Mac N' Cheese Minus the Macaroni

Well hello delicious, my but aren't you pretty. It's perfectly okay to talk to your food--especially if it's totally and completely something you shouldn't be eating. Case in point, my recent genius decision to make a mac n' cheese dish. What's so bad about it? Oh honey, it's soooo bad it's good. The good: (A) It is delicious, and, (B) It is made almost entirely of cheese. The bad: (A) It has a bajillion calories, and, (B) It is made almost entirely of cheese (and I think I am allergic to cheese).

When I was eating dairy regularly I was a pretty big fan of cheese and made a mean Lobster Mac N' Cheese that people would ask me to make pretty much whenever we had dinner. Sigh. The good ole days. But a treat every now and again is what makes life worth living, right? So here we are. I was craving something home-y and comforting and there aren't many other comfort foods that come close to beating macaroni and cheese. But I wanted something more pillowy than macaroni so I made my mac sans macaroni and substituted gnocchi. (Note to self: Best decision ever).

Gnocchi "Mac" N' Cheese

--15 oz. package gnocchi
--4 pieces bacon
--2 cups shredded cheese (I used a mixed bag of mild and sharp cheddar mixed with jack cheese to get all kinds of cheese flavors. I also used "2%" or the "Reduced Fat" or whatever it was to make myself feel better)
--splash of milk (half and half or cream will work too)
--black pepper

Cook the gnocchi per the package directions, omitting any salt or oil. Drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.

While the gnocchi cooks, fry the bacon. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Mix in 1 3/4 cups of the cheese. The heat from the gnocchi will melt the cheese nicely. Add in a splash of milk (or cream or half and half) to help make the melted cheese into a nice non-stringy sauce.

Add lots of fresh black pepper to the mix and give a few good stirs. Take your cooked bacon and crumble it directly into the bowl. Stir again for a nice mix. You will not need to add salt--there will be plenty from the bacon! Pour the mixture into a small glass baking dish. 

Top with the remaining cheese (and if you're me, add more cracked pepper) and bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the cheese on top is fully melted and you have to resist the urge to eat the whole pan of cheesy badness. Eat up and perhaps choke down a salad so you can pretend this isn't completely terrible for you...

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 513 per serving

Sustainability: Is Going Green Where It's At?

Sustainability. Slow food. Carbon footprints. Local food. Fair trade. These are hot topics currently in the culture at large and the buzzwords du jour of the food community. And with good reason.

People care more and more about where their food is coming from. In 2009, Merriam-Webster added the word "locavore" to their dictionaries, thus solidifying the farmer-fed movement that cuisine pioneer Alice Waters has been advocating since 1971 (when she opened the quintessential sustainable restaurant, Chez Panisse).

If you ask a kid where their food comes from many may say "the store." But ask "Where does the store get it from?" and the same child will likely look back at you quizzically. Celebrity chefs like Waters and Jamie Oliver hope to change this by teaming up with schools to promote teaching kids about food sources. Waters' foundation helps a California middle school's students to farm and cook the food they grow. Oliver's Food Revolution is all about changing school lunch programs to promote better nutrition as well as food education. And the White House, with First Lady Michelle Obama as their spokesperson, has launched Let's Move with the goal of raising a healthier generation of kids.

Do a Google search for "sustainable restaurants US" and you will end up with 6 million returned results. Websites like Local Harvest, Organic Highways, and Eat Well Guide allow travelers and locals alike to find restaurants by location or keyword search that assert themselves to be organic or farmer supplied and the like. It's not just so-called "hippies" who are thinking local, organic, or natural. Whole Foods Markets boasts stores in 38 U.S. states as well as the U.K. and Canada. Whole Foods also has their Local Producer Loan Program investing in small, local products and their producers.

In Denver--where I live--restaurants build culinary clout by not only sourcing food locally (and changing their menus seasonally as a result), but also in managing their own farms like Alex Seidel's Fruition. Similar places exist in metropolitan areas large and small in Virgina (Alexandria, Roanoke), Indiana (Terra Haute), Georgia (Summerville), Alabama (Birmingham), Texas (San Marcos), Missouri (Springfield), among others. Talk about a revolution--local found is in abundance!

So what will the next trend among savvy restaurateurs be? My money is on the fully sustainable restaurant. If sourcing or growing your own local food isn't enough for diners (or owners or chefs), then build restaurants out of recycled materials, use all items and generate zero waste, offset carbon footprints, the sky's the limit! I found this TED talk from London restauranteur and chef Arthur Potts Dawson, whose Acorn House and Water House restaurants feature gardens, compost, non-fossil fuels, and other green elements.

