History of Macaroni and Cheese

It's great as a side dish, and serves well as a light dinner or a satisfying lunch.  It's a food that kids from 2 through 102 can sink their gums or teeth into.  Besides having a high like ability factor, this comfort food and American staple has an interesting history that reveals a patriotic past.

 

It is said that macaroni, a curved tubular pasta made from flour that had its origins in China and was brought to Italy by Marco Polo, has been cooked and served with cheese in Italian homes, Inns and restaurants for over 500 years.  By the eighteenth century, the dish, in one form or another, had become popular throughout Europe and colonists from England brought along their appetite and recipes for this cheesy treat to North America in the 1800's, recipes for various versions of macaroni and cheese appeared in many American cookbooks.  And so, a legend was born.

 

As times changed and women began to look for the life beyond the confines of the kitchen, convenience foods were introduced into the marketplace.  Since macaroni and cheese had already achieved status as a family favorite, Kraft decided the time was right to introduce a dinner in a box and called it Kraft Dinner in 1937.  Kraft macaroni and cheese hit grocery shelves in the U.S. and Canada and soon it became a huge success.

 

The product got a big boost with the start of World War II.  As part of the war effort on the home front, rationing went into effect.  Meat was at a premium.  Fresh milk and dairy products were in short supply.  And since millions of men were away from home and serving in the armed forces, many women joined the workforce.  After a hard day or night at work, Rosie the Riveters really appreciated the ease and speed of a ready-to-prepare macaroni and cheese dinner. 

 

 

 

There are so many macaroni and cheese recipes out there and I was craving macaroni and cheese, simple to make and for not so many people.  I found a basic macaroni and cheese recipe that is featured here that serves 4 main servings or 6 side dishes.  It is wonderful, exactly what I needed. 

 

This recipe comes from "The Really Useful Pasta Cook Book" by Paulo Episcopo with more than 100 recipes.  It can be found on my amazon storefront at www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks .

 

Macaroni and Cheese

 

Serves 4

10 oz. macaroni

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

 

Cheese Sauce

2 1/2 oz. butter

1 1/2 oz. flour

1 tsp. dry mustard powder

1 pint (or 16 oz.) milk

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

freshly ground black pepper

 

Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions.  Drain well and turn into a large, greased, ovenproof dish.

 

Preheat the oven to 350F.  To make sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in flour and mustard and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk.  Return pan to heat and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens.  Stir in cheese and black pepper to taste.

 

Pour sauce over pasta, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbling and top is golden.

 

 

My findings and exchanges:  I tried this with lactose free milk and it took longer to come to a boil and thicken-about 10 minutes for me, but it worked!

 

Happy Cooking!

 

 

 

 

Oysters

The unknown and courageous soul who first ate a raw oyster was followed by such fanciers as Nero; Seneca; Casanova, who ate fifty a day; Henry IV, the "Evergreen Lover", who ate as many as three hundred at a sitting.  Louis XIV, who consumed nearly as many and had a royal preserve of them; Abraham Lincoln; and innumerable others.

In antiquity, oysters existed in a continuous band four thousand miles long from Scandinavia down past Britain and France, around into the Mediterranean, circling Italy; all the way to Greece.  That rich vein survives only in fragments today, and everywhere the abundance of oysters has diminished. 

 

It used to be a rule that raw oysters should be eaten only in months whose names included the letter r, that is, September through April.  Before the age of refrigeration, they could not be safely transported in hot weather.  Now;  however, they are safe year-round, though in May through August, oysters spawn and tend to be creamy rather than firm in texture.

 

Oysters are best when moderate size and from colder waters.  They are best eaten raw with only a squeeze of lemon or the vinaigrette and shallot mixture served in France.  Cold white wine makes them sacred.

 

Taken from "Life Is Meals" by James & Kay Salter.

 

This recipe is for my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, who loves oysters.  Me, not so much. Another friend asked me to make this recipe for him and he loved it.  So for you oyster lovers out there, happy cooking!

 

"Prairie Kitchen Sampler" by E. Mae Fritz, is a celebration of sixty-six years of a Midwestern Farm Kitchen.  So begins over 60 years of recipes and reminiscences from the life of Nebraska farm wife, Alice Mickish Hendrickson, as told to her daughter E. Mae Fritz.  Chronicling Midwestern farm life from the 1920's to the present.  It offers up over 375 melt-in-your-mouth recipes.  It records not only a bygone era of one family, but a part of our country's past.  The book tells of a time we all feel nostalgic about even if it was not part of our own roots.  It's a storybook as much as a cookbook.

 

This book is available on my Amazon storefront: www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks .

 

Deluxe Scalloped Oysters

 

3 8-ounce cans of oysters

1/2 cup margarine

2 tbsp. minced green pepper

2 tsp. minced onion

2 tbsp. flour

Half a clove of garlic, pressed

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 1/4 cups coarsely crushed cracker crumbs

Milk, enough to measure 3/4 cup when combined with oyster liquid

2 tbsp. margarine

 

Preheat oven to 375F.  Butter a deep two-quart casserole.  Drain oysters; reserve liquid.  In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 cup margarine and saute green pepper and onion until lightly limp but not browned.  Add flour, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper; blend thoroughly.  Place one-third of oysters in prepared casserole.  Sprinkle with one-third of seasonings and one-third of crumbs.  Continue to layer ingredients; end with a layer of crumbs.  Combine oyster liquid and milk; pour over layered ingredients in casserole.  Dot with 2 tbsp. margarine.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

 

Serves 6

 

Happy Cooking!

Sense of Taste

Human beings have an average of ten thousand taste buds, mainly on the tongue, but also on the palate and even as far back in the throat in the larynx.  Cows have more than twice as many which seems a bit of a waste.

 

Our taste buds are a kind of modified skin cell, and in their general arrangement register sweet (on the surface of the tongue), and bitter (at the back of the tongue).  Some individuals have a more acute sense of taste than others, but all humans seem to be born with an inherent liking for the sweetness evident even in infants, while appreciated of spicy or sour flavors is learned.  Taste buds are replaced every ten days or so and less frequently with age; accounting for a diminishing sense of taste as people grow older.  The complex wiring of the brain incorporates smells into our sense of taste, which is why the taste of food becomes flat or even nonexistent when you have a head cold.

 

An excerpt from "Life Is Meals" by James & Kay Salter.

 

This really has nothing to do with my next recipe.  Well, maybe it does.  Because it was the hit of a dinner party and my friends inhaled every last bite.  The recipe "Chili Cheese Squares" has also gone by the name of the "John Wayne Casserole".  This came from the cookbook Sedona's (like in Sedona, AZ) Red Rock Recipes by Eloise Carleton.   Which can be found on my Amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $9.99. 

 

Chili Cheese Squares

 

1/2 cup flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

12 eggs, well beaten

1 pint cottage cheese

2 small cans diced green chilies

8 oz. jack cheese, grated

8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

1 stick butter

 

Combine flour and baking powder.  Add eggs, cottage cheese and green chilies.  Combine jack and cheddar cheeses, reserving a third, and add the remainder to eggs.

 

Preheat oven to 400F. Put butter in a 9"x13"baking dish and place in oven.  After butter melts, pour mixture over butter and top with reserved cheese.  Place dish in oven, reducing heat to 350F.  Bake 30-35 minutes.  Dish is fully cooked when knife blade inserted in middle comes out clean.

 

If served as an entrée, cut into 4" squares and serve hot.  If served as a hor d'oeuvre, chill and cut into 1" squares.  Makes 6 main-dish servings or 12 hors d'oeuvres.

 

My thoughts on this recipe:  This must have been made at high elevation.  The cooking times didn't work for me.  With the temperature at 350F, first I cooked it for a total of 50 minutes and it was still wet in the middle.  Then I turned up the temperature to 400F and cooked it for another 10 minutes.  I was running out of time and needed to leave.  I took it out of the oven and tested with the knife.  It still looked wet, but the knife came out clean.  So I went with it and it continued cooking internally on its own.  It was ready by the time (20 minutes later) I got to my friends' home.  It was a major success!

 

Happy Cooking!

The Sweet Potato Queens

I read this cookbook, end to end and the recipes are tremendous. The stories that go along with them, well not my cup of tea, but for those of who enjoy the humor of the Sweet Potato Queens, please look for this book on my Amazon storefront:  www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks and it sells for $9.99.  The actual title is (keep in mind this was a New York Times Bestseller) "The Sweet Potato Queens Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner).

I tried the following recipe, because I love cornbread and the idea of having sweet potatoes in it.  It was excellent.  Please note this recipe is as printed as in the cookbook.  They kind of ramble on, as they are doing the recipe.

 

Sweet Potato (Queen) Cornbread

 

Mix together the dry stuff: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 4 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 cup sugar. 

 

Separately, mix together the wet stuff: 3 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (or you may use 1 (16oz) can of sweet potatoes and in this recipe, it really is okay not to use home-cooked ones, I would tell you if it mattered), 2 eggs, 6 tbsp. milk and 3 tbsp. oil. 

 

Then mix the dry stuff and the wet stuff just until it's moist (don't beat it to death), then put in greased muffin tins and bake at 425F until done-usually about 15 to 20 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

 

 

Chopsticks

Chopsticks were invented in China over four thousand years ago, probably evolving from twigs used to spear food from a cooking pot.  Knives took over this function in the West, but Confucius, who considered knives instruments of aggression, encouraged the use of chopsticks as part of his teaching of nonviolence.  The name in Chinese is kuai zi which means "quick little fellows".  "Chop" came from the pidgin English for kuai.

 

Chopsticks spread throughout the Orient, those belonging to the rich were made of gold, silver, ivory or jade.  Most, however were-and are-made of bamboo, which was plentiful and cheap, with no taste or smell that could affect the food.  The Japanese made them from a variety of woods and lacquered them for durability.  It was not until the late 19th century that the disposable bamboo variety became popular.

