Smoked Mac and Cheese Bake

My family absolutely loves any homemade mac and cheese, but recently I have added a few different additions to my dish that have turned it up a notch! Without further ado (and without a long story of how this all came to be), here is the newest D'Andrea family favorite mac-n-cheese:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb dried elbow pasta
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 2 cups of cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Colby cheese, shredded
• 1 cup smoked gouda cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 1/2 cups of crumbled Ritz crackers (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 3 qt baking dish (9x13"). Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add dried pasta. Cook just until al dente (about 7-9 minutes). Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking.
3. While water is coming to a boil, shred your cheeses and toss them together to mix. Divide into three piles: 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for the inner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.
4. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in flower and whisk to combine. Cook for about 1 minute, whisking often. While whisking constantly, slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the half-and-half until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining half-and-half and the whole milk while whisking constantly until combined and smooth.
5. Continue to heat over medium heat and whisking often until you achieve a very thick consistency (like a condensed soup). 
6. Remove from heat and stir in spices and 1 1/2 cups of cheese, stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 1 1/2 cups of cheese until completely melted and smooth.
7. In a large bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce stirring to combine completely. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. Top that with the remaining pasta mixture.
8. Sprinkle the top with the last of the cheeses and the crumbled Ritz crackers, and bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and light golden brown. 

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Family Recipes
by Heritage Matters

Sticky Buns- Ooey, Gooey Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Whole Wheat Sticky Buns Recipe

This recipe I made by accidentally leaving my bread out to rise over night on the counter instead of in the refrigerator (oops, I was a little tired and wasn't thinking clearly). I thought I was going to have to throw out the entire loaf because it had risen way to large to make a loaf, but then I had this crazy idea to turn it into cinnamon rolls. It was a great idea!! These were the best cinnamon rolls my kids and I have ever had. 

Here's what I did:

Place 1 loaf of frozen Rhodes 100% whole wheat loaf bread in a greased bread pan.

Cover loaf with greased saran wrap and set on counter over night. (I put mine out at about 7:00pm and didn't start the cinnamon rolls until 8:00am)

The loaf of bread will rise to a pretty large size like this:

Although my kids thought this was hilarious, I wasn't too sure what to do with this large loaf. Here's where my imagination won best of the year. Get ready for some yummy 100% whole wheat cinnamon rolls that will be the talk of the house for days!

Ingredients you will need:

2 Greased Round Pans

3 Tablespoons of Melted Butter

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon of of cinnamon

1/2 cup of chopped pecans (Optional - I did 1/2 with & 1/2 without)

1/3 cups of Vanilla Almond Milk

2/3 cup of sifted confectioners' sugar

2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Almond Milk

  Combine brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Melt your butter, & grease your pans.

Dump out that big ol' loaf of bread onto a lightly floured surface like so, and get ready for the fun!

Roll it out as flat as possible, and spread melted butter all over the top.

Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon on top of melted butter.

 

Now this is where I cut mine in half because some of us wanted pecans, and some did not. 

 

Then I sprinkled the chopped pecans over 1/2.

 

Roll dough into a log.

 

Cut into 1/2 inch-1 inch slices:

 

Place into prepared pans.

 

Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes. I just placed mine on top of the stove since the oven was preheating). 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

 

After the dough has risen, pour Vanilla Almond Milk over dough (I know this sounds weird, but you're not going to want to skip this step. This is what makes these rolls ooey, gooey delish!

 

Place in preheated oven until golden brown (20-25 minutes)

While rolls are baking, mix together confectioners' sugar and Vanilla Almond Milk in a small bowl.

 

Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!!

Count down to Christmas dinner idea #1

Pork with Cherry and Wild Rice Stuffing

ingredients

• 1/3
  cup wild rice
• 1 1/4
  cups water
• 2
  teaspoons snipped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 3/4
  cup coarsely chopped dried cherries or cranberries
• 1
  3 pound boneless pork top loin roast (single loin)
• 6
  ounces bulk pork sausage
• 1/2
  cup chopped onion
• 1
  tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
• 1
  teaspoon snipped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 1/4
  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Snipped fresh thyme
• 1
  cup water
• 1/3
  cup cold water
• 2
  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Fresh whole tart red cherries, optional
• Fresh thyme sprigs, optional
  
  
  
  

  Directions

  
  

  1.Rinse wild rice in a strainer, lifting the rice with your fingers to thoroughly clean, under cold running water about 1 minute; drain. In a small saucepan combine wild rice, 1-1/4 cups water, the rosemary, and the 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat. Stir in dried cherries. Set aside.

  
  

  2.Trim fat from pork. Butterfly the meat by making a lengthwise cut down the center of the meat, cutting to within 1/2 inch of the other side. Spread open. Place knife in the V of the first cut. Cut horizontally to the cut surface and away from the first cut to within 1/2 inch of the other side of the meat. Repeat on opposite side of the V. Spread these sections open. Cover the roast with plastic wrap. Working from center (thicker part) to edges, pound with flat side of a meat mallet until meat is 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Make sure the meat is a uniform thickness. Remove plastic wrap. Set meat aside.

  
  

  3.For filling, in a large skillet cook sausage and onion until sausage is browned and onion is tender. Drain fat. Stir in the parsley, 1 teaspoon thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. If necessary, drain the cooked rice mixture to remove liquid. Stir cooked rice mixture into sausage mixture.

  
  

  4.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread the filling over the surface of the butterflied roast. Roll loin into a spiral from a short side. Tie with 100 percent -cotton heavy kitchen string. (Wrap several strands of string crosswise around the meat and tie securely.) Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt, ground black pepper, and snipped fresh thyme. Insert an ovenproof meat thermometer in center of roast. Roast, uncovered, for 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 hours or until thermometer registers 155 degrees F, covering ends of meat after 45 minutes to prevent rice from drying. Transfer meat to serving platter. Cover loosely with foil; let stand 15 minutes before carving. (The temperature of the roast after standing should be 160 degrees F.)

  
  

  5.For pan gravy, add 1 cup water to pan, scraping up browned bits. In a small saucepan whisk together the 1/3 cup cold water and the flour. Whisk in pan juices. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

  
  

  6.Remove string from pork roast; discard. Slice roast; serve with pan gravy. If desired, garnish with tart red cherries and fresh thyme sprigs. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

  
  

  From the test kitchen

  
  

  Make Ahead Tip Prepare the wild rice and sausage mixture and butterfly the roast the day before. Cover and refrigerate separately up to 24 hours. Stuff the pork and roast as directed.

  
  

  nutrition facts (Pork with Cherry and Wild Rice Stuffing) Servings Per Recipe 8,·        Calories 364,·        Protein (gm) 43,·    Carbohydrate (gm) 17, ·        Fat, total (gm) 13,·        Cholesterol (mg) 22,·        Saturated fat (gm) 4,