup pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and other pizza topping of your choice. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with bread sticks.

Pizza Pizzazz

Pizza Pizzazz

A popular item in my house, as well as a lot of people I know, is pizza. Many things have been compared to pizza - sex, traveling, shopping........

"......when it's good it's very good, and when it's bad

- it's still pretty good."

There are a "bazillion" ways to make pizza and everyone has their favorites. Bookstores, the Internet, and grocery stores are hubs for finding creative ways to make pizza. You can bake it, nuke it, grill it, and fry it. The key is finding the right crust, toppings, and sauce. We've tried many of the pizza joints around town and have our favorites. So.......knowing what we like, I have been playing around with some homemade versions that have been delicious and a lot less expensive than pizzeria pizza.

My boys - ages 11 and 16 - like a basic pepperoni and mozzarella cheese pizza. (My 5-year-old daughter prefers bread sticks with mozzarella - no pepperoni.)

Here are a couple of tips for a basic pepperoni pizza:

• Pepperoni - Cut down on greasy pizza by wrapping pepperoni in paper towel and microwaving it for 30 seconds. There will be orange fat soaked into the paper towel that won't be soaked into your crust.
• Tomato Sauce - Use canned tomatoes - diced or pureed work the best. Simmer in a skillet 10 to 15 minutes with a little olive oil and a couple cloves of garlic. Play with the amount until you get the right amount you and your crew will like.

Here are some other of my favorites that prove the versatility of the 'za!!

Grilled Pizza

• Refrigerated pizza crust - any brand
• olive oil
• pizza sauce (see above) - or you can use jarred,canned, etc.
• 1 pkg. mozzarella cheese- shredded
• plum tomatoes - sliced
• black pepper
• small fresh basil leaves Parmesan cheese - crumbled, shredded, or shaved
  

1. Invert a pressed-out and oiled pizza crust from a sheet of nonstick foil onto a hot grill. Remove the foil and grill.
2. Flip the grilled pizza crust with tongs and a large spatula or the flat bottom of a baking sheet.
3. Top evenly with the pizza sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, and pepper. Grill until the bottom if golden. Sprinkle with the basil and Parmesan.
   

Baked Potato Pizza

• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices
• 1 loaf (1-lb) frozen pizza dough - thawed
• 3 tbsp. butter or margarine
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese - shredded
• 1/4 cup Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese - shredded
• 6 bacon strips - cooked and crumbled (see my Blog entry about bacon for an easy way to make bacon in the oven)
• 2 green onions - chopped
• 2 tbsp. chives - minced
• PAM with olive oil
• sour cream - optional - but why would you NOT want sour cream with any baked potato - even baked potato pizza
  

1. Place potatoes in small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover - simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and pat dry.
2. Unroll pizza dough onto a 14-inch pizza pan coated with PAM with olive oil. Flatten the dough and build up edges a bit. Melt butter in the microwave with the garlic - then brush over the dough.
3. Arrange the potato slices in a single layer over the dough. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with cheeses.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 22 - 28 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
5. Sprinkle with bacon, onions, and chives. Serve with sour cream.

Mediterranean Pizza

• 1 prebaked thin Italian or French whole wheat or white bread shell crust - about 10 oz.
• 3 tbsp. pesto - your own or premade
• 2 medium tomatoes - thinly sliced
• 3/4 water-packed artichoke hearts - rinsed, drained, and chopped
• 1/2 cup feta cheese - crumbled
• 1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
• 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp. minced onion flakes
  

1. Place the crust on an ungreased 12-inch pizza pan. Spread with pesto. Sprinkle with garlic salt and minced onion.
2. Top with tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, and ripe olives.
3. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through.

Please let me know if you have any favorites to share or suggestions for these recipes or any other part of my Blog. Since this is so new to me, I would appreciate feedback if you get a chance.

THANKS!!!!

