Make It Yourself

I make all my own salad dressings. 

Blue Cheese is the one that the old bf loved the most:
Bleu Cheese
Wee bit lemon juice
Creme Fraiche
Mayo
S & P
Milk
Teensy Bit Garlic

All to taste.  A little bit of fresh herbs always helps a lot. 

I've been meaning to post in here for ages. 

DH and I really love this carbonara recipe: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/entertaining/rachael-ray-0806

I alter it a bit when I need to but ultimately it works well.  And I can now make it under 15 minutes!   It's a quick supper or lunch when I'm at home.

To keep with my pasta theme I've been making some good mac and cheese lately and I'll put the recipe down in people are interested.  I'm making it tomorrow for supper, so I'll double check the amount of milk I add and can post the recipe.

That sounds great... I'd love to see a mac and cheese recipe. I've never actually made it before, believe it or not. 

Does anyone have a great recipe for homemade ceasar dressing?

Alton Brown's mac and cheese is great. I've made the baked one with great results (though not often as it's SO fattening!), but here's all three from the Good Eats cheese episode.

Oh, and you can happily have paprika AND smoked paprika in your kitchen, they're used for different stuff so not interchangeable. Or if you're weird and in love with Budapest like us, you could have sweet Hungarian paprika in your freezer in addition to the other two, too.

Alton Brown's mac and cheese is great. I've made the baked one with great results (though not often as it's SO fattening!), but here's all three from the Good Eats cheese episode.

Oooh... that looks good. A bit different from how I make it though.  Mine is no where as ambitious in ingredients.  I'm too lazy!

My mac & cheese is Meg's recipe (thank you Meg!):

Prep (boil to al dente) about 500g (maybe a bit less) pasta shape of your choice.

Grate block of Red Leicester or Double Gloucester cheese (about 250-300 g size).

Melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a saucepan & add 3 Tablespoons flour to make a roux.  Cook it, stirring constantly, until it browns just a bit.  Add about 1 1/2 cups milk - slowly, a bit of milk at a time, stirring constantly to dissolve the roux bits & not be lumpy.  Season with salt & pepper.  When that's all smooth, and the milk gets steamy, start dumping in the grated cheese & stirring it gradually in until all melted.  Add a bit more milk if you think it's too thick.

Prepare a Pyrex or similar baking dish - butter it.  Mix the cheese sauce together with the pasta and tip all of it into the baking dish.  You could top it with some buttery bread crumbs if you wanted, which is very nice - but I often can't be bothered for that.

Into the oven, about 180 C (160 C fan oven), for about 20-30 minutes, until all bubbly & top is golden.  Much better than any mac & cheese I ever ate out of an instant box mix.

(this is not healthy food - it has a LOT of cheese in it!)

My mac & cheese is Meg's recipe (thank you Meg!):

Prep (boil to al dente) about 500g (maybe a bit less) pasta shape of your choice.

Grate block of Red Leicester or Double Gloucester cheese (about 250-300 g size).

Melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a saucepan & add 3 Tablespoons flour to make a roux.  Cook it, stirring constantly, until it browns just a bit.  Add about 1 1/2 cups milk - slowly, a bit of milk at a time, stirring constantly to dissolve the roux bits & not be lumpy.  Season with salt & pepper.  When that's all smooth, and the milk gets steamy, start dumping in the grated cheese & stirring it gradually in until all melted.  Add a bit more milk if you think it's too thick.

Prepare a Pyrex or similar baking dish - butter it.  Mix the cheese sauce together with the pasta and tip all of it into the baking dish.  You could top it with some buttery bread crumbs if you wanted, which is very nice - but I often can't be bothered for that.

Into the oven, about 180 C (160 C fan oven), for about 20-30 minutes, until all bubbly & top is golden.  Much better than any mac & cheese I ever ate out of an instant box mix.

(this is not healthy food - it has a LOT of cheese in it!)

This is pretty much my recipe, but I ALWAYS top mine with Italian-style breadcrumbs. That's the best bit!!! 

