Brown-butter sage with blue cheese and a pesto & walnut topping

Tasty and delicious. Don't skimp on the walnut topping! Next time I'm going to try more bleu cheese.

Brown-butter sage with blue cheese and a pesto & walnut topping

adapted from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter + 3 Tbs. for browning

3 Tbs. flour

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

4 bay leaves

3 cups  milk

1 lb. macaroni

handful of walnuts

couple sprigs of thyme

125 g bleu cheese, crumbled and divided

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional

1 grating nutmeg, optional

6 sage leaves

basil pesto, for garnish

Instructions:
1. Melt butter in oven-proof sauce pan on low, add flour, turn to medium and stir until roux is formed.

2. Add sliced garlic and cook until golden and garlic is sticky, stirring constantly.

3. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in milk.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and leave simmering. Stir in ¾ or so of the bleu cheese until well combined with sauce.

5. In a separate small pan, fry the sage leaves with the 3 Tbs. butter over low heat until darkened and nutty.

6. Add cooked pasta to sauce, stir in browned butter, the rest of the blue cheese crumbles, and optional ingredients.. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. Place macaroni mixture in oven pan. Coarsely chop walnuts and thyme together, and scatter on top of pasta.

8. Bake for 30 minutes at 425F, until walnuts are golden and thyme has crisped.

9. Serve with dollops of basil pesto on top.

Mexican-style with green chilli, smoked paprika and a guacamole topping

This was a clear win as well. Add some sauteed chorizo and this is a main. There isn't cilantro pictured because my normal grocery store doesn't stock it! But the cilantro really takes it to the next level. Make sure to get it.

Mexican-style with green chilli, smoked paprika and a guacamole topping
adapted from Jamie Oliver


Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs.  flour

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

4 bay leaves

3 cups  milk

 4 fresh jalapenos, seeded and minced

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 Lb. macaroni

125 g Leicester cheese, freshly grated

75 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional

1 grating nutmeg, optional

guacamole, for serving

red onion, thinly sliced

red wine vinegar

tsp salt

tsp sugar

cilantro, for serving

Instructions:
1. Melt butter in oven-proof sauce pan on low, add flour, turn to medium and stir until roux is formed.

2. Add sliced garlic and cook until golden and garlic is sticky, stirring constantly.

3. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in milk.

4. Bring to a boil, add paprika and jalapeno, then turn to low and leave simmering.

5. Add cooked pasta to sauce, stir in cheeses and optional ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Place in oven pan, and bake for 30 minutes at 425F.

7. While baking, make a quick-pickle by combining red onion, red wine vinegar, salt, and sugar. Let set combined for at least 10 minutes.

8. Serve macaroni with quick pickle, guacamole, and cilantro.

Ham hock with mustard cheese sauce & rosemary pangritata

For this recipe, we cheated and used baked ham slices. We mixed together the ham marinade, let it sit for a bit, then fried the ham with the marinade until caramelized. If you don't have the 3.5 hours to cook ham hocks, I recommend this!

This recipe came out delicious and is a main as-is.

Ham hock with mustard cheese sauce & rosemary pangritata

adapted from Jamie Oliver

ham hocks (see recipe below)

2 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. flour

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

4 bay leaves

3 cups milk

1 lb. dried macaroni

 large spoon of mustard

125 g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated

75 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional

1 grating nutmeg, optional

2 big handfuls fresh breadcrumbs (pumpernickel works well)

rosemary

For the jerk pork

3 x 500g ham hocks, skinned

2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 scotch bonnet peppers, deseeded and chopped

2 red shallots, peeled and diced

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 fresh bay leaves

2 cloves

2 level teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons allspice

2 teaspoons runny honey

2 tablespoons golden rum

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or malt vinegar

oil, for drizzling

1. For the ham hocks, combine all ingredients except pork using a food processor.

2. Rub seasoning over hocks, drizzle with oil, then place in roasting tray. 

3. Cover with foil, and cook for 3.5 hours at 350F.

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in oven-proof sauce pan on low, add flour, turn to medium and stir until roux is formed.

2. Add sliced garlic and cook until golden and garlic is sticky, stirring constantly.

3. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in milk.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and leave simmering.

5. Add cooked pasta to sauce, stir in cheeses, shredded ham hocks, ham juices, and optional seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Place in oven pan, toss breadcrumbs with rosemary and a bit of olive oil, then sprinkle over pan.

6. Bake for 30 minutes at 425F.

Green mac ‘n’ cheese with spinach & broccoli

 Cut down to fit a 1 lb. macaroni bag. Raymond decided he wanted to make ALL THE MAC AND CHEESE. So we made all 4 of the Jamie Oliver mac and cheese variations. He believes that they need more cheese, as Jamie Oliver is "a health nut" according to him so I may come back around and tweak these recipes. But overall delicious and great as a side. 

I think to make this into an entree, all you'd have to do is bake some chicken with herbs, oil, and salt to cut up into this. I'd say 250 g. of cooked chicken would be plenty.

Green mac ‘n’ cheese with spinach & broccoli

adapted from Jamie Oliver

2 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour  
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced  
4 fresh bay leaves
3 cups milk
1 lb. macaroni
125g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
75 g Parmesan cheese + more for sprinkling, freshly grated
150g. spinach 
1 head broccoli

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional  

1 grating nutmeg, optional 
a few sprigs fresh basil

1. Melt butter in oven-proof sauce pan on low, add flour, turn to medium and stir until roux is formed.

2. Add sliced garlic and cook until golden and garlic is sticky, stirring constantly.

3. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in milk.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and leave simmering.

5. While bringing to a boil, chop up and steam broccoli for 8 minutes until fork-tender.

6. Once sauce is ready, add broccoli and spinach to sauce and combine using immersion blender.

7. Add cooked pasta to sauce, stir in cheddar Parmesan, and optional ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Place in oven pan, sprinkle over some more Parmesan over top along with a few springs of basil.

9. Bake for 30 minutes at 425F.