I don't know about you, but I consider Macaroni and Cheese to be the ultimate in comfort foods.
My husband would disagree, as he is not overly fond of pasta of any kind, but the carb lover in me just needs to have some pasta every now and then, and of all the pastas on the earth Macaroni and Cheese is my favourite indulgence.
Interestingly enough, it wasn't something that I really remember my mother making when I was growing up.
Occasionally we might have Kraft Dinner Mac & Cheese, but that was considered a treat. If mom cooked pasta at all it was spaghetti, which my father love, LOVED and still does.
She would brown a pound of ground beef in a skillet and add a can of Catelli spaghetti sauce and call it Italian Spaghetti.
Served with the plastic green can of grated cheese that was about as foreign as my family got when it came to dinner cuisine!
My children always loved it when I made them Macaroni and Cheese. Its a pretty economical way to feed a large family, depending on the cheese you use for it.
When I first moved over here to Chester, there was a cheese monger at the Indoor Market in town who sold bags of cheese crumbs for 50p. I used to buy two or three each time I went in, specifically for use in cooking.
You were never quite sure what kind they were, but they always went great in a cheese sauce!
I will be honest and up front here . . . I never stint on the amount of cheese I put in a cheese sauce.
I think you should be able to full on taste it . . . not just hint at it. That's me . . . full on everything.
I also love cauliflower cheese and broccoli cheese.
Yes I confess when my children were growing up, I was one of those moms who spooned heated Cheese Whiz over their broccoli to get them to eat it.
Nobody complained. It was simple and it was easy.
Adding broccoli and cauliflower to macaroni and cheese is a great way to cut back on the carbs and to increase your intake of your five a day, and its incredibly delicious to boot!
Its like three of your favourite things all rolled up together in one.
It doesn't really involve any extra work, or more work than making ordinary mac and cheese and its a bit healthier.
At least I think it is. Don't burst my bubble if you disagree.
I just throw the vegetable in with the macaroni during the last few minutes of its cook time.
I cut them into rather smallish florets, about 1 inch in size, and they don't need much more than a few minutes to become crispy tender.
They add lots of interest to the dish, plenty of flavour and additional colour and texture.
Not to mention fiber as well as being some of your five a day!
Actually there are quite a few vegetables that go well in macaroni and cheese.
Leeks (I sauté them for a few minutes first), cooked peas and carrots, shredded cabbage or brussels sprouts (again lightly sautéed or blanched), Kale (once again, blanche first), Swiss chard, spinach, tomatoes, etc.
All are very tasty and I can honestly say I have never had anyone turn their nose up at any of them.
In fact, most people ask for seconds . . .
I like to use a strong cheddar for flavour and of course some mustard also adds a bit of a punch to the sauce.
You could use hot sauce in its place if you wanted to. I am particularly fond of the Green Tabasco sauce. I could eat that up with a spoon.
And of course I always top with some bread crumbs, crushed crackers, crushed cereal or stale chips and cheese. Casseroles with crunchy toppings are one of my favourite things!! You don't need much on the side with this. I like to serve it with pickled beetroot and some buttered brown bread. Yummy!
Yield: 2
Broccoli & Cauliflower Mac & Cheese
Rich and delicious, filled with several of your five a day and perfectly sized for two. I like to serve this with pickled beets and some buttered fresh brown bread.
ingredients:
For the cheese sauce:
- 250g whole milk (1 generous cup)
- 1 whole dried clove
- 1 dried bay leaf, broken in two
- 1 1/2 TBS butter
- 1 1/2 TBS flour
- salt and white pepper to taste
- 1 TBS Dijon mustard
- 60ml double cream (1/4 cup)
- 75g grated strong cheddar cheese (2/3 cup)
- 2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
You will also need:
- 115g dry macaroni (1 cup or 4 ounces)
- 325g cauliflower florets (1 cup)
- 325g broccoli florets (1 cup)
- 60g grated strong cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)
- a couple TBS of either cracker crumbs or potato chip crumbs
instructions:
How to cook Broccoli & Cauliflower Mac & Cheese
- First make the sauce. Add the clove and bayleaf to the milk. Bring just to the boil, then set aside to infuse for about 15 minutes. Remove the clove and bay leaf and discard.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan until it begins to foam. Whisk in the flour and allow it to cook for a vew minutes until it starts to smell a bit nutty. Pour in the milk slowly, whisking continuously until the mixure has thickened nicely. Whisk in the cheese and allow it to melt. Whisk in the cream and Dijon mustard. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a shallow casserole dish about 7 by 11 inches in size.
