Big Hearted Macaroni and Cheese with Artichokes

From the Kitchn:

serves 6 to 8

• 12 ounces frozen artichoke hearts
• 1 pound elbow macaroni or small shells
• 8 ounces silken tofu (soft)
• 2 1/2 cups skim milk
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 6 ounces white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs or panko
• 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
• Olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil. Place the frozen artichoke hearts in a colander and run cold water over them for a few moments. Remove from the colander and set aside.
2. Heat a 4-quart pot of salted water to boiling and add the pasta. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the package specifies, to just barely al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the pasta from cooking. Return to the cooking pot.
3. Cut each artichoke heart into several bite-sized pieces and stir into the cooked pasta.
4. Place a 10-inch deep skillet or wide saucepan over medium heat. Place the tofu in the pan, and mash it thoroughly with a fork or whisk. Whisk in the milk, mustard, salt, paprika and pepper. Warm the mix until bubbles form around the edges, then whisk in the cornstarch and shredded cheese. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens just slightly. As it heats, it will appear somewhat lumpy. This is fine; just whisk occasionally as you stir.
5. When the mixture has thickened slightly, turn off the heat and pour it into the pot with the macaroni and artichokes. Stir thoroughly, and taste for seasoning. If necessary, stir in a little extra salt and pepper, then spread in the prepared baking dish.
6. Mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan and sprinkle over the pasta. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

RESULTS: I was intrigued by this recipe because it has tofu in it, and I'm trying to eat more protein, and it also has artichokes, which Chris loves. LOVES. I think with some tweaks it could be really good. I didn't care for the artichokes as is. They didn't add good flavor to the dish, they kind of clashed with the cheese. If I were to make this again, I would probably saute or bake (can you back artichokes?) before putting them in with the pasta to get some richer flavor to them. Chris agreed to try this because I assured him that he wouldn't be able to taste the tofu, and his clean plate seemed to confirm that. I would also adjust the cooking time for the pasta. It was still pretty mushy. Maybe cook the pasta for 4 minutes less than the box says to? experimentation needed. The very best part of this was the panko topping. I HIGHLY recommend panko over breadcrumbs, it really makes a huge difference.  

Fresh Cheese

The day after Thanksgiving, I had apparently not had enough of cooking, because I decided to make fresh cheese. The recipe is from How to Cook Everything. I was toying with the idea of posting the whole recipe here, but the pictures are really crucial to understanding how it works, and the directions are too involved. So, instead, I found it on Google Books. All it takes is milk, buttermilk, salt, and cheesecloth (which you can find at the grocery store).

I'll just give you my impressions. The cheese itself was, I thought, very good. It tasted like a mix between ricotta and cream cheese. I think undersalting it is a definite problem, and I also had trouble with cheesecloth management. I either had too many plies, which made it very hard to squeeze whey out of the cheese, or I had too few plies, which made it very easy to squeeze curds out of the cheese. This can probably be improved with practice. It was actually harder than I thought it would be, squeezing the whey out, and I probably could have benefited from a conspirator or two to help with the squeezing.

Cheese Straws

Going to a potluck barbecue. I had some puff pastry in the freezer that I've been needing to use up + It's strawberry season again (the market smelled so gooood) = I thought to make something for the potluck with puff pastry and strawberries. And then I tasted the strawberries. I'm not sharing. They're all for me. So I made these instead. My friends need never know....

From the Gourmet cookbook, that giant yellow behemoth:

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17 1/4-ounce package), thawed
• 1 large egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup finely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (about 4 ounces)
• Course sea salt (I don't think table salt would work at all. Use course salt or nothing.)

