Mac & Cheese

Who doesn't like good mac n' cheese?

As a child I thought good mac n'cheese was the blue store bought Kraft instant mac n' cheese; full of artificial  flavoring and neon orange powdered "cheese". I know LAME. But hey I was a 90's kids with two working parents who did their best with convenience products. 

Fast-forward 10ish years and I'm in college where I HAVE to cook for myself and that means I get to make WHATEVER the hell I want. Sometimes I'm feeling "college-y" and left-overs are my only option OR I feel like putting on my Emeril Lagasse apron and unleashing my inner chef. 

Tonight was the latter and viola!  I present to you a delicious and original recipe by yours truly :)  

Always in that classic blue box
VS

Homemade Mac & Cheese FTW

          

            

         Ingredients:

- 1 lb Gluten Free Elbow macaroni pasta

- 4 handfuls of Mexican cheese blend

- 3 handfuls of mozzarella & provolone

- 2 slices of Kraft American cheese

- 2 tbs of butter

- 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

- 1/2 cup of milk

- salt & pepper to taste

- 3 sprigs of thyme

-1 medium head of broccoli, blanched and cut into bite size pieces 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cook pasta until al dente, drain, and place pasta in a large bowl.

Combine all cheeses, butter, milk in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly. Sauce should be relatively thick. Add salt, pepper to taste and thyme. 

Add sauce to the elbow pasta. Thoroughly combine. Transfer everything to a heat proof baking dish. 

Top with cooked broccoli, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of mozzarella and provolone mix, and 1/4 cup of Mexican blend. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until all cheese has melted. 

Till next time!

~T

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Getting my Crepe fix at Crepevine!

Hellooo to all my foodies out there! It certainly has been awhile...I've missed all of you! 

Today, I wanted to write a quick post on a delicious gfree food adventure I went on with one of my good friends that I've had the pleasure of knowing since my freshman year at Cal. She was feeling particularly brunchy that evening and so my search for a place that serves brunch meals for dinner led me to a delicious find: Crepevine! 

An array of almost too much selection

 I had researched this restaurant previously to make sure that they would have gluten free options and when I saw that they did, I was one happy camper! 

Crepevine offers gluten free crepes, pasta and pancakes- a very pleasant surprise on my part! Although they offer tons of awesome gfree selections, they are very clear that their kitchens are NOT gluten free. There is a sign posted by the cash register that warns gfreers that there is a certain amount of cross contamination for gluten free crepes since they make it on the same stove as the wheat crepes. If you are very sensitive, it's best if you take caution before you eat anything here. I believe that this place also has salad options if you don't want to risk getting cross contaminated. 

I am fortunate that I am not that sensitive so I went ahead and got the gluten free crepe. Just FYI, the gluten free crepes are a $1 additional add on to whichever crepe you order. 

So I got a great suggestion from one of my other good friends to try the Santa Fe and so I did! The Santa Fe crepe has grilled chicken apple sausage with scrambled eggs, green onions, provolone and salsa fresca. I would say I enjoyed this crepe since I'm obsessed with chicken apple sausages (Ohmygodsogood)- however, it wasn't a woo hoo! instant favorite, but it definitely wasn't bad. I will certainly be back to try their other savory crepes.  

The Santa Fe with house potatoes and a side salad! HUGE PORTIONS! 

 My friend was also so kind as to treat me to a delicious gfree sweet dessert crepe called the Santorini. The presentation of the dessert crepe was lacking in my opinion, but the taste made up for that small hiccup. The Santorini has walnuts, pistachios, brown sugar, coconut, cinnamon and mascarpone wrapped in a lightly browned buttery crepe with a scoop of deliciously sweet and creamy vanilla ice cream and some soft whipped cream on the side. To tell you the truth, I was SO full at this point. But for some reason, no matter HOW full I am, there is always room for dessert. (:  

The Santorini- not a pretty presentation, but the flavor was SO amazing!!

 Many thanks to my beautiful friend, Jennifer, for feeding me delicious desserts and for her wonderful company! 

I think in the future all my profile pictures will be me posing with food. 

Until next time,
Kris

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Confit Byaldi aka the original Ratatouille

Confit Byaldi with my brother's own original mash potato recipe

Who knew that my kid brother could cook? I sure didn't. As of late he’s been dilly dallying in the kitchen and to my whole families’ good fortune we get to eat new dishes, aka my brother’s delicious creations.

I definitely cannot take the credit here; this is ALL my lil bro’s work. And on top of being peskatarian/vegetarian conscious he goes out of his way to make them gluten free as well!  I’m a lucky girl for sure.

You might be more familiar with the vegetable dish in Disney's Ratatouille, where Remy (the talented rat) and Alfredo Liniguini cooked for Anton Ego(the revered restaurant critic). Does that ring a bell?! Ratatouille might be the traditional French vegetable dish, but Confit Byaldi is definitely its classier cousin. 

This recipe requires a bit of prep and spare time, but let me tell you the end results are nothing sort of delicious!

 Confit Byaldi Recipe Link here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/dining/131rrex.html?_r=0

My Bro's Cheesy Onion Mash Potatoes:

Ingredients:

-          4 medium-large Russet potatoes

-          1 large white onion

-         1/4 cup  Shredded cheese

-         1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

-          Salt & pepper

-          Italian seasoning

-          1 tbsp butter

-          2 tbsp of milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 Degrees or broiling temperature.

Peel and cube potatoes, then boil till tender.  Drain and mash potatoes with butter, milk, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

In a separate sautéed pan caramelize 1 large white onion on medium add a pinch of salt, cook till caramelized.

Spread mash potatoes evenly in a baking tin. Top mash potatoes with shredded cheese, parmesan cheese, and caramelized onions. 

Place in oven for 3 minutes or until cheese and onions are crispy and melted. 

Hope you all have fun with this recipe. Let us know how your gluten free cooking adventures turn out by commenting below!

Xoxo,

~ T 

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