 

So is sustainable food just a trend? Will it soon be passé, like Asian-fusion or tapas, glutting the market with so much supply that demand will wane? Perhaps, but I somehow doubt it will disappear into obscurity. Because unlike other food trends there is more romance in local food. Exotic and global cuisines are enchanting, to be sure, but nothing pulls at the heartstrings of diners like the quaint idea that one is eating something in the same fashion his or her great-grandparents might have enjoyed.

Spice Up Your Life

Note to self: Self, when friends say they are sick, find out what kind of sick. End note.

Telling me "I'm sick," is like telling me "I haven't eaten in years, please help." (I will feed you. Like it's my job. Because it sort of is. At least that's what I tell myself.) So when the headmistress of The Donnybrook Writing Academy mentioned off-handedly that she was a bit under the weather, I gathered up some ingredients and went to town. You see, what I heard was, "I have a cold-flu-pneumonia-bronchitis sort of plague and would like to breathe again at some point in the near future." So I went with spice, fire, and zest. 

What she meant was, "I don't want to see food much less smell it or eat it so stay away from me Devil Woman." So I ate it instead and let her starve it out. But it's the thought that counts, right?

So, Miss Angora Holly Polo, here was the soup that your stomach would have immediately rebelled against eating. I'm glad you are feeling better now...

xoxo,

Devil Woman who accidentally tried to kill you but failed

Spicy Black Bean & Rice Sopa
--TBSP olive oil
--small white onion, diced
--garlic, minced
--cumin
--ancho chile powder
--crushed red pepper flakes
--1 bell pepper, seeds removed and julienned (sliced in thin strips)
--TBSP chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
--TSP tomato paste
--1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
--2 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
--1 cup water
--1 dry cup rice
--1 cup spinach leaves, washed and torn

Heat large pot with a well-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the olive oil and allow to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the onion, garlic, and spices, stirring together to mix well. The spices will coat the onion pieces and embed the flavor deep within the soupy goodness. Sauté onion to translucency before adding the bell pepper and ancho chile pieces. Stir well to combine and saute for a few minutes until the peppers get tender.

Add the tomato paste, black beans, 1 cup chicken broth, and the water to the pot. Stir it all up and then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the rice and cover and simmer 20 minutes to cook the rice. Add the additional cup of chicken broth and stir. The rice will continue to soak up liquid.

Add the spinach to the top of the pot but wait before stirring. The heat from the pot will start wilting the spinach and cooking it down. Give the pot a big hearty stir to combine all ingredients, then serve it!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 466 per serving

Someone Else Makes Dinner For Me!

Even as someone who loves to cook, it is always a pleasant treat when a friend offers to make dinner for me (and smart thinking on the part of the friend as it means I will return the favor soon enough). When I've had a particularly stressful day, or a long week, or we just need an excuse to get together, I can always count on my friend, Pamalicious, to cook up something delicious. A fan of ethnic cuisines, Pamalicious has shown me the ways to making arroz con pollo (y mojo, delicioso!) and also carnitas and recently made this delightful Moroccan style dish for me from a recipe she found in Gourmet Magazine (also known to some as "Food Porn Magazine").

Awesomely, she made the dish from memory--a testament to not only how easy it is, but how delicious it is too! "I made some adaptations. I didn't use the almonds, and I also use more ginger and cinnamon, as I like mine more highly spiced. Adding a 1/2 tsp of cloves gives it a nice flavor, too," she explained to me when I asked for the recipe later. The recipe below is how it was prepared for me but you can click the link to see the original recipe.

Moroccan Style Chicken with Apricots Glaze
--2 TBSP honey
--1/2 cup dried apricots, halved
--cinnamon
--ground ginger
--black pepper
--salt
--2 TBSP olive oil
--2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each pounded to consistent thickness
--1 TBSP butter
--medium yellow onion, diced
--garlic, minced
--1/2 bundle fresh parsley, chopped
--1/2 bundle fresh cilantro, chopped

In a sauce pan bring one cup of water, the honey, and the apricots to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid reduces to a thick syrup. If your apricots are particularly dry you might need to add more water.

Whisk ground cinnamon, ginger, pepper, a pinch of salt, and 1 TBSP olive oil in a large bowl. Dredge the chicken in the mixture, coating each piece thoroughly.

Heat butter and 1 TBSP olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the butter melts. Brown the chicken in the butter, cooking 4-ish minutes on each side (amount of time will depend on the thickness of the breasts).

Add onion, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt to the pan and sauté for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and the cilantro and parsley. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the apricot mixture and cook, uncovered for 10 or so more minutes. Serve with couscous. Eat!

Pamalicious is excited about the meal she just made for us.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 661 per serving