Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Caribbean Style

By Natalie 




Here I am doing a take on the ultimate comfort food inspired by Bajan style Macaroni pie.

Ingredients:

• 1 box-454g uncooked macaroni (cooked in a good sized pot that can serve as a mixing bowl as well)
• 2  cups grated cheddar cheese
• 2 cups grated Monterrey jack (reserve 1 cup of a mix of both cheeses for topping) or grate a bit more to top with.
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 TB ketchup
• 1 TB yellow mustard
• couple of dashes of dry mustard powder
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, (if using dried a crushed generous pinch should do)
• 1 medium onion, grated or finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 (bottom part) scotch bonnet pepper minced (if you like it spicy, add more!)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4-1/2C panko breadcrumbs 
• salt & black pepper to taste

1. Bring salted water to a boil in a good sized pot.  Add dry macaroni to the boiling water. Cook uncovered until macaroni is tender but still firm.
2. Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
3. Drain the macaroni and set aside.
4. In a separate pot add 1 tb butter and melt. Add black pepper, cayenne, mustard powder, onion, garlic, chopped thyme, scotch bonnet pepper and sizzle for a little while until fragrant and slightly softened. 
5. Add milk and cream and heat to warm. Do not boil or when you add the egg it will curdle).  Add, ketchup & mustard. Mix into the cooked macaroni.
   Add cheese (reserve about 1 cup for topping). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add eggs at the end. Mix.
6. Pour into a greased 9″ x 13″ baking dish and top with reserved grated cheese. Sprinkle with panko as this adds a really nice, golden, crispy topping.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Allow to sit for 10-15 mins before serving.

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Campfire Beef Chili with Nachos and Homemade Cheese Sauce

with Natalie


Today we are going to look at a terrific chili whose seeming simplicity belies its complex and bold flavours. We will also be serving it with nachos accompanied by a homemade cheese sauce!



A Campfire-style chili allows the beef and seasonings to be the star with only minimal other ingredients. It is also thicker with less liquid than many other styles.

Chili Ingredients:

2 lb. ground beef
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
sea salt to taste
1 large onion, diced
1 large can (796ml) red kidney beans
2 cups Bovril or beef broth

To start, heat some olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for around 3 minutes until it turns slightly golden.

Add the beef and start to brown adding all of the seasonings as you do so. When the beef is browned add the kidney beans and stir them in.

Without draining add 2 cups of beef broth. For this specific chili I like to use Bovril (in which case you would add 2 cups of water and of 4 teaspoons of Bovril). Stir again, bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 60-90 minutes.

Now this can be had with some nacho chips and sour cream on the side but it goes very well with nachos and a homemade cheese sauce. Homemade cheese sauces are easy to make and far, far better than commercial ones.

While the chili is simmering, you prepare your cheese sauce.

Ingredients:

1 can evaporated milk
1 cup shredded/grated old cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded/grated old white cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
dash cayenne pepper
dash Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon Buffalo-style wing sauce

Toss the grated cheese with the cornstarch in a bowl coating the cheese as evenly as possible.

Pour the evaporated milk into a smaller pot, bring to a boil and quickly reduce to a simmer. Add the Dijon, mustard powder, cayenne, Tabasco, Buffalo wing sauce and cheese/cornstarch and stir until the cheese is nicely melted. Simmer for around 1 minute. Taste and add any seasonings as desired. You can thin the sauce with a bit of 10% cream or more evaporated milk if needed. Best served right away, so prepare towards the end of the chili cooking time.

When the chili is done serve with nacho chips and the cheese sauce for dipping on the side. Also great with veggies. It is a delicious combination that goes well with ice cold beer, friends, and a movie or a game of some kind!

Enjoy.

