As a parent, I have made only version two for my children, which actually is their favorite type of macaroni and cheese.  Of course, they also eat the stuff that comes in the blue box, but that is a make-it-themselves sort of lunch.  If they ask for mac and cheese for dinner, they always are requesting my homemade dish.

I have made a couple changes to my mom’s recipe.  Her recipes specifies “nucoa” as the fat in the recipe.  I use unsalted butter as a tastier substitute.  I also have eliminated the colby and replaced it with more sharp cheddar.  Everyone seems to prefer the stronger bite of flavor it provides.  Of course, you could try your own combination of cheeses.  We have been known to add mozzarella for more gooey-ness and blue cheese for additional depth of flavor.

Mom’s Mac & Cheese, Version 2

3 Tb. unsalted butter
3 Tb. flour
2 cups milk
8 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter in a medium-sized pot over medium heat.  Add flour and stir until golden, about 3 minutes.  Slowly add milk, whisking constantly until it begins to boil.  Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart baking dish.  Combine macaroni and cheese sauce in dish.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

For this recipe, I wanted the brussel sprouts to be the star.  Doing so would help to keep the dish lighter.  For those who like heartier dishes with more of meat focus, the amount of sausage definitely can be increased.  In fact, I know that my husband used the leftovers from this dish with extra sausage as a hash for breakfast one morning.

This dish has a wide appeal to it.  It makes a fabulous Christmas dish with the combination of green and red ingredients.  For smaller appetites or multi-course meals, it makes a great entrée.  For those who like a heartier dinner, it could be served as a side dish.  Finally, it is a quick to prepare dish, ready in under thirty minutes.

Brussel Sprouts & Sausage

1/3 lb. Italian sausage
1/2 lb. brussel sprouts, quartered
1/2 Tb. olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
salt & pepper
parmesan cheese

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to boiling.  While waiting, heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add sausage. Sauté until fully cooked; then remove sausage to a paper-towel lined plate.  Once water is boiling, add brussel sprouts and boil for 5-10 minutes until barely tender.  Drain.

Coat a clean, nonstick pan (unless you enjoy the taste of sausage grease) with olive oil and place over medium heat.  Sauté onions for 5 minutes, adding red pepper during the last minute.  Add brussel sprouts and sausage, and sauté for another 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to plates or serving dish and top with desired amount of parmesan cheese.

Each of the turkey recipes I am sharing has its own unique flavor.  One has a delectable combination of balsamic and apples; the other has a delicious maple brine and rosemary-maple butter sauce.  Now all you have to do is decide which will be more pleasing to your family’s palate.

Balsamic Roasted Turkey with Apple Stuffing

Chef Elana Amsterdam of Elana’s Pantry

1 turkey (10-15 pounds)
½ cup grapeseed oil
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tb. celtic sea salt
10 apples, cored and sliced in half
4 sprigs rosemary

To thaw out a frozen turkey place in refrigerator –this will take about one day for every 5 pounds, a 15 pound bird needs 3 days. Alternatively, thaw the bird in a cold water bath, this requires 30 minutes per pound –7 ½ hours for a 15 pound bird. Below are cooking instructions for the thawed turkey.

Remove the gizzards (save in refrigerator for gravy).  Rinse bird well and pat dry with paper towels; then truss (tie legs together with string).  Place turkey breast side up in a roasting pan, then  put rosemary inside bird.  Drizzle bird with grapeseed oil and balsamic vinegar, then sprinkle with salt.   Wedge apples around roasting pan to prop turkey up evenly –place 2 apple halves in cavity of bird.     Place roasting pan with turkey, apples, etc. in oven on lowest rack.  Roast at 325°, 15 minutes per pound; a 15 pound turkey requires 3 hours and 45 minutes.  If skin begins to brown too soon, cover with foil.  To check temperature stick a meat thermometer deep into thigh; at 175° it is safely done.  Remove turkey from oven and allow to sit for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.  Serve.

Serves 12

Grilled Maple-Brined Turkey with Rosemary-Maple Butter Sauce

Chef Todd English, author of Cooking in Everyday English

2-1/2 cups kosher salt
2-1/2 cups maple syrup
1/2 cup whole peppercorns
16 cups cold water
8 bay leaves
6 fresh rosemary sprigs
10 fresh thyme sprigs
14-lb. organic turkey, butterflied
Rosemary-Maple Butter Sauce,  recipe below
Garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs

To prepare brine, cook first 3 ingredients and 8 cups cold water in a 16 quart stockpot over high heat, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes or until salt is dissolved.  Remove from heat, and stir in bay leaves, next 2 ingredients, and remaining 8 cups cold water.  Cool to room temperature.  Add turkey; cover and chill 12 hours, weighing turkey down, if needed, to keep submerged.

Lightly grease 1 side of grill, and heat grill to 400 to 500 degrees (high) heat; leave other side unlit.  Remove turkey from brine, discarding brine.  Pat turkey dry, and place, breast side down, over unlit side of grill.  Grill over indirect heat, covered, 2 to 2 ½ hours or until skin is well browned and a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion of thigh registers 165 degrees.  Flip turkey halfway through cook time.  Shield with aluminum foil during last 30 minutes of grilling.  Remove from grill, and let stand 20 minutes before carving.  Serve turkey with Rosemary-Maple Butter Sauce.  Garnish, if desired.  8 to 10 servings.

Rosemary-Maple Butter Sauce

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 Tb. fresh rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt to taste

Cook syrup, butter, and rosemary in a small saucepan over low heat, whisking often, 2 minutes or until butter is melted.  Season with salt to taste.  Serve turkey with sauce.

At that time, I thought that was an interesting question.  I replied, “The grocery store.”

Thus, my education on purchasing better ingredients began.  She explained that she purchased her ricotta at a local Italian specialty food store that had homemade ricotta, lasagna noodles, and more.  While it meant a 30 minute drive to purchase the ricotta, the flavor and texture made it worth the effort.

Since that time I have become more interested in experimenting with recipes at home.  (Having a family that enjoys the experiments helps!)  Over the last year I have played with different recipes for ricotta.  The one that I am sharing today has had the greatest success.  It produces a silky soft cheese that could be eaten directly from the bowl.

There are a few notes of importance:

• Timing how long to drain the ricotta is the hardest part.  You don’t want too much moisture left, but you also don’t want your ricotta to be dry.  However, ricotta is forgiving.  If it is too dry, you can add an egg to it, as long as you will be cooking it.
• Making homemade ricotta is  more expensive than buying a container at the store.
• Homemade ricotta is a great special occasion ingredient.  Serving it to guests makes quite an impression.

Homemade Ricotta

4 cups whole milk

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine ingredients in a large sauce pan over medium-low heat until simmering.  Once simmering, allow to cook for several minutes, or until the milk solids (curds) rise to the surface.  The entire surface should be covered with the curds.  Leave the pot on the burner but turn off the heat; let stand for 15 minutes.

Line a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth.  Use a large spoon to remove the curds from the pot and place in colander.  Once all solids have been removed, pour remaining liquid (whey) over ricotta.  Allow all excess liquid to drain.  If draining is slow, place the colander on a plate and finish draining in the refrigerator.  (The draining process can be as fast as 15 minutes or as long as an hour.)

Once drained, the ricotta can be used in a recipe or stored in a covered container.

I made this dish as part of last night’s Tapas Monday menu.  Served with crostini topped with tomatoes from our garden and fresh mozzarella, it made for a wonderful dinner of nibbling.  The only negative to the zucchini dish was that the zucchini at our local farm were on the narrow side, which means that there is less space to holding the filling.  In fact, this recipe made more filling than required.  However, if you have a spouse such as mine, I’m sure that he or she will be glad to eat the remaining filling straight out of the pan while waiting for the zucchini to finish baking.

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

2 medium-sized zucchini

1 Tb. olive oil

1/2 white onion, diced

2 garlic & herb chicken sausages, diced*

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

salt & pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Remove ends from zucchini, and cut in half lengthwise.  Place zucchini in boiling water, and top with a plate to keep them submerged.  Boil for 4 or 5 minutes, or until slightly tender.  Place zucchini in an ice bath for 2 or 3 minutes to prevent further cooking.  Place on paper towels to drain.  Carefully remove seeds and filling, leaving a quarter to half inch shell.  Dice zucchini filling.

Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  Coat pan with olive oil, and add onions. Sauté for 5 minutes, then add sausage.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Add garlic and diced zucchini, cook for 1 minutes, and remove from heat.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350.  Place unfilled zucchini halves on a baking sheet, and cook for 5-10 minutes to eliminate extra moisture.  Remove pan from oven, and fill zucchini with sausage mixture.  Top with remaining parmesan cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes.

*Other types of sausage, such as Italian, can be used to replace the chicken sausage.  However, some sausages are uncooked and will need longer cooking times.  Please read sausage packaging carefully.

Let me start by explaining what temaki sushi is.  Most of us hear the term “sushi” and think raw fish.  However, sushi actually is the rice that quite often accompanies the dish.  Temaki sushi is made with rice, an assortment of ingredients, and a wrapper.  In our case, we use nori (dried seaweed) as the wrapper.  For a little further education, temaki means handrolls, as these are about four inches long and need to be held in your hands (like a burrito) instead of chopsticks when eating.

The fun thing about this meal is that dinner takes a little longer, as ingredients are passed and temaki are made.  The slower pace allows us to talk about any number of things, which usually leads to laughing and lingering at the table.  Granted, these aren’t the sort of dinners you can have on a busy school day, but on a night free of commitments, there’s nothing quite like looking around the dinner table to see the kids happily eating, talking, and smiling.

For a unique Make Your Own meal, this is definitely worth a try.

Make Your Own Temaki Sushi

1 pkg. nori

2 cups sushi rice

Filling options:

julienned carrots

julienned bell peppers

julienned cucumbers

julienned scallions

sliced crab stick

sliced avocado

small shrimp

cream cheese

Spread a couple spoonfuls of rice onto one piece of nori, leaving a one-inch border on all edges.  Top with any assortment of desired ingredients.  Starting at any edge, roll nori around filling.

*If desired, the temaki can be sliced into 1-inch rolls, making maki sushi.

While I am aware of her enjoyment of beans, it does strike me as funny sometimes.  Last week, my husband was going to be traveling for two nights.  He is not a fan of legumes, which our daughter is quite aware of.  Once she knew he would be away, she asked if she could choose a dinner.  Not having to think of a menu works for me, so I asked what she’d want.  Her reply, “Rice and beans.”

What is important to note is that I’ve never made rice and beans before.  Also, I don’t think she realized that most rice and beans recipes have meat included.  What she really wanted was kidney beans, rice, and a little bit of seasoning.  It seemed simple enough to create, I just hoped it would taste as good as planned.

The dinner ended up being a hit with three of us who were dining.  Even her 15 year old brother enjoyed the meal (with a side of leftover meatballs to fill his carnivorous cravings).  For a quick and healthy meal, this is worth a try.

Rice & Beans, Vegetarian Style

1 15 oz. can kidney beans

1 cup vegetable broth

2 Tb. tomato paste

1 tsp. garlic salt

cooked rice

Place kidney beans in a strainer, rinse and drain well.  Place kidney beans in a small crockpot or in a small saucepot.  Add broth, tomate paste, and garlic salt.  Stir to combine.  Turn crockpot onto low or place saucepot over low heat.  Simmer for 1-2 hours.  (Do not simmer longer or beans will become too soft.)

To serve, place a scoop of cooked rice in a bowl and top with a scoop of beans and their liquid.

I had two summer squash in the refrigerator, which seemed like the perfect replacement for noodles in lasagna.  I didn’t have any ricotta on hand, so I needed to find other ingredients as fillings.  A little bit of cooked spinach would give color, texture, and a hint of flavor.  Add the usual layers of homemade marinara and mozzarella, and it was lasagna in the making.

I thoroughly enjoyed this meal and thought it was a delicious way to use summer squash.  However, as the dish was made primarily with vegetables, it wasn’t very filling.  To keep it vegetarian, I would suggest adding ricotta or serving it with garlic bread.  If a little meat is fine, I would serve it with a side of meatballs and marinara.  Another option would be to serve the squash lasagna as a side dish to accompany grilled chicken or steak.

This recipe will be quite useful when summer arrives and there are squash and zucchini overflowing our gardens. . .though I probably won’t wait that long to try this dish again.

Summer Squash Lasagna

2 summer squash

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup marinara

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed

1/4 lb. fresh mozzarella

parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 425.  Slice squash lengthwise into 1/4″ thick slices.  Brush will olive oil on both sides, and place on baking sheet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 10 minutes, or until tender.

