Return of the (chipotle) mac

Something about a brisk and sunny Saturday afternoon just makes me want to open the windows and spend some quality time in the kitchen. Today we revisit my favorite kitchen experiment - Chipotle Mac!

As always, this tasty treat just needed a little help to make it all the mac it could be.

Chipotle Mac

5 c medium pasta shells, cooked

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

2 1/2 c 2% milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 tbsp adobo sauce

1 bay leaf

1/2 c gruyere, shredded

1 c vintage English cheddar, shredded

1 c extra sharp cheddar, shredded

3 tbsp panko

1 link chicken andouille sausage, chopped and browned

3 tbsp scallions, chopped

Combine milk, ground mustard, garlic powder, pepper, chili powder and bay leaf in a small saucepan and keep warm over medium low heat.

Heat butter and adobo sauce in a pot over medium low heat. Slowly whisk in flour. Once flour is incorporated, slowly pour in warm milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses.

Coat pasta with sauce and pour into a baking dish. Sprinkle with panko, sausage crumbles and scallions. 

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 375. Remove foil and bake at 425 for another 5-10 minutes or until top starts to brown.

I used whole wheat shells this time around and I think that was a really bad idea. I'm not a fan of whole wheat pasta in this dish because of the texture. Regular pasta works perfectly and honestly, if you are going to make some mac n cheese, go all out and rock the regular pasta. Just saying.

Since I made way too much cheese sauce than pasta, I scrambled and cooked up some 1/4 boxes of trottole and campanelle I had in the cabinet to make another batch. Way more photogenic and SO much better tasting. Ahh. So what if it's a random mix of shapes? It tastes amazing!!

Re: sausage crumbles - I first thought of bacon crumbles, but I had chicken andouille sausage in the fridge. It's tough since the chicken sausage is already cooked, so make sure you chop it up well in order for it to brown nicely. 

Of course, if you have some regular andouille sausage lying around, feel free to slice it out of the casing and brown the crumbles that way!

Have you tried my chipotle mac yet? I think it's about time you did!

Longest bike ride to date!

Exactly how long is a long bike ride?

As a newbie coming from the world of running, it's tough to figure distances out. I know 10 miles of biking is not quite the same as 10 miles of running, but what's a long ride? You know, the equivalent of a weekend long run?

On Sunday Jamie and I set off for what I mapped out to be a 20 mile ride to ice cream. I learned why I took that spill the other weekend (apparently I missed the side of the street without the Muni tracks where I should have been riding) and we zoomed through the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park. Aside from a mini mapping fail on my part (I forgot the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon was going on and we ran into a bunch of runners), we made it through the park a lot faster than expected!

We coasted along the Great Highway, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, until we reached our final destination - Lake Merced.

Funny, it's not such a horrible trek when you're on a bike ;)

We parked ourselves on a sunny patch of grass

enjoyed a leisurely lunch, people watched, and I took random pictures.

After awhile, we decided ice cream just wasn't in the cards, so I came up with an impromptu route home...adding a little over a mile to our original route. Ah well. At least we were outside!

Check it out:

Total mileage: 21.1 - not too shabby!

Once we were home and clean, I decided I needed to whip up Ina Garten's Roasted Shrimp & Orzo. A friend made this for book club a couple weeks ago and I thought it was absolutely delicious.

I kinda threw it together without looking at the recipe and as it turns out, I was pretty close! I ended up poaching the shrimp instead of roasting them and I wish I had roasted them. I also subbed in a shallot instead of red onion and fat free feta because they didn't have the reduced fat kind I usually use. Note: full fat feta is totally necessary for this dish.

Eat your veggies with every meal

I've been in a major cooking mood since Labor Day weekend so I invited a friend over for a low key Friday dinner. I knew I had to use up the beets and spinach from the mystery box...that was pretty much all I knew when I set off to Whole Foods that afternoon.

Low Key Friday Menu:

• Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad
• Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken
• Orzo Pilaf with Currants and Artichokes

You know that Lean Cuisine commercial where it says chopping and peeling at the end of a long day can be relaxing is a myth? Obviously they don't know me. I find peeling somewhat calming. I don't do it very much, but I liked sitting down briefly to peel my gorgeous golden beet

Oh, and you know, taking a few photos for you guys.

I also like taking my aggression out on an innocent bunch of fresh, locally grown spinach

I love the sound my knife makes as it runs through those crisp leaves and the resulting ribbons of green. Obviously I'm not in Lean Cuisine's target market.