See also: Beef Chuck Chili with Jalapeno Cornbread

See also: Betty Crocker's 1959 "Spicy Chili" Revisited & Reinvented! - Vintage Cookbook TBT

1978's Eat Your Heart Out with Corn Dogs, Tomato-Cheese Strata, Cannelloni & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: Eat Your Heart Out - Patricia B. Sirrine, Norma B. Leavitt and Elaine B. Kiester

Publication Details: Eat Your Heart Out Publishing Co., 1978

"Eat Your Heart Out" is a quintessentially 70s Canadian cookbook. Published in 1978 it was something of a best seller with several printings over the next couple of years. It was put together by three sisters from Alberta and has over 200 pages of recipes.

These cover all the standard bases from soups, to breads (it has a very large selection of bread recipes in fact), to main dishes, etc. As always with cookbooks from this era there are a lot of classics, some reasonable takes on different meat recipes, some attempts at Chinese or Mexican style recipes that are of very mixed value, and some hilariously awful ideas like having a "jello salad" with Chimichangas! (Please don't do this.)

Many of the pages had little jokes or folksy quips at the bottom and the entire book has a very informal and actually quite charming feel.

Here we take a look at all the recipes associated with the (very) period photography in the cookbook. Sometimes the photographs have one recipe tied to them and sometimes they have several. But this is a large book and there are many recipes that would make it worth seeking out if you are a fan of classic, homestyle North American dishes from casseroles to roasts to a wide array of desserts.

(Click on images to enlarge)

(A previous contributor from BC, Chris Green might debate the title here!

"B.C. Ferries' World's Best Clam Chowder Recipe: Contracted-out!")

See also: The Saint Louis Cookbook with Catfish Creole, Chimi-Churri Oysters, Bourbon BBQ & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

See also: Corn Flakes Break'n Bake w. Parmesan Pork, Apricot Chiffon Pie & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook TBT List

Ham Banana Rolls with Cheese Sauce. Fancy!

Looking for a fancy dish for your next dinner party that I guarantee you your guests have never had before and won't see coming?

If so, nothing will deliver like bananas wrapped in ham and drenched in cheese sauce.

They will be talking about this one for months I promise!

A combination of flavours no one will forget anytime soon.

If, for some unknown reason, your guests decide to stick around and stay over, be sure to greet them in the morning with a plate of pan-fried ham, eggs and, of course, more banana. 

Festive!

Finally, as an added bonus, cast your eyes on this delightful bit of presentation. Pineapple and banana is, in fact, a great combination, but since we eat with our eyes first...

See also: Fruit and Shrimp Hawaiian -- Quick and...ummm...Delicious!

See also: Tuna Almondine: Behold the greatness!

From Wisconsin with Love with a Beer-Cheese Soup and Fondue, the Hodag & the Packer "Crunch"! -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: From Wisconsin with Love by Laurie Gluesing and Debra Gluesing

Publication Details: New Boundary Designs, 1984

There are an entire category of cookbooks that are centred around specific geographic areas -- usually states or provinces, cities or towns, etc. The one we are looking at today is almost a love poem to the food and tales, some of them tall, of the State of Wisconsin.


I love this cookbook for many reasons. Its folksy illustrations, the fact that many of the recipes are prefaced with interesting anecdotes, and, of course, the fact that much of the cooking is centred around two of my favourite things, beer and cheese!

The food here is hearty fare, using usually readily available ingredients, and is, overall, really delicious. You find recipes like "Corned Beef with Horseradish Sauce" and "Wurst-Beer Salad". When the ingredients are a little more off-the-beaten track they cover things like "Venison Stew".

The book is divided into six sections and today we are sharing one recipe from each as well as the tale of the Hodag.

Also, as many of my regular readers may know, I am a big fan of the community owned NFL Green Bay Packers of Wisconsin. So, of course, I share a Packer related recipe as well -- the Packer Crunch!

(Click on images to enlarge)

The Hodag in all its fiery glory!

In honour of the glorious Green Bay Packers -- 

The only major league community owned team in the United States!

Nothing says "party" like a Chicken Cheese Ring!

When I think party...I think of a Chicken Cheese Ring! Your guests, I am sure, will be suitably impressed.

Almost as exciting as a Magnum P.I. episode!

I say, parsley paprika AND chopped nuts! Why not?