Reduce heat to 375.  In a small baking dish, place a thin layer of marinara.  Place squash slices on marinara, enough to cover bottom of pan.  Top with half of the spinach and half of the mozzarella.  Top with another layer of squash slices.  Top squash with remaining spinach and 1/3 cup of marinara.  Sprinkle parmesan on top of marinara.  Add another layer of squash slices, and top with marinara and remaining mozzarella.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve with additional marinara or parmesan, if desired.

If I have a decent amount of experience with cooking vegetarian dishes, why would his announcement be challenging?  The first reason is that he does not enjoy legumes of any variety, and they are frequent go-to options.  The second reason is that he has a heartier appetite than either my daughter or I, so it seemed daunting that I would be able to produce meals that were filling for him.  Of course, I do love a good challenge, the first of which was our Tapas Monday dinner.

Thinking about possible dishes, I remembered a stuffed zucchini that my mom used to make as a side dish, which I always enjoyed.  I decided to use the same premise but add a few more ingredients to make a heartier dish.  With an assortment of vegetables, some herbs, and a melted mozzarella topping, I was sure it would be pleasing and filling.  As there were no leftovers when the meal was finished, it apparently was a successful creation!

Stuffed Zucchini

2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise

olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

8 oz. canned whole tomatoes, crushed

1/2 cup frozen spinach

dried basil

dried oregano

salt & pepper

fresh mozzarella

Preheat oven to 450.  Place zucchini halves on baking tray, cut sides up.  Drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 10 minutes.

Allow zucchini to cool, then carefully remove seeds and filling from zucchini, leaving about half an inch of a shell.  Dice zucchini meat.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepot over medium heat.  Add garlic, and sauté for1 minute.  Add tomatoes, frozen spinach, and zucchini.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has reduced.  Season with basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste.

Preheat broiler.  Divide vegetable mixture evenly among zucchini shells.  Top with slices of mozzarella cheese.  Place under broiler for a minute or two.  (Watch closely so that cheese does not burn.)

*If you’re a regular reader, you may remember that we are buying only local produce, meat, and dairy items.  As we started this project in January, we had not prepared in the fall, and our local sources of produce have sold all of their stocked items.  Therefore, we have put the produce portion of our local purchasing on hold until harvesting begins.

Many restaurants serve veal in a fried form, which removes it from my list of ordering options.  So, I began to play with cooking veal at home.  What I quickly learned is that veal is not an easy meat to cook.  It tends to be cut thin and become tough quite quickly.  I have tried several different ways of cooking it with fair results.  However, last week I discovered the best method so far: braising.

Braising has been a favorite way to cook meats in our house for some time, but I had not tried it with veal.  As we had veal cutlets, rather than leaving thin slices of meat to simmer, I decided to fill them with various ingredients (veggies for me and veggies and sausage for my husband) before searing to produce rollatini.

After allowing them to simmer for a couple hours, I was ready to serve the rollatini for our Monday Tapas meal.  I was hopeful that the veal would be tender.  If not, well, it would be a cooking experiment gone awry.  Seeing that the veal is today’s recipe, it should be obvious that the veal was a success.  It was amazingly tender, no knife needed, just a gentle nudge from the fork to break the rollatini into a bite-sized piece.  Having conquered the task of cooking veal, victory sure did taste sweet.

Veal Rollatini

3 Tb. olive oil, divided

4 carrots, peeled and finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tb. flax seed

8 veal cutlets, pounded thin

16 oz. whole tomatoes

3/4 cup sherry

vegetable broth

Place a large skillet over medium heat, and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add carrots, and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for one minute.  Remove from heat, and add flax seed.  Place a small amount of the carrot mixture in the center of a cutlet, roll cutlet around filling, and secure with a toothpick.  Repeat with remaining cutlets.

Place a medium-sized stock pot over medium heat, and add remaining olive oil.  Place rollatini in pan, and sear on all sides, for about 30 seconds per side.  Add tomatoes (crushing them as you do so) and sherry.  If there is not enough liquid for braising, add vegetable broth as needed.  Also, add any remaining carrot mixture to sauce.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 2 hours.