- Cook the dry macaroni in a pot of lightly salted water according to the package directions, adding the broccoli and cauliflower florets for the last 2 to 3 minutes of cook time. Drain everything well, then stir into the cheese sauce. Pour the whole lot into the prepared casserole dish.
- Mix together the cheeses and crumbs/chips for the topping and sprinkle evenly over top of the macaroni and cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.
I dare say I love this even more than regular mac and cheese. Its fabulously delicious! I have simple tastes . . . A simple salad also goes very well on the side.
I am fed up to the eyeballs with rain. Its that time of year! Not really cold, except for the wind, but the rain . . . its starting to get to me.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
It hard to believe that tomorrow, the 25th of February, it is Pancake Day. This was a day that we used to really look forward to when I was a child because it was the only day my mom would make us pancakes, so it was a once a year treat for us!
I am sure my mom's arms got tired standing at the stove cooking them for us! We ate our fill! She had an old Wearever Aluminum griddle pan that she used.
It looked just like this and after many, many years of use, it was bowed in the middle and no longer sat flat on the burners. My mom never ever had any other set of pots and pans and these were all she used until the day she passed away.
I am not sure what my sister did with them. I suspect she gave or threw them away. They had no real value except for nostalgia's sake.
As a food blogger it can be somewhat of a challenge to show you something different each year when it comes to days like pancake day. This year I am sharing my Sweet Milk Pancakes, their shape being inspired by Ma Ingalls from the Little House books.
This comes from the Little House in the Big Woods.
"For breakfast there were pancakes, and Ma made a pancake man for each one of the children. Ma called each one in turn to bring her plate, and each could stand by the stove and watch, while with the spoonful of batter Ma put on arms and the legs and head."
"It was exciting to watch her turn the whole little man over, quickly and carefully on a hot griddle. When it was done, she put it smoking hot on the plate."
I cannot for the life of me think of any kind of pancake that might taste better to a child than a pancake man! Some of mine turned out not too bad . . .
Some turned out a little bit on the wonky side, which only added to their mystery and deliciousness . . . I think this was the most unusual of all of my efforts!
I took little squares of sweet butter and carved them into hearts to put onto the men. I thought it would be quite cute! I think it was . . .
No matter how wonky or unusual the men were, the butter heart told a story. It was the story of "I love you."
Look at them sitting there, just waiting to be gobbled up! Oh how I wish I had some grandchildren close by to feed these delights to!
Delicious, light and fluffy, served up piping hot with plenty of pure Maple Syrup to drizzle over top.
The big child in this house gobbled them right up, while Mitzie watched in anticipation. She always hopes for a tiny taste at the end.
Yes she is rather spoiled and truth be told, she doesn't care what shape her treats are that we share with her.
She's just happy to have them, and I will tell you now, that I allow for a certain amount of treats in her allotted food for the day so that she isn't overfed.
This is a really lovely pancake recipe, wether you bake them as men, or as rounds. Light and fluffy . . . not too sweet. There is plenty of sweet with the syrup.
If you are not making Pancake Men, you can bake these in rounds, and even drop on bits of fruit while they are baking on the griddle.
Chopped peaches, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, even chocolate chips and bananas . . . all are very good.
When my own children were growing up we usually had pancakes on Saturdays, and of course any time they had a friend to stay over night . . . and yes also on Pancake Day.
Like my mother, my arms would get tired standing at the stove cooking their fill. With five hungry children you can imagine that took quite a while. Like my mother, it was always a true labor of love.
Sweet Milk Pancakes
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 pancake men, or 20 - 24 round pancakes
Light and fluffy. Serve hot with butter, maple syrup and fresh fruit if desired.
ingredients:
- 75g butter, plus extra for buttering the griddle pan (1/3 cup)
- 300ml milk (1 1/4 cup)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 180g plain flour (1 1/3 cups)
- 1 TBS caster sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- maple syrup, butter and fresh fruit to serve
instructions:
How to cook Sweet Milk Pancakes
- Put the butter and milk into a small saucepan. Heat gently to melt the butter. Set aside to cool.
- Lightly beat the eggs and then whisk in the milk and butter mixture, combining well.
- Measure the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Add the wet ingredients all at once. Stir together to combine just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. The mixture doesn't need to be completely smooth, and in fact is better if you don't overmix it.
- Heat a large griddle pan and butter it lightly by rubbing the surface carefully with a piece of kitchen paper towelling that has been dipped in softened butter.