Anyway, recipes are here for you to enjoy...forgot to snap a photo of the salad, but really, it was a salad. I'm sure you know what one looks like ;p

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad

1 c arugula

1 c spring mix

3 beets, cubed and roasted (I used 1 golden and 2 red)

1/4 c pistachios, lightly toasted

handful cherry tomatoes, halved

goat cheese, crumbled

2 tbsp champagne vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp maple syrup

1/2 shallot, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, shallot and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Place salad greens in a bowl and pour 1/2 the dressing over and mix to coat. Top with beets, goat cheese, pistachios and tomatoes. Toss before serving.

I think this is my new go-to vinaigrette. It goes great with bitter mixed greens and some juicy, sweet cherry tomatoes.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken

2 chicken breasts, butterflied into 4 pieces

1/2 c chopped spinach

1 clove garlic

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp chili garlic paste

salt

pepper

1/4 c sheep's milk feta crumbled

8 toothpicks

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in a pan and saute garlic for 30 seconds before adding spinach. Saute for 2-3 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt.

Set aside to cool.

Once spinach has cooled, combine in a bowl with feta and chili garlic paste.

Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and divide the mixture evenly among the four pieces.

Carefully roll chicken up and secure with two toothpicks. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil and brown chicken on all sides. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 2 minutes.

Rolled chicken is my safety. It must be since I've stuffed and rolled chicken a few other times. I think they are easy, foolproof and nice to look at! The sheep's milk feta was a must buy for me at Whole Foods after Wednesday's dinner. SOOO good. The chili garlic paste only gives a slight kick...such a slight kick that I almost forgot I used it.

Orzo Pilaf with Currants and Artichokes

3 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1 c orzo

1 tbsp butter

1 1/2 c chicken broth

salt

pepper

2 tbsp dried currants

1/4 tsp oregano

3 artichoke hearts, quartered

Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute orzo for 1 minute in the butter, then add pine nuts and oregano. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in currants and artichokes and cook for another 5 minutes or until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Currants. Random, I know. I saw them and felt compelled to use them. The amount I used wasn't really noticeable, so I'm sure it could use a smidge more. I liked it and so did friend. That's all that matters, right?

ALMOST done with mystery box produce! I leave you with an artsy kitchen shot. I love my random ledge. So handy!

Farmers market goodies

Hey all, I know it's been awhile since my last post. I actually had another one drafted up for Tuesday but I figured I'd start from scratch.

Saturday started with a nice and easy 7 miler that took us along the Marina Green through the Presidio,

along the Promenade at Crissy Field,

past the Warming Hut

to Hopper's Hands

and back. (no I'm not skilled enough to carry a camera with me...I am skilled enough to stalk Google images) Oh, and for good measure, to the top of the Fort Mason Hill I love so much.

I polished that run off at an easy 10 min pace with a minor snafu...a familiar little tug tug from the achilles. D'oh. Thankfully we had some Active Release Therapy (ART) specialists on hand after the run. I explained my previous achilles issues and mentioned that the tightness/pulling started up again after my accidental hilly 5 miler the other week and Dr. Kris Blum from Financial District Chiropractic was SUPER helpful and informative.

The whole ART thing is new to me and I told her about my winter of PT and how it would take a lot of massages and foam rolling to get my crazy calf knot worked out. She explained that since this was an injury and a tightness that resulted from movement, static massage wasn't going to help as much. Not going to lie, the 5 or 10 minutes she worked on my left calf hurt like hell...but in a good way. Definitely different than when I went to PT as she worked from my actual achilles all the way up to behind my knee. Apparently everything is connected and affected!

My front ankle joint and calf felt SOOOO much looser after that mini session and I was sent off to do some serious foam rolling. Too bad I trashed mine before I moved...more spending :(

So, what shall I name it??

I decided to have dinner for breakfast since I had a bizarre cereal craving and picked up some milk and Total at the market down the street.

It's been a LONG time since I've had a bowl of cereal and I LOOOOVVEEED it. Especially with some deliciously sweet raspberries :) Do you ever get random cravings for cereal? What kind do you prefer? I prefer flakes (I went through a freak Special K Red Berries phase where I ate around the dehydrated berries).

I woke up early on Sunday with a serious game plan - take a nice long walk to the Fort Mason Farmers Market for groceries, stop at Safeway for some non-farmers market goodies, Wine Market, and whip up two meals to freeze. Of course my plans are never set in stone ;)

I did take a long walk to the market and arrived shortly after it opened. It's a lot smaller than the Ferry Building Farmers Market and less crowded (well, at least at 9:45 it was). I did a quick lap before shopping and walked out with a ton of goodies for under $20! Check it out:

Super sweet pluots

A couple white peaches and nectarines

Some broccolini (WAY cheaper than at the store!)

