Sunday March 7th

This Sunday I made homemade mac and cheese with buttermilk biscuits, southern green-beans and sweet tea! Yum. My first official southern meal since coming to Houston!



Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe calls for Parmigiano-Reggiano (which is a more expensive cheese.) To save on this recipe I just used a parmesan. It tasted fabulous, but if you have the extra dough, I would buy the better cheese for sure!!

For the TOP
1/4 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

For macaroni and sauce
1 stick unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
1 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt/pepper/garlic powder
1 pound elbow macaroni

Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. I really like to add some garlic powder for extra flavor...you can add and taste, add and taste etc. Cook macaroni in a pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water) until al dente (not to mushy.) Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain macaroni in a colander. Stir together macaroni, reserved cooking water, and sauce in a large bowl. Transfer to shallow baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over macaroni and bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

Holly's Southern Green Beans

Here is a perfect example of me fixing a recipe until I LOVE it....I wasn't very impressed with the green beans I served on Sunday, but later that week we ate the leftover mac and I made more green beans! My way!

8-10 oz cooked up bacon
frozen package of Italian Green Beans (flat ones)
2-3 chicken bouillon
1 T. dehydrated onions

Dissolve bouillon in 8 oz boiling water. From there, you basically just put everything into a pot and simmer until everything is nice and soft and hot! The onions should soften and the chicken broth should be almost boiled out! Yum!

They look like a combination of these two photos!





Buttermilk Biscuits

This recipe only makes 6 biscuits

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 tablespoon milk or cream for brushing biscuits (try not to let it spill over onto the pan or they will be hard to scrape off!)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda onto a sheet of wax paper, then sift again into a bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until a dough just forms (dough will be moist). Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently 6 times. Pat out dough on a floured surface with floured hands, reflouring surface if necessary, into an 8- by 5 1/2-inch rectangle. Trim all 4 sides with a knife, dusting knife edge with flour before each cut. Cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then into thirds crosswise to form 6 (2 1/2-inch) squares, flouring knife between cuts. Transfer biscuits with a metal spatula to an ungreased baking sheet, arranging them 2 inches apart, and brush tops with milk or cream. Bake until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature.


Smooth Sweet Tea

1 pinch baking soda
2 cups boiling water
6 tea bags
3/4 cup white sugar
6 cups cool water

Sprinkle a pinch of baking soda into a 64-ounce, heat-proof, glass pitcher. Pour in boiling water, and add tea bags. Cover, and allow to steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, and discard; stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour in cool water, then refrigerate until cold.