Eat and Freeze Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

I consider myself an expert in this area.

I have a total weakness for macaroni and cheese. It started out as a kid with the "blue box" and progressed from there. When I began cooking for myself, I experimented with all kinds of recipes. Honestly, my high school cafeteria made excellent mac n cheese! It was so saucy and creamy. I wondered how in the world did they accomplish that? I tried my best for years to cheese-up a basic Bechamel sauce, but never got it quite right.

I've been through many versions with lots of grown up add-ins, but to tell you the truth... my standby favorite has always been Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese that you grab from the freezer and pop into the oven. It is pure heaven! The noodles are soft and plump. The sauce is cheddar cheese perfection, and there's a lot of it. Brown it on top, and you'll have a fight on your hands for who will get the browned bits. Comfort food at it's finest! But it can get a bit expensive if you've got a lot of "comforting" to do. Or you're an emotional, 9-month pregnant woman who really could use some good comfort food because everything else is most definitely UNcomfortable! Ok, so that's me.

I call my version "Eat and Freeze Macaroni and Cheese" because it makes a ton. Totally enough to enjoy some now and freeze half for later. Feel free to scale it down if you dare. I'm sure you won't after your first time. Most importantly, this version of Macaroni and Cheese is a dead ringer for the Stouffer's version. REALLY! Do a blind taste test, and you'll see. Here's what you need.

Eat and Freeze Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

4 cups 2% milk
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 pounds medium cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
16 oz. dry elbow macaroni noodles

The noodles: Bring a gallon of water to a vigorous boil. Add 2-3 tablespoons of salt. Stir in pasta and cook for 12 minutes. When done, partially drain noodles leaving 2-3 cups of cooking water in the pot with the noodles. Cover with a tight fitting lid and wait for sauce to finish. The extra water will be absorbed and give you those soft, plump noodles!

The Sauce: In a large, deep boiler with a heavy bottom, wisk flour into milk until smooth. Place over medium heat, and stir frequently until warm but not boiling. Shred cheese (I use my handy food processor for this) and add to hot milk. Add butter and salt. Stir with a whisk to prevent clumping until cheese in melted. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently with a whisk to prevent scorching and lumps.

Combine sauce and noodles. Pour half into each of two greased large casserole dishes. Cover one with foil to freeze.

Bake fresh at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Bake frozen dish at 375 degrees F for 60 minutes.

If you even consider making substitutions, please don't. I'm normally not so intolerant, but if you're looking to nail that Stouffer's taste just do it like it says above. Regular cheddar in too understated while sharp is over the top. Medium cheddar is where it's at. And please resist the urge to get a bag of pre-shredded cheese! They dust it with corn starch to prevent it from sticking together, and it will not melt smoothly and will over-thicken your sauce. Whole milk tends to separate when simmering and skim milk just cuts the creamy factor noticeably. Did I say I've made a few batches of Mac n Cheese in my day? :)

This post was inspired by the any-day-now arrival of my third little boy. I'm in that end stage of pregnancy where NOTHING is comfortable and I'm starting to feel a bit weary. I've been cooking for an army for a couple of weeks and freezing half so that we won't be eating fast food, frozen pizza, or an endless train of cold sandwiches after I get home from the hospital with our new baby. Not that those things aren't ok once in a while, but good nourishing homemade food is what this mom wants in those first days home. I'm looking forward to having my sweet husband pop that big tray of frozen macaroni and cheese into the oven after the baby gets here. My sweet family and good food! Life IS SO GOOD!

Keep lovin' and keep cookin'!

Double-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Portobello

Portabello

Portabella

However you spell it, it’s still a yummy, big mushroom!

I have to admit that I had to look it up. Spelling is really not my forte.

The Wikipedia article on such mushroom states that all three spellings are common and accepted in different circles, so I guess I didn’t need to stress out about it. Although the food police should make a decision on the spelling and enforce it because it makes searching for a recipe quite difficult. Moving on…

So I bought a package of four of these lovelies. When I got them home, I wondered what I could do with them so that they would be as special as I think they are. I trolled a few of my favorite cookbooks and blogs, wiped the drool from my bottom lip, and decided to improvise!

I decided to stuff them with a rich, yummy cheese like my favorite layer of lasagna. But I know my husband would ask, “Where’s the meat?” So I decided to DOUBLE stuff them. That’s right. You heard me. Double Stuffed!!

Now, I know what you’re thinking… Portabellas are hearty enough to take the place of meat. That statement makes my veggie friends cringe. But this is Texas, and my man works really hard so he needs the protein. So here’s what I did.

Dice half of a sweet yellow onion and 3 cloves of garlic. Sauté in a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil along with two links of sweet Italian sausage (casing removed).

I put the remaining sausages in a freezer bag to save for spaghetti.

You want to break up the sausages into small pieces as they cook. Be sure to cook the sausage all the way through. Your onions will get a nice brown, caramelized thing going on. This is good!

While the sausage and onions are cooking, you can get your portobellos ready.

Now what I'm about to ask you to do is a bit controversial, but I swear that the food police will NOT come and get you for it. Wash your mushrooms!

There, I said it! They won't soak up too much water with a quick rinse. I just can't stand the thought of not washing them despite what any "pro" says. It's just gross. IMHO

Blot them with a clean cotton towel to remove excess water. Gently pop the stems off and get ready to remove some gills. Gills are the dark brown thingies on the underside of the portobello.

They can be easily removed with gentle pressure using a spoon. Just experiment with the pressure you need to apply. Just be careful not to break those gorgeous 'shrooms! I gave mine a rinse afterward and a nice pat dry.

Then spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and place your mushrooms inside. I realize that there were 4 in the package but there are only 3 in the dish. I saved one really large one for my mushroom risotto to go with this dish.

Next I evenly divided my sausage mixture among the three mushrooms. It was just enough! It would've been fine if I'd kept that 4th portobello as well. These babies were generously stuffed!

I gathered a handful of sweet basil from my herb garden, picked the leaves, and washed them. Roll them up into a log and finely slice it. You've just made a chiffonade! Fancy, huh?

Toss your basil in a bowl with 1 egg, 2 cups ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, and 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese. Add a pinch of salt and some pepper if you want to. Stir it all up.

Then stuff it into all the nooks and crannies of those lovely 'shrooms! Really mound it up! I used all of it. Really.

Then as if it weren't enough already...

Sprinkle on a little more mozzarella and parmesan cheese. I love cheese!! Can you tell?

Pop these babies into a 375 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes.

You want the mushrooms to be cooked through, the cheese to be al melted and set, and the top to be a bit brown and yummy. Oh my goodness! I can see fights breaking out over the little brown edges that escaped into the baking dish!

They were so huge, that I actually served myself half of one. I made a simple mushroom risotto to go with supper. I also threw together a salad of baby spinach, walnuts, and mandarin oranges sprinkled with a raspberry balsamic vinaigrette.

The verdict? My husband said it was possibly the best thing he's ever eaten.

You should try it. I bet you'll like it. I'll be posting my risotto recipe soon, so stay tuned!

Keep lovin' and keep cookin'!