A HUGE bunch of kai-lan

Just enough grape tomatoes for me

Some little gem hearts (how cute are they?) and some Foggy Morning (fresh cow's milk cheese, hand made) from Nicasio Valley Cheese Company. No picture b/c I tore into the packaging before taking a picture :\ These folks were sampling 4 (or maybe 5) of their cheeses from mild to sharp and Foggy Morning was the very first sample. It was so fresh and creamy...very mild. It reminded me of ricotta, texture and flavor-wise.

Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed by the people, vendors and produce that I couldn't keep track of who I bought from! Don't worry, I will be frequenting this farmers market and I'll be sure to take note of my favorite vendors :)

I walked over to Selin's afterward to chill my cheese as we took a long walk through the Marina, enjoying the weather and catching up. Ahhh leisurely Sunday indeed!

Stay tuned for the afternoon antics and cookery!

Easy Peasy Cheesy

You know how sometimes homemade mac n cheese lacks that creaminess that say, boxed mac n cheese has? Or it just gets funky and oily/break apart-y? I've always been a little annoyed with that. Texture is a big thing for me. After my beautiful béchamel last weekend, I was determined to master some mac n cheese.

I've only made homemade mac n cheese once before (thanks, Martha), but it just wasn't the creamy mac I was craving. I decided to make a basic cheese sauce and blend that with the concepts I got from Martha's recipe. I had my fingers AND toes crossed since I only had enough ingredients to cover one attempt. Yeeh.

Y'all know I'm really into variety so instead of making one big 13x9 tray of one flavor, I decided to make two 8x8 squares - one plain and one random flavor. What was that random flavor? Chipotle Mac. Yep. I thought the smokey, oniony flavor of the adobo sauce chipotles swim in would be a great addition to mac n cheese!

I snagged these cheeses at the Giant yesterday:

Normally I'd be a little snobbier about my cheese selections (Boar's Head deli meat is legit; cheese wedges a little questionable), but considering all the Metro and grocery store chaos these past few days, I'm going to take what I can get.

I also grabbed some 2% and whole milk

I really don't like whole milk (I think it's waaaay too rich), but for melting purposes fat free doesn't fly…it's full fat or nothing at all. Plus, this is my welcome back to running/getting some speed dish :)

I used the medium shred side of my box grater for all the cheeses and I ended up with a bunch extra - just something to keep in mind.

Check out the experiments!

Cheesy Mac

5 c medium pasta shells, cooked

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

1 1/4 c whole milk

1 1/4 c 2% milk

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c gruyere, shredded

1 c white cheddar, shredded

1 c extra sharp cheddar, shredded

3 tbsp panko

Combine milk, mustard, pepper, nutmeg and salt in a small saucepan and keep warm over medium low heat.

Heat butter in a pot over medium low heat. Slowly whisk in flour. Once flour is incorporated, slowly pour in warm milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses.

Coat pasta with sauce and pour into an 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle with panko, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 375. Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until top starts to brown.

Chipotle Mac

5 c medium pasta shells, cooked

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

1 1/4 c whole milk

1 1/4 c 2% milk

3 tbsp adobo sauce

1 bay leaf

1/2 c gruyere, shredded

1 c white cheddar, shredded

1 c extra sharp cheddar, shredded

3 tbsp panko

Combine milk, adobo sauce and bay leaf in a small saucepan and keep warm over medium low heat.

Heat butter in a pot over medium low heat. Slowly whisk in flour. Once flour is incorporated, slowly pour in warm milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses.

Coat pasta with sauce and pour into an 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle with panko, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 375. Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until top starts to brown.

I seriously IM'd every mac n cheese lover/food nerd/cheese lover I knew after I took the first bite. PERFECT TEXTURE! Win!! The chipotle mac was PHENOMENAL. It was definitely my favorite of the two. I was a little concerned because the sauce was a little thicker than the regular mac when I stirred it up. In the end, it ended up being the better textured dish. Maybe it was the extra oil in the adobo sauce? I don't know, but it was freaking amazing.

The adobo sauce gave just the right amount of smokey flavor and gave just the slightest kick in the back of my throat with each bite. Absolutely perfect in my book.

To add some color and because I thought a vegetable of some sort was necessary today, I mixed in some peas. I like peas with my mac. I also like my mac doused in hot sauce...but not my chipotle mac :) How do you mac?