Tuscany: Then and Now

Tuscany: Then and Now

No matter what direction I think I am taking in my kitchen, I always seem to go back to the simplicity and great foods that have a Tuscan influence. While I've never actually been there, I've read MANY books, cookbooks, travel guides, and other Internet resources, to learn as much as I can about Italy, especially Tuscany. My parents have been to Florence and Pisa and fell in love with the art and history of the region. I am confident that when I do get to visit Tuscany, I will know enough about the culture, wine, cuisine, and art to make the most of my trip. Maybe when Parker - who is 5 - is in high school.......................I can only dream.........

The Tuscan Region

Tuscany was the birthplace of the Renaissance. The region got its name from the Etruscans, the most powerful civilization of pre-Roman Italy. The larger cities of Tuscany include Siena, Lucca, Arezzo, Pisa, and Florence. Each of these were once an independent republic from the 1300's until Italy's unification in 1861. Each have a glorious history, tradition, and artistic treasures.

Learn more about the Renaissance at the following websites:

http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/renaissance/index.html

http://www.erasofelegance.com/history/renaissance.html

Tuscany was known for art, literature, food, and a unique culinary style. During the Renaissance, if you were a nobleman or wealthy merchant, eating was a highly elaborate affair. For Florence's ruling family, the Medici family, food was a form of art - rich, complex, and highly stylized. For Tuscans, the connection between lorto, the garden, and the table was and is direct and strong. The Tuscan diet was based upon the same foods that the Etruscans ate.

Learn more about the Medici family at the following websites:

http://galileo.rice.edu/gal/medici.html

http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/renaissance/medici.html

The "Holy Trinity" of staples in the Etruscan diet included;

• il pane - bread - a Tuscan Flat Bread recipe follows
  

• olio - olive oil - I always use extra-light virgin olive oil.
  

• vino - wine - "Amen..." That's all I have to say about that!!!

These three ingredients to this day are the most basic, universal, and beloved elements of Tuscan tables.

Il Pane

Il pane, or Tuscan bread, is a staple for all Tuscan meals. It is a saltless bread. Historians believe that one reason it was made without salt was due to high salt tax. Making bread without was a way for Tuscans to avoid this tax, which makes sense to me. Others believe that the bread is saltless because Tuscan cooking has such strong flavors that it requires a bland, well-textured bread. The best Tuscan bread is made from stone-ground flour, natural leavening, and baked in a wood-burning stove or oven (Yea, right - like we all have THAT luxury....HA!)

Olio

Olio, or olive oil, goes back 3,000 years in Mediterranean countries. Much of the olive crop was used to make olive oil. Olive oil is made by removing pits from the olives and grinding them into a thick pulp. The pulp is then pressed to remove the juices, which are then placed in a centrifuge to separate the water from the oil, making it a mechanical process. The best kind of olive oil and the best tasting – is extra-virgin cold-pressed oil from the first pressing. Cold-pressed oil is produced through a process that preserves the chemical nature of the oil, the oil’s flavor, and its natural antioxidants. Extra-virgin olive oil is considered to be superior because it has the least acidity.

Il Vino

Il vino, or wine, is another staple in the Tuscan cuisine. Tuscan wines are clean, crisp, and uncomplicated. Chianti is the quintessential, best-known Tuscan wine. It is made from a mixture of grapes, mostly Sangiovese, local to Tuscany, and is thought to date back to Roman times. Brunello di Montalcino is considered by many to be the greatest Tuscan red. It is a pure Sangiovese wine, made in the warm, dry hills of the surrounding town of Montalcino. My father once brought me a bottle of Chinati from Italy and it was wonderful!

Every province in Italy has its own vini bianchi, or white wine. White wines in Tuscany are usually pressed from Trebbiano grapes and are planted in the spring and the sweet, heavy clusters or grapes grown are snipped off the vine in the fall. The white wines of Tuscany are very refreshing and compliment the region's traditional seafood antipasti. One of my favorite white wines is pino gris, which is a dry white wine. I've tried many versions of pinot gris. I especially like the California Robert Mondavi Vineyards pinot gris varietals. Hey, I can't afford the better Italian-made wines, but California is a formidable second.

