Spicy Mac and Cheese

I needed a recipe to take to a potluck with some friends, and I was craving macaroni and cheese. I found the highly-honored version on Molly's blog (myhappymeals.blogspot.com) and the spiced-up version on Shelly's (lovestonom.blogspot.com). This was really, really amazingly good.

Enjoy!

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

3 cups of milk

3tbsp flour

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 lb cooked macaroni

16 oz sharp cheddar cheese in cubes

8 oz swiss cheese in cubes

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter, then add the flour to make a paste. Add the chese, cut into cubes, and the milk. Allow to heat for a few minutes on low-med heat, stirring constnatly. Add the spices before the cheese is completely melted.

Grease a large caserole dish and put the cooked macaroni into it. Once the cheese is completely melted into a sauce, pour the cheese over the cooked macaroni. Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 30 mintues at 350 degrees. 

Enjoy, and have milk nearby!

Spicy Sausage Pasta - now with more pictures!

This is a favorite of ours and it takes about 30 minutes. Its really good and full of flavor. It makes enough for 4 people but is great leftover.

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Ingredients:

3-4 italian sausage links

2 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp italian seasoning

2 tsp oregano

Dash of leaf basil

Dash of parsley

Red pepper flakes to taste

Tabasco to taste

1 tbsp minced onion

1 jar of basic pasta sauce

1/4 cup shredded parmersean cheese

Pasta

OVOO

Directions:

Remove the sausage meat from the casing. To do this, carefully cut the casing along the long side of the sausage and pull the meat out. You can leave it in the casing and cut it, but I find that you get a better flavor and overall look.

In a deep frying pan, heat a small amount of olive oil and then add the garlic. Heat the garlic for 1-2 minutes, then add the sausage, broken up like ground beef. 

Now you're going to add the spices. Add everything from the italian seasoning to the minced onion.  Here's a hint: When you're using italian seasoning and oregano, the full flavor of these spices, when dried, isn't fully realized unless you "reactivate" the flavor. To do this, put the spices in your hand and rub them back and forth, which will crush the spices and reactivate them to give you more flavor. 

Cook the sausage completely, stirring often. 

Turn down the heat and add the pasta sauce.  You may want to add more spices to the sauce, but there was plenty on the sausage. Sometimes I add more garlic here, as well as some salt and pepper to finish off the flavor. A few minutes before you're ready to serve, add the 1/4 cup pamersean cheese and mix completely to allow it to melt.

Boil and drain your pasta. Serve the sauce with a little more parmersean cheese on top. 

Chicken Enchiladas 2 - Update

Remember how I said that they weren't all that spicy? Try them leftover a few days later. They have significantly more kick to them, but they're even better reheated. Weird. 

Snow Day Chili

Today was a snow day! The husband and I both stayed home and enjoyed a bonus day at home, we cleaned, played games, relaxed, and I made chili! I love stews and chilis on snow days, they warm the soul. I've also been on a spicy food kick. 

Here are a few pictures of our snow day: 

Snow Day Chili - in one dis

h!

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

2 cans diced tomato

1 small can tomato paste + 1/2 that same can of water

2 cans kidney beans (or 1 can kidney, 1 can

 pinto, your call, I just hate pinto beans)

1 tsp trader joe's chili sauce

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tbsp chili powder

Black pepper to taste

Garlic, cumin, corriander to taste

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef in the same pot you will cook the chili in, and I highly recommend a dutch oven, specifically the enamel covered one from Calphalon. The heavy cast iron allows for very even heating over long periods of time. Plus, since it is enamel coated, you can clean it with soap unlike regular cast iron.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, if its too think, use some of the juice from the kidney beans to thin it out. 
3. Simmer for as long as you can, at least an hour. 
4. Serve with toppings of your choice, like cheese, sour cream, chives, chopped onion... 

30 Minute Dinner: Steph's Quick Spicy Pasta

Sometimes, I don't have time to make much of a dinner. I have a few quick dinners in my arsenal that I use on such a night. Tonight, we did not get home until 7pm because we went on a cake tasting. We also ran tonight, so dinner didn't even get started until almost 9pm! Its late, but we don't make a habit of that, nor do we go to bed until 1am or so. Still, as a note, its best to eat 3 hours before bed at least.

So this is one of my quick dinners. Enjoy!

Steph's Quick Spicy Pasta


Ingredients:
(note: These are estimates, I don't measure my spices!)

2c basic pasta sauce (the more basic the better, I like Hunts in the can or Ragu traditional)
2tbsp Italian seasoning
2tsp Oregano
3tsp Pepper
1tsp Salt
2tsp Crushed red pepper flakes (if you really like it spicy, add more of this, or even a dash of tabasco)
1tbsp Finely grated romano cheese
1tbsp Minced garlic
2 tsp Dried minced onion

Heat over medium heat until it starts to bubble, then reduce to low until ready to serve.

Serve over pasta of your choice, we use whole wheat angel hair. Top with freshly grated romano.