1. Put a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 425.
2. Generously butter two baking sheets (I used my silicon sheets and skipped the butter)
3. roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 14-by-12-inch rectangle. Cut crosswise in half to form two 12-by-7-inch rectangles. Brush both with the egg wash. Sprinkle cheese evenly over one rectangle and top the other rectangle, egg wash side down. Press firmly on the pastry to force out any air pockets, then roll out gently to make the layers adhere (it should end up about 12.5 by 7.5 inches). Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle with course salt.
4. With a pastry wheel, pizza cutter, or sharp knife, cut pastry crosswise into twenty-four 1/2-inch pieces. Twist each strip two or three times and place on the baking sheet, pushing down the edges to keep the strip twisted. Put 12 strips on the sheet.
5. Bake until golden, about 10 to 12 minutes, then let cool for a couple minutes on the sheet.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the strips for the other baking sheet and bake when the first batch is done.
7. Loose baked strips with a metal spatula (I could just pick them up from the silicon) and cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

RESULTS: These might be all for me, too.

White Cheddar and Green Peppercorn Fondue

As one of my anniversary presents for our paper anniversary, Chris got me a cookbook called "the Fondue Bible." The one we tried tonight with Ian and Lauren, our good friends who are moving to Dallas tomorrow, was the White Cheddar and Green Peppercorn Fondue. We picked this one in part because it calls for beer, which we have, as opposed to white wine, which we didn't and couldn't buy because it's Sunday, and we live in a weird state.

Ingredients:

8oz old white cheddar cheese, grated
4oz Gruyere cheese, grated
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 clove garlic, halved
1/2 cup beer (we used a lager) at room temp
2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp grainy mustard (we used just a squirt of that golden mustard)
green peppercorns, coarsely ground (we just used normal peppercorns)

1. In a bowl, combine cheeses and flour. Mix to coat cheese with flour.
2. Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the cut side of the garlic, and discard garlic. Add beer and lime juice; bring to a simmer over medium heat. (this doesn't take long at all) Reduce to medium-low.
3. Add cheese by handfuls, stirring constantly after each addition with a wooden spoon in a figure-eight motion until all the cheese is melted.
4. Stir in the mustard and mix well. sprinkle with peppercorn. Serve with french bread or sourdough, lightly toasted pita, pretzels, gherkins, pearl onions... (we did french bread and granny smith apples)

RESULTS: I think I prefer this to our normal recipe. I like the cheddar, and the beer made for a less sour fondue than wine. Definitely something I would recommend trying for you cheese lovers out there (sorry Bethie!)

It's harder than I thought to figure out what color my parachute is, but I think I'd be perfectly content being the person to does the graphics and layout for cookbooks, especially the more arty ones with the big color photos. What an awesome job. Probably would have to live in NYC, though, which would not suit me very much.

Yogurt Cheese

This one's for Bethie, who's living a sad life without cheese, but she can eat yogurt.

1) line a fine-mesh sieve with a coffee filter or paper towel; rest sieve over a large glass measuring cup or a deep bowl.
2) Fill lined sieve with 2 cups (or however much you want, just be sure to adjust the amount of the mix-ins) whole or low-fat plain yogurt (NO nonfat yogurt!!). Cover measuring cup with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
3) Discard liquid that has collected in the measuring cup. Transfer yogurt cheese to a bowl. Stir in 1/2 tps coarse salt. Flavor as desired (see below). Makes 1.25 cups.

Mix-in suggestions:
Garlic and Chives-- cook 1 garlic clove in boiling water for 1 min. remove garlic and chop finely. stir garlic and 3 Tbls finely chopped fresh chives into yogurt cheese.
Black Pepper-- Stir in 1/2 tps coarsely ground black pepper.

Results: Pretty good. It's velvety smooth and tangy like yogurt, but it's more like soft cream cheese in consistency. I tried it with the black pepper on a peach. It was just ok, but that was the peach's fault. I think when the peaches start improving I'll try grilling the peach first and then adding the cheese. The recipe says you can have this with baken potatoes, crackers, bread, or as a dip for chips and veggies. I think it would also be good with bagels or English muffins, which is what I'll try next. I wonder if you let it sit in the fridge for longer before eating, like a day and a half or two days, if it would be more solid....