"Schiacciata" - Tuscan Flat Bread

Pronounced "she-a-cha-ta." "Ci" in the Italian language is pronounced "ch."

2 1/2 tsp. (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 cup (4 fl. oz.) lukewarm water

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt - optional - you can leave it out like the Tuscans did!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

5 tbsp. extra-virgin light olive oil - plus oil for drizzling

1/2 cup cold water

In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over lukewarm water and stir gently. Stir in the sugar and let the mixture stand until creamy - about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, mound the flour and make a well at the center. Pour the yeast mixture into the well. Add the optional salt and 2 tbsp. olive oil to the well. Stir in a circular motion, slowly incorporating the dry ingredients. When about half of the flour has been incorporated, add the cold water. Continue working the ingredients until the mixture forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until it becomes smooth and elastic - about 10 to 15 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn to coat the surface of the whole ball with the oil and then cover with a damp kitchen towel. Place it is a warm spot until the dough has doubled in volume - about 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly oil a 10 1/2 x 15 inch baking pan. Punch down the risen dough and return it to the floured work surface. Knead again for a few minutes. It will be very elastic, springing back when you press on it with your finger. Roll out the dough into the prepared pan and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Set it in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F. Dimple the surface of the dough with your fingertips, spacing the dimples about 1 /2 inches apart. Pour the remaining 3 tbsp. olive oil over the surface. Bake until golden brown on top - about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove bread from the oven and drizzle with additional olive oil - if desired. Remove the bread from the pan and cut into squares to serve. The bread can be stored, well-wrapped - for up to 2 days and reheated or served at room temperature. This recipe makes 6 - 8 serving

You Say Potato......

You Say Potato....

As I teach my students as part of Davison's 5th grade curriculum, potatoes are native to North America. Europeans had never seen or tasted a potato until potatoes, as well as other foods, were taken back to the "Old World" from the "New World."

I have to be completely honest and say that I LOVE potatoes - all KINDS of potatoes. I like them mashed, baked, fried, roasted, and sauteed. I like russets, reds, yellows, fingerlings, and whites. Maybe it's the starch. Maybe it's the flexibility of a potato. Maybe it's how filling a potato can be.

WHATEVER!!!!

I LOVE potatoes......

So here are a recipe to try that will prove the "power" of potatoes!!!

Mashed Potato Casserole

This recipe belongs to the list of one of the first successful cooking attempts I made after graduating from Michigan State University in 1983. I have stuck with this recipe for years and make it for holiday meals and sometimes just for fun!!

1 package (3-oz) cream cheese - softened

1 tsp. garlic salt

2 1/2 to 3 lbs. baking potatoes

paprika

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup sour cream

2-3 tbsp. butter or margarine

parsley sprigs or flakes

In a bowl, stir together cream cheese, garlic salt, pepper, and sour cream until smooth. Set aside. Prepare and boil quartered potatoes uncovered for about 20 minutes. Drain. Using an electric mixer, beat the hot potatoes until they are in fine lumps. Add sour cream mixture and continue beating until fluffy and smooth. Spoon potatoes into a well-buttered shallow baking dish. Dot with butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake, covered, in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes or until the top is golden brown. Garnish with parsley flakes. Makes 6 servings.

Baking Bacon

Baking Bacon

For some of us, the mere mention of bacon is enough to fill us a plethora of emotions, from guilt to euphoria. There's no way around the fat and sodium content health professionals warn us about, but somehow, we just can't turn our backs entirely on such a culinary luxury.

Supermarkets still sell tons of bacon - in fact, they often put it on sale to get people to buy it more often than they normally would. A supermarket around here usually has a BOGO - Buy One, Get One - or a 2/$5.00 deal I can't seem to pass up. A lot of the bacon will go to the freezer for later, but I found a way to make a lot of bacon at once without making a huge mess, the part of making bacon that I like the least.

Buy several pounds of bacon when it is on sale and/or you have a coupon. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put single-layer strips on aluminum foil in a large baking dish (you may have to use two). Bake strips 30 to 40 minutes or until they look cooked to your preference. Place bacon on plates lined with paper towel to drain off extra grease. You can either serve what you’ve made or store the pieces in a zip-lock freezer bag and freeze, which makes it easy to remove only a small amount that you need for a quick breakfast or a sandwich. You can reheat the bacon for a short time in the microwave. (This method is even better than the baggie method I’ve used. Clean up is quick since there will not be any bacon grease splatter on your stove top.

BLT DIP

We LOVED this dip. It’s easy and goes well with warm sliced French bread. You can even serve it with crackers, pretzels, or raw veggies. I cooked the bacon the way companies package microwavable bacon. It’s faster, less messy, and I’ve never burned bacon cooked this way. (See below)

1 cup low-fat sour cream

1 cup Miracle Whip or mayo (I used Miracle Whip - we LOVE Miracle Whip!!)
½ to 1 pound bacon – cooked and crumbled

1 tomato – diced
Small lettuce leaves – torn into strips

In a bowl combine sour cream and mayo/Miracle Whip. Set aside. For making larger quantities of bacon at one time, as I suggested above, prepare bacon in the oven. Or, you can make bacon in the microwave. Use three 1-gallon-size zip-lock baggies with two pieces of paper towel inside each. Place as many slices of uncooked bacon on the paper towel without over-lapping as you can – usually around 6 to 8 slices for each baggie. Put each bag – one at a time – on a microwave-safe plate into the microwave and cook for 4 minutes. The bag will inflate, but if you seal it tight and remove as much air when you seal as you can, it shouldn’t explode. When taking each baggie out, be sure to use a pot holder as the plate will be hot. Let each bag sit about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon from the bags and place on a plate lined with paper towel. Once it has cooled enough to slice it, slice/crumble the bacon on a cutting board and mix into the mayo/Miracle Whip and sour cream mixture.

Last, dice the tomato and mix it into the sour cream mixture. Add the tomato last because the water in it will absorb into the dip and make it too mushy. Serve with lettuce, warm sliced French bread, or crackers. You can even use the dip for vegetables.

BLT Fried Egg-and-Cheese Sandwiches

This sandwich would be good for ANY meal. It's not just for breakfast!! This recipe will make 2 sandwiches - add or subtract ingredient quantities based on how many you need. Again, I always use Miracle Whip whenever a recipe calls for mayo - but it's up to you.

8 slices bacon - cooked to desired crispness

4 slices Monteray Jack Cheese*

4 slices of bread - I used thinly sliced Italian bread - you can use French bread, too

4 leaves lettuce

8 slices tomato

2 tbsp. Miracle Whip or mayo

2 large eggs

2 tsp. butter - unsalted since the bacon is salty

Cook your bacon the way you prefer - on the stovetop, in the oven, or in the microwave, to your desired crispness. Drain on a plate lined with paper towel. Slightly toast you bread slices. Layer 2 slices of the toast with Monteray Jack cheese, bacon, tomato, and lettuce. On the other 2 slices, spread the mayo or Miracle Whip. In a small skillet, melt butter. Add the eggs and fry over medium heat, turning once, until crisp around the edge - about 4 minutes. The yolk should still be runny. Slide the egg onto the layered bread slice - on top of the lettuce. Close the sandwich and it's ready to eat.

You can add or subtract any of these ingredients - especially the type of cheese you use. You can also double the bacon or any of the other ingredients. ENJOY!!

*Monterey Jack cheese was invented by David Jacks, a 19th century cheesemaker who lived near Monterey, California.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus
In an attempt to try a variety of vegetables I have not yet prepared this year, I found this recipe on the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board (yes, there is such an organization) website for ideas. I bought fresh asparagus at the Flint Farmer’s Market and gave this recipe a try. It was very good – and gone in a very short amount of time. Not exactly a diet appetizer, but very satisfying!