My Mac & Cheese recipe is pretty similar to that.  The main difference is that I use half sharp cheddar and half Swiss cheese.

My mac & cheese is Meg's recipe (thank you Meg!):

Prep (boil to al dente) about 500g (maybe a bit less) pasta shape of your choice.

Grate block of Red Leicester or Double Gloucester cheese (about 250-300 g size).

Melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a saucepan & add 3 Tablespoons flour to make a roux.  Cook it, stirring constantly, until it browns just a bit.  Add about 1 1/2 cups milk - slowly, a bit of milk at a time, stirring constantly to dissolve the roux bits & not be lumpy.  Season with salt & pepper.  When that's all smooth, and the milk gets steamy, start dumping in the grated cheese & stirring it gradually in until all melted.  Add a bit more milk if you think it's too thick.

Prepare a Pyrex or similar baking dish - butter it.  Mix the cheese sauce together with the pasta and tip all of it into the baking dish.  You could top it with some buttery bread crumbs if you wanted, which is very nice - but I often can't be bothered for that.

Into the oven, about 180 C (160 C fan oven), for about 20-30 minutes, until all bubbly & top is golden.  Much better than any mac & cheese I ever ate out of an instant box mix.

(this is not healthy food - it has a LOT of cheese in it!)

Mine is a bit like this but I chop an onion to put in that I mix up with the butter for the sauce.  I also make the white sauce with cheese a bit thick and then mix in some chicken stock.  It adds flavour but also makes the sauce very smooth.  And often I cut up bacon and mix it in for flavour but also some protein if I'm making it for lunch.  I also prefer to use cheddar. 

ETA: I often mix in a little garlic salt.  Not tons, just for seasoning.  It adds a bit more flavour.  I love making mac and cheese now.  We eat it about once a week.

Hmmm... maybe it's not much like it, but the basic white sauce base is the same before I begin the adaptations.

Mine is a bit like this but I chop an onion to put in...

Sounds good!  But what I want to know is how you're sneaking that vegetable in on Mr IA?

We use cheddar and then usually another 2 kinds of cheese depending upon what is available. At least one has to be a good melting cheese to counteract the not-so-good melting quality of the cheddar.

We also top ours with Panko breadcrumbs, thinly sliced tomatoes, and parmesean.

Red Leicester is awesome for mac and cheese,  I use a red Lec/cheddar mix 70:30.
I top with whatever is about, parmesan normally but also I've used random cheeses like applewood smoked.

I make all my own salad dressings. 

Blue Cheese is the one that the old bf loved the most:
Bleu Cheese
Wee bit lemon juice
Creme Fraiche
Mayo
S & P
Milk
Teensy Bit Garlic

All to taste.  A little bit of fresh herbs always helps a lot. 

Thanks for posting this! One of these days I'm going to make my own buffalo chicken wings (I look at the bottle of Frank's every time I go to the store) and I'm looking forward to the blue cheese dressing to go with them!

Sounds good!  But what I want to know is how you're sneaking that vegetable in on Mr IA?

Onions are fine.  If it's only there for flavour and not healthy, he's fine. In fact, mac and cheese is his current favourite lunch on the weekends.  :/

Actually, as far as 'sneaking' vegetables into mac & cheese, I've heard/read that cauliflower is an easy one to do. 

Depending on how sneaky you need to be, I've variously seen it pureed and added to the cheese sauce, or just steamed and finely chopped and mixed in with the macaroni.

I've never tried it myself, but there's a vegetarian restaurant here in Madison that specializes in kid-friendly foods, and it's one of their signature dishes.

Actually, as far as 'sneaking' vegetables into mac & cheese, I've heard/read that cauliflower is an easy one to do. 

I saw a version of "healthier" mac and cheese on a cooking show that actually looked delicious. She added pureed butternut squash to it to make a creamy sauce without adding as much cheese. I love squash, so it might be worth a go:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/macaroni-and-4-cheeses-recipe/index.html