One bad thing about this delicious experience - no one to share it with :( I'm definitely freezing a serving of each for Jamie (FYI, my freezer is now overflowing with samples for him to try), but um, there's a lot left:

That's just the chipotle mac...double that and that's what I've got sitting in my kitchen. I'm definitely my mother's daughter...always cooking for a non-existent army!

Wite-out!

So this is what it looked like this morning.

Crazy, right? As usual, I seriously doubted round 2 of this storm since it stopped snowing last night. Guess mother nature showed me! HA!

I was super productive last night (hence the no blogging) - I grabbed some stuff at the grocery store, got a bunch of work done and made a quickie dinner!

Originally I was going to make a couple batches of mac n cheese (one chipotle mac and one with three cheeses), but I had a bunch of dishes that needed some washing so that got pushed off to this afternoon. Instead I went with a quick an easy Rosemary and Mustard Chicken Salad.

I have a soft spot for chicken salad (Potbelly's with some hot peppers is my weakness) and in a pinch, I know I can grab a can of chicken or a rotisserie chicken breast and make a tasty sammich with pretty much anything I have on hand :)

Rosemary and Mustard Chicken Salad

1 can chicken, drained

1 heaping tbsp low fat mayonnaise

1 1/2 tbsp whole grain mustard

1/2 tsp rosemary, minced

1 - 2 tbsp craisins

freshly ground pepper

Combine everything in a bowl, mashing up chicken as you stir. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes so flavors combine.

I toasted some pita and shoved in some cheddar and spinach leaves along with the chicken salad. Funny thing is that I usually don't order chicken salad sandwiches with cheese. In fact I hate the idea of cheese with chicken salad. I made an exception for this:

My mom used to get this Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese and I completely forgot about it until I saw it at the store yesterday. It's a great sharp, slightly sweet cheese that I think went well with the pita and chicken salad!

This morning's breakfast was another oat bowl - can you tell I get into food phases??

Check out how white it is outside! I took this facing my window and no joke, that's what it looks like right now. I can barely make out the buildings in the alley! Man, savory oat bowls are not good for face making. Bummer.

I'm off to brave the gym (here's hoping it's not packed!) and get crackin' on my mac and cheeses! Are you snowed in too? What do you do to keep from going nutty??

Running withdrawal

AGHHHH! I NEEEEED to run >:o

The most frustrating thing is that I haven't had any pain...just a little tightness in my calf. I've been icing, so we'll see how my easy treadmill adventure goes tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!!

We've had some random dinners the past couple of nights. For example, last night we had breakfast for dinner - Aebleskivers!
Aebleskivers are a traditional Danish round pancakes that are made in a special cast iron pan.
They are light and fluffy and you can fill them with pretty much anything you want! You can make them sweet or savory and they are one of my favorite eat by the stove meals (the other being shabu shabu and steamed shrimp).

Jamie asked for an aebleskiver pan a couple years ago, but we've only used it once before. This time around, we joined forces to come up with some fun fillings - Jalapeno Cheddar
By far, my favorite filling!

We also did Peanut Butter and Guava Jelly and plain Guava Jelly
These weren't so successful...the peanut butter ended up being weird when it got all hot and melty, plus the guava jelly just didn't want to stay IN the aebleskiver! Sooo, we also made some plain ones
We ate the plain ones with some maple syrup and they were like mini, pop-able pancakes :) You like my use of the single chopstick? Single chopstick is also good for stirring mixed drinks ;)

Making aebleskivers reminds me of how much I love takoyaki - SOOOOO GOOOD! It's probably because they are made in similar looking pans...but such a different taste.
These delectable little balls of dough have little bits of octopus in them and are topped with fish flakes/shavings, scallions and a mayo sauce (yes, one of the few times I enjoy having mayo in my food). HEEEAAAVEEENN! Grabbing a container of these from a street vendor and walking down a chilly street is one of my favorite food moments :) Do you have any favorite food moments?

After filling my belly with yummy balls-o-dough, dinner tonight was a much needed salad:
Mixed greens, avocado, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, feta and Foreman'd chicken. Topped it off with a vinaigrette made from some pomegranate juice, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard - it actually wasn't bad for a random mixture of ingredients!

Sorry to run off, but I think I need some online retail therapy. The fall weather is finally here and I realized that I haven't gone shopping for work clothes in a long long time. Yes, my 'newest' Banana Republic pants are from Spring 2007 (did you know there's a tag that says something like SP07 or F04??) and I think it's time for new ones.