1 pound fresh Michigan asparagus

8 – 10 strips bacon

Wash and trim the asparagus spears. Cut the bacon strips in half crosswise. Wrap one strip of bacon around each asparagus spear, leaving the tip and end exposed. Line a cookie sheet with sides with aluminum foil. Lay each wrapped spear on the cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bacon is cooked. Serve warm or at room temperature.

****These are good dipped in your favorite hot sauce or dressing

Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni & Cheese

Like me, many of you have kids that have macaroni and cheese as a food "staple." It is a dish that never fails to satisfy all of my own children's appetites - ages 5, 11, and 16. There have been whole books published with tons of recipes and tips for changing up the regular packaged mac-n-cheese (macaroni and cheese) products in supermarkets.

One of the key "basics" of any recipe I've attempted with my crew is to make sure the cheese sauce is smooth and melts easily. Velveeta@ is by far our first choice for packaged mac-n-cheese, so I use that brand as my "baseline" as far as sauce goes.

I wanted to find a recipe that would be creamy, delicious, and homemade. Yep, I decided that I'd reached a point in my life where I could use my culinary skills to actually make homemade mac-n-cheese - especially the kind you can freeze and have on a weeknight when the last thing you feel like doing is making dinner!

Here is a modified version of Cook's Country Magazine's@ "Make-Ahead Macaroni and Cheese." (April/May, 2009) I've changed or eliminated some of the ingredients because I knew my own kids wouldn't appreciate them. I've included those ingredients at the end of the modified recipe in case you want to include them.

Modified "Make-Ahead Macaroni and Cheese"

4 slices white bread

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - grated

1/4 tsp. dry minced garlic

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter - melted

salt and pepper

1 pound rotini pasta

6 tbsp. flour

4 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

4 cups colby cheese - shredded

2 cups cheddar cheese - shredded

Mix bread, Paremesan, garlic, and 2 tbsp. butter with hand-mixer or food processor until well-mixed. Divide bread crumb mixture between 2 ziplock freezer baggies and place in freezer. Boil 4 quarts of water. Add 1 tbsp. salt and rotini pasta and cook until barely softened - about 3 minutes over high heat. Undercooking the pasta will keep it from getting mushy when ready to bake and serve. Drain pasta and spread out onto baking dish and cool. This will help the pasta keep its starches which helps keep the sauce creamy.

Mix rest of butter and flour into saucepot over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until well-blended. Slowly whisk in broth and cream and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium and simmer until thick - about 15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in cheeses, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper until smooth. It should be a little "soupy" because freezing the sauce will dry it out and it won't be creamy when you're ready to serve it.

Stir rotini pasta into the sauce until well combined. Break up any clumps of pasta. Divide pasta mixture between two pie plates or medium-sized baking dishes. Cool to room temperature - about 1 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Wrap dishes with plastic wrap, cover with foil, and freeze. (These can be frozen for up to 2 - 2 1/2 months.)

When you are ready to take them from the freezer to serve, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove foil from baking dishes and save, leaving plastic wrap on. Microwave baking dish until mixture starts to bubble around the edges - about 7 to 12 minutes. Stir and replace wrap halfway through. Remove plastic wrap when done and replace foil. Bake in oven 20 minutes, then remove foil and sprinkle with frozen bread crumbs you made at the beginning of the recipe directions. Adding them at this point will ensure that the topping will be crisp and not mushy. Continue to bake until crumbs are golden brown - about 20 minutes longer. Cool and serve.

Original Ingredients for "Make-Ahead Macaroni and Cheese" I eliminated in the recipe above:

1 clove garlic - minced - replaced by 1/4 tsp. dry minced garlic

elbow macaroni - replaced by rotini pasta

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 cups extra-sharp shredded cheddar cheese - replaced by 2 cups cheddar cheese - shredded

4 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth - replaced by regular chicken broth

Sandwich bread is suggested in the original recipe

If you have any mac-n-cheese recipes you'd like to share - please share them. I would LOVE to try them!

Happy Cheese Day!!