 

Traditionally, Chinese and Japanese chopsticks differ in length and shape.  The Chinese are ten inches long, square, and blunt at the tip, while the Japanese are rounded, come to a point, and are a couple inches shorter.  They are efficient enough to pick up a single grain of rice, but the accepted way to eat rice is to use the chopsticks almost like a scoop, moving the grains from a small bowl held close to the mouth.

 

Chopstick etiquette says you should not gesture with them as you talk, nor should you use them to pass food.  And you're inviting misfortune if you drop them or place them crossed on your plate, unless you do it in a restaurant to show the waiter you're finished and ready for the check.

 

Taken from "Life Is Meals" by James and Kay Salter.

 

Which leads to my recipe today : Chicken Song (a stir-fry wrap sandwich).  I actually got 2 of these books, one for me, an older used edition and one brand new for $9.99 at my Amazon storefront  www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks.

 

Chicken Song

3 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. dry sherry

1 tbsp. minced garlic

1 tbsp. grated ginger

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely chopped

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 1/4 cups diced carrots

1 1/4 cups diced yellow onion

Kosher salt (if using table salt, decrease the amount by half)

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 cup chopped green onion, white and green parts

1/2 cup chopped cashew nuts

3/4 cup hoisin sauce

4 large iceberg lettuce leaves, trimmed to fit inside tortilla

Four  10 or 11-inch flour spinach tortillas

 

Combine the soy sauce, sherry, garlic, ginger and red pepper in a medium bowl.  Add the chicken and toss to coat evenly.  Let marinate 15 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the celery, carrot and onion.  Season with 1/2 tsp. kosher salt and cook until the vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Transfer to a medium bowl.

Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel and return it to the stove.  Heat the skillet over high heat.  Sprinkle the chicken with cornstarch and add it to the hot skillet.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through and the pan juices have thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the vegetables, green onion, cashews, and hoisin sauce.  Line each tortilla with a lettuce leaf.  Divide the chicken mixture among the lettuce leaves and wrap. 

 

Serves 4

 

I did the prep work first, which made the cooking go very quickly.  I did have to buy most of the ingredients, so it became very expensive.  Next, I couldn't find 10 or 11-inch tortillas, only 8-inch, which I found is not big enough.  So this wrap sandwich for me is now "Lettuce Wraps" and it is excellent.  The stir fry, really the hoisin sauce is what gives this that special great flavor.  I will make my "Lettuce Wraps" again!

 

Happy Cooking!

 

 

 

 

 

How to Murder Your Husband Cookbook

The best way to stop a man's heart is through his stomach!  This is the beginning of my book "How To Murder Your Husband-a Killer Cooker" by Ann Altman & Marilyn Gonzalez.  This book is hilarious.  As well as having excellent recipes that are very rich, high in cholesterol and overall bad for you.  But oh well, you only live once.

 

 

                                                     "A Hymn from Her"

When I made a garden salad
     You called it rabbit food.
When I tried to steam or stir-fry
     You said "This ain't so good."
When I suggested walking
     You had to watch the game;
No matter what I did for you,
     It just turned out the same.
So I simply gave up caring:
     I just cooked what tasted best,
And you, my fat old husband,
     Can answer for the rest.
You look down at your belly
     And ask how it got there.
It's really not my problem.
     In fact, I just don't care.
The truth is that no one forced you
     To eat that cheese souffle',
Or to have that extra helping
     Of key lime pie today.
How about that pile of nachos
     That you balanced on your knee,
While sitting with a can of beer
     And watching the TV?
You gobble up those plates of fries
     With lots of added salt
And all the while you tell yourself
     It's someone else's fault.
Though weighted down with extra pounds,
     You still want sex a lot.
And you still think that I am interested,
     Which, by the way,  I'm not.
You really ought to ponder
     Why a man who seems so smart
Still cares so much about his pecker,
      And so little about his heart.

This book is available with my amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $9.99 used, like new condition.

Everyone knows how to make Caesar Salad, but I have chosen this recipe, because it is very good, very easy and the story that goes with it.

                                           Bury Your Little Dictator With A
                                                  Caesar Salad

The brilliant green of the romaine lettuce and the crunch of the croutons will lull your husband into thinking that you have made him a hearty dish.  But, as the demanding emperor's cook Rosa said (and often she is misquoted), "I cook to buy Caesar, not to praise him.

For the salad you will need:

1 egg and 1 yolk
3/4 cup olive oil
1 can anchovies
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper
1 head romaine lettuce

For the croutons you will need:

3 thick slices Italian-style bread, toasted and cut up in cubes
1/2 cup melted better
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

To make the croutons, mix all the ingredients together and toast at 350 F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

To prepare the salad, mix the garlic and oil and let them get to know each other while you wash the lettuce and tear it into bite-size pieces.  Add the oil, garlic and seasonings.  Mix the egg, the yolk, the mashed anchovies and cheese with the lemon juice and add to the lettuce and oil.  Toss well and add the croutons.  Serve immediately.

As she served him, Rosa muttered under her breath, "This is for you, you brute." Caesar heard her and sighed, "Et tu, Rosa?"

Happy Cooking!