Simple crock pot Mac & Cheese for someone special

A few months ago, my best friend/sister Gigi asked me for a Mac and Cheese recipe. My "niece" Denise wanted a hot lunch for school instead of sandwiches. I know Gigi is one who enjoy simple goodness. I have been doing some reading and a few experimenting, finally, I came up with a almost perfect mac and cheese.

It is not necessary to boil the noodle, no extra pots and pans. Gigi used to laughed when she saw the amount of pots and dishes I created when we used to cook together when we were in Hawai'i.
The only cooking device here is a crock pot (slow cooker) and a measuring cup and a knife. (Ok, you may need a measuring spoon too, I cook with the "eyeball" method most time.)

Fun and Simple Crock Pot Mac & Cheese
1 lb large elbow macaroni
4 -5 cups 1% milk
4 tbsp butter, cut in to small pads
3 cups shredded cheddar, or cheddar cheese mix. I am using a Jack and cheddar mix.
4 oz Brie, cut into small pieces
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Herb de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste.

Direction:
Spray or oil the side of a 6 Qt crock pot
Place macaroni in pot. pour in 4 cups of milk.

Place butter pads next

Add cut up Brie cheese, rind and all

Top with shredded cheddar cheese

Stir to mix

Sprinkle Herb de Province and garlic powder, stir to mix well again. Season with salt and pepper

Turn the crock pot on low heat and let it cook for 3 hrs. Stir and check the consistency, it seems too thick for you liking, add more milk. We like a little "sauce" with ours.  Check the seasoning, the amount of salt you need will depend on the cheese you use. If you like,  you can sprinkle addition cup of cheese on top.
Cover and let it cook for an additional 1 hour.

Plate the pasta and top with chopped parsley and freshly grounded pepper!

Gigi and Denise - this is for you!

Make 12 serving. You can freeze some of it. If you have a smaller crock pot, you can make 1/2 portion. I would not recommend making a 1/2 recipe in a 6 Qt pot.

If you want to make this very gourmet, replace the brie with a Taleggio. You can also mix in grated mozzarella with the cheddar and a couple tbsp grated Parmesan cheese.

If you would rather keep this simple, replace the brie with cream cheese to make it all American.

This is a very simple dish that you can have fun with, try it with different combination of cheese!

This is also a great pot-luck dish. You can keep the casserole on warm in the crock pot. Simple!

Have fun playing with your food and enjoy
Aloha

Simple end of summer Chard and tomato pasta

We had a cold snap here and part of my garden has gone “nite nite”.  All my plants from Hawai'i are now back in the garden window in the house. Yes I have a few poor plants that I brought here from the Islands to share the cold with me. I will have to move my water lilies out of the water soon, that would be the very sad moment that we will be facing 6 months of winter....

Fall is here. I love Fall, I look forward to the beautiful colors, yet I am sad too. We are coming to the end of the growing season. I will be going back to eating “imported” greens and fruit. Well, not really all import from overseas, just trucked in from other states etc. May be it is psychological, I just don't think it taste or smell as good as locally grown products. I am going to enjoy the local produce while we can.

Remember I made a Swiss chard pasta with vodka sauce a couple weeks ago? It was a  pretty good and simple dinner. Here is another version without the vodka, you can always add a few tablespoon of vodka in the sauce with you want. I am using angel hair; this would be even better with a thicker pasta, such as spaghetti and Lots of cheese!

Chard and heirloom tomatoes in cream sauce with Angel Hair pasta

1 large bunches of Chard, (Red Swiss chard, or rainbow chard), cleaned, trimmed and roughly chopped

1 cup of diced heirloom tomatoes.

2 glove of garlic, finely chopped

1 small shallot thinly sliced.

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp pesto

¼ cup cream

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp vodka (optional)

Pasta of your choice for 2.

Parmesan cheese, shaved.

Directions

Prepare all the vegetable

Heat a pan till hot over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil. When hot, 

Sauté garlic and shallot for a couple of mins till caramelized. Season with salt.

Add chopped chard, and sauté till soft.

Lower heat to med low, add thyme

Toss in 1 tsp pesto, mix well

Mix in tomatoes, mix well and cook till tomatoes are softened.

Drizzle with ¼ cup of cream and vodka (optional) I didn’t use vodka in this version.

Bring it to boil, lower heat to low and let it cook for a few mins to blend in all the flavor, When the sauce takes a tint of color from the tomatoes, it's ready (This one has a tint of yellow since I am using some yellow heirloom. If you use red tomatoes, the sauce will be almost pink.)

Season with salt and pepper.

To serve:

Pour the sauce over cooked pasta. Top with shaved Parmesan and garnish with thyme

Or you can serve this family style. Toss the cooked pasta into the sauce. Toss to mix and plate in a large bowl. Top wish shaved Parmesan and sprinkle with chopped thyme.

Serve hot with some warm crusty bread.

Serve 2

Enjoy

Aloha