- To make pancake men (and I suggest you do these one at a time) ladle a circle of batter into the centre with a smaller circle on top for the head and four appendages at the sides for the arms and legs. Cook until bubbles break on the surface, then carefully flip over and cook on the underside for a further minute, or until golden brown. Scoop off and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest.
- To make regular pancakes, ladle spoonfuls of the mixture onto the pan for each pancake, up to 5 or so at a time. Cook as above.
- Serve warm with plenty of syrup for pouring, butter for spreading and, if desired, fresh fruit.
If you are interested in exploring all of the varieties of pancake recipe that I have posted on here through the years, I did a post back in 2016 listing all of them. You can find that post here. There is something there to suit every taste! Happy Pancake Day!
When I was around 6 or 7 years old, I discovered Enid Blyton Books. I was totally enthralled with her stories.
At first it was the fairy stories but then I graduated into the adventure books and the books about boarding schools.
The children in the adventure books didn't seem to have much supervision and they travelled all around the countryside.
They were always solving mysteries and getting in and out of scrapes. I longed for adventure.
The children in the boarding schools also had adventures, and tuck boxes and midnight feasts. All of her books were filled with lot of deliciously exotic sounding foods.
There were huge coconut macaroons, billowing meringues, meat paste sandwiches, sausage rolls, cherry cakes and ginger beer . . .
Oh how I longed to go to Boarding School and have a tuck box filled with treats from home. I wanted to gather together with the other girls and enjoy mutual midnight feasts of a gargantuan proportions.
How my heart yearned to take off into the wild blue yonder across the fields with a couple of meat paste sandwiches tied up in a handkerchief along with a slice of cherry cake and a bottle of ginger beer . . .
My friend Tina went to Boarding School in South Africa. She had a tuck box and it was filled with treats from home. Her mother would make her own sweets and cakes and once a week, they were allowed to go into their tuck box and enjoy one of the treats inside.
Her homemade goodies were much in demand and she often was able to trade with others for their "exotic-to-her" store manufactured treats.
They also had midnight feasts in their dormitory. Each girl would steal some bit of food away from their lunch or supper, hiding the goodies in the pockets of their uniform to be shared out and enjoyed later at night after the matron had gone to bed.
They would pretend to be asleep and then in the middle of night they would gather together and tell stories and share their provisions together . . . which had taken on the magical properties of anything which has been purloined . . .
She said that they even would sneak out of the dorm sometimes, putting some of the smaller girls out the windows (because they fit), getting them to unlock the door and then they would all wander about having midnight adventures in the dark.
They left pillows made to look like bodies under the covers back in the dorm.
OH it does sound so very exciting to me, and more than a bit dangerous. Even now as a 64 year old woman. My heart still longs for adventures and midnight feasts.
I think to be sure those days are long gone for me, and I don't think my digestion could take eating anything after 7 o-clock at night.
I have learnt since moving over here that there is nothing exotic or even tasty about meat paste sandwiches . . . or fish paste for that matter (ugh)
There is something incredibly moreishly exotic about sausage rolls, eccles cakes, macaroons, ginger beer and . . . cherry cake.
Perfect for midnight feasts and indoor picnics . . . this cherry cake is well worthy of sharing. Cut into thick slices . . . buttery and moist . . . .
And studded with plenty of glace cherries . . . and topped with a sweet drizzle glaze icing and toasted flaked almonds . . .
Most of the cherries end up evenly distributed, but some do manage to sink to the bottom, no matter how hard you try to make it so that they don't.
Its inevitable, but if anything . . . this only adds to the allure of the cake . . .
You nibble the cake all around their sticky sweetness . . . saving those sunken cherries and bottom bits of cake for a very nice last mouthful . . .
Ahhh . . . there really is nothing so satisfying as a very nice mouthful.
If you only bake one cake this weekend . . . let it be this . . . incredibly delicious, moreishly decadent, cherry stogged full buttery cake!
Excellent washed down with flasks of hot tea, cold milk and spicy ginger beer, and perhaps accompanied with an adventure or two or three!
Yield: cuts into 8 slices
Cherry Cake
A delicious slice of nostalgia.
ingredients:
For the cake:
- 225g self raising flour (1 1/2 cups + 2 TBS)
- 100g ground almonds (1 1/4 cups)
- the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
- 275g glace cherries, preferably undyed or a mix (scant 3 cups)
- 225g butter, softened (1 cup)
- 225g granulated sugar (1 cup plus 2 TBS)
- 3 laarge free-range eggs
- a few drops of almond extract
- 2 TBS milk
For the glaze and decoration:
- 65g icing sugