Pork & Cheese

Ingredients:

16oz uncooked elbow macaroni

Pinch of salt

1 tsp olive oil

1lb smoked pork belly, sliced

3 TBSP flour

Salt & pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp paprika

2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar

1/2 cup shredded smoke provolone 

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan 

Chopped green onion

Butter for greasing baking pan

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add pinch of salt and olive oil. Boil pasta until al dente.

2. While you're cooking the pasta, pan fry pork belly until crispy. Drain on a paper towel. 

3. In a sauce pan on medium, add four TBSP of pork fat from the frying pan (if you don't have enough rendered fat, use butter to make up the difference. Wisk in flour, one tablespoon at a time, to form a smooth paste. 

4. Wisk in a pinch of salt, pepper, nutmeg,band paprika. Wisk in 1/4 cup of milk, maintaining a smooth texture. Wisk in the rest of the milk, 1/4 cup at a time, until it is all incorporated. 

5. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar and provolone.

6. Chop pork belly and mix into your béchamel (cheese sauce). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Grease baking pan with butter, add pasta & pour cheese sauce over the top. Gently stir to incorporate.

8. Bake for twenty-five minutes and top with Parmesan. Bake an additional five minutes and remove from oven. Top with green onion & serve.

Cheesy vegetable orzo & chicken

Orzo. Seems very exotic and difficult, but it is simply pasta that resembles a long-grain rice. You can find it at your grocer with the pasta (go figure) but if you're like me and kind of have blinders on in the store and can't see what isn't typically on your grocery list.... You mat have to look a little.

Ingredients:

2lbs chicken thighs (bone-in)

1lb orzo (uncooked)

2 shallots, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup celery, thinly chopped

1 cup fresh green beans, chopped

1 cup carrots, grated

4 cups homemade chicken stock (or store bought, low sodium)

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 TBSP adobo seasoning

Black pepper

Salt

Olive oil 

Heat your oven to 450.

Heat an oven safe sautée pan (I used a cast iron skillet). Toss chicken with black pepper and adobo seasoning. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in your pan (I didn't with my cast iron skillet) and put chicken in skin side down. Crisp 5-6 minutes. Flip and pop into the oven for thirty minutes.

While chicken is cooking, heat olive oil in pan. Add shallots and sautée until tender. Add garlic, celery, and green beans. Sautée until you can smell the garlic through your kitchen (about two minutes).

Add the stock and bring to. A boil. Add orzo and boil 10-15 minutes until orzo is tender and stock is fully incorporated. Remove from heat and stir in carrots and cheddar. Salt and pepper to taste.

Remove chicken from oven and serve.

Birthday Lobster Mac & Cheese

When my mother came to visit after I had my third child we made sure to stop at Crockett's Public House. It's a restaurant featured on Diner's Drive-Ins & Dives so we knew it would be delicious. That was the first time I had ever tried Lobster Mac & Cheese. I've made my own homemade macaroni and cheese for years so when my father told me he wished he'd come with her and got to try it I knew I'd attempt to make him Lobster Mac & Cheese for his birthday. Bare with this recipe as I made it for 14 (6 adults & 8 children; I have a large family).

Ingredients

4 Cooked Lobsters, meat and shells separated (minus the heads and guts; you can add more if you want more)

2lbs uncooked cavatelli pasta, boiled in salted water until al dente & drained

1qt heavy whipping cream (32 oz)

1 cup apple or pear juice (8 oz) (you can sub for white wine but we don't drink so I used fruit juice)

2 cups chicken stock (16 oz)

4 cups shredded white cheddar

2 cups + 1/4 cup shredded smoked gruyere

2 cups + 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano

5 slices white bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (for breadcrumbs; use plain if store bought)

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp paprika (use 1 tsp if you don't use SMOKED gruyere)

Salt

Pepper

4 shallots, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 TBSP + 4 TBSP unsalted butter

7 TBSP flour 

Olive oil

Chives (or green onion), chopped

STEEP the lobster SHELLS in the cream + juice + chicken stock over low heat. Wait until the cream mixture begins steaming and reduce heat to maintain steam. DO NOT BOIL. Steep at least thirty minutes until you begin to smell the lobster (it took me nearly an hour from when I turned on the heat to when it was done, you don't want to burn the cream). Drain the cream into a bowl and dump lobster shells.

HEAT oven to 400 and bake white bread until dry (6-10 minutes). Crush in food processor with blade attachment and mix with 4 TBSP melted unsalted butter. Stir in 1/4 cup gruyere and 1/2 cup Romano. Set aside.

OVER MEDIUM LOW drizzle some olive oil in a pot. Sautée shallots until translucent and add garlic. Cook until you can smell the garlic (about two minutes). Add 8 TBSP of butter and melt. Wisk in flour vigorously to form smooth paste.

VIGOROUSLY wisk in the cream mixture, one cup at a time, to maintain a smooth béchamel. Stir in nutmeg & paprika. Salt and pepper as needed. Slightly raise the heat to medium and stir frequently until mixture begins to boil and thicken. Then remove from heat and stir in the 4 cups cheddar, 2 cups gruyere, and 2 cups Romano until smooth. Season with salt and pepper as necessary. Stir in lobster meat.

POUR pasta into buttered baking dish and pour béchamel over. Stir into pasta. Top with breadcrumb mixture and bake on 400 for 10-12 minutes until bread crumbs begin to brown and béchamel begins to bubble.

TOP with chives and serve (I served with homemade garlic bread, steamed artichokes, and garden salad).