Momma Kat Mac n Cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1 tablespoon grated fresh onion (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 cups shredded cheese (we use cubed velveta - about 3/4 to a pound)

2 cups thin white sauce (recipe follows below)

1 tablespoon butter

Cook mac (not too done). Place half cooked macaroni in ungreased 2 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with half the onion, salt, pepper and cheese. Repeat with second layer. Pour white sauce over top and dot with the butter. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes, then uncover and bake 15 additional minutes.

Thin white sauce

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups milk

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. blend in flour, salt and pepper. Stir til bubbly and smooth. (more like a paste) Stir in milk slowly while whisking, heat to boiling over medium heat. Stir constantly! Boil and stir 1 minute.

Adventures With Chicken

I've been in a grocery shopping funk lately. The grocery store in our little town has higher prices and less selection than the stores in the college town 40 minutes away. I try to make a trip there once a week to do most of the shopping, but it's an all day affair and I've officially been a sale flyer slacker. Hence, the cupboards are getting quite bare, even by Old Mother Hubbard standards. I did have one last locally farm raised chicken in the freezer that I had put in the fridge to defrost and was going to cook in the evening for next day's meal. I don't usually get home in time to roast one of these chickens in a reasonable amount of time, as they are plump almost 7 pounders. Well wouldn't you know I forgot to get it going and here it was almost midnight. Curses! What could I possibly throw together for dinner the next day without a stop at the grocery store? Hmmm....I wonder if I can cook a whole chicken in the crockpot. Off to the interweb I flew, fingers flying furiously. Sure enough. I ran across some recipes "chop apple and onion, stuff the chicken...etc." Hey interweb, it's midnight, I'm not chopping apples and onions. So I threw caution to the wind and invented...

MIDNIGHT CHICKEN

1 thawed roasting chicken, in this case 6.5 pounds

Rinse, pat dry, rub all over with a little olive oil

Season generously inside and out with whatever concoction makes sense to your sleep deprived mind (season salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder)

Place chicken in the crockpot

Turn to high, go to bed, and wake up 5-6 hours later to perfectly done "roasted" chicken along with a couple cups of very rich stock.

Cover and put in the fridge for dinner tonight.

Take the children to school, go to work.

Come home later that afternoon and use a few cups of that delicious chicken to make

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI BAKE

1/2 cup chopped onion--no, we're out, substitute a bit of dried minced onion

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground sage

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cups chicken broth--how about delicious roasted chicken stock, YES!

1 cup milk

1 (4.5) oz jar sliced mushrooms--or fresh mushrooms, today canned, draiend

2 to 3 cups cooked chicken or turkey

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley--sorry cupboards bare, a bit of dried instead

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

7 oz cooked spaghetti--if you use 2 cups chicken, add another ounce or two

1/2 cup shredded swiss

Heat oven to 350. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt, sage and pepper, cook until bubbly. This only takes a minute or so. Stir in broth, milk, mushrooms. Cook and stir until mixture boils and is slightly thickened. Stir in remaining ingredients except swiss cheese. Spoon into ungreased 2 qt casserole. Sprinkle on shredded swiss and bake for 30 minutes. Garnish with parsley.

Resurrection Burgers

Today our blog entry is from guest chef Stephanie Roberts. Orginally from Brooklyn, NY, she is a writer, artist, musician, etc. and more, and now resides in Montreal, Quebec with her Huz and six delightful children. She promises these Resurrection Burgers are guaranteed to royally resurrect flagging spirits!

1 500 gram package ground lamb completely thawed

4 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon dried rosemary ground freshly with mortar and pestle

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 tablespoon onion powder

(i might experiment someday on replacing this with half of a medium sized onion, finely chopped)

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1. Mince garlic finely with your handy dandy chef's knife

2. Open ground lamb, add all dry ingredients and garlic.

3. Mix thouroughly.

4. Let sit covered at room temp for 1/2 and hour or in the fridge till needed.

5. Pat those bad boys into fat little burgers (i ended up with 6 patties)

6. Fry on low heat until done.

Serve with a *light*drizzle of maple syrup (TRUST me on this!), a spinach salad with finely chopped apple and crumbled goat cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction. And a tall glass of Dieu du Ciel!'s Equinoxe de Printemps/Spring equinox maple scotch ale 8%. Deeelish!

Makes six servings or three...that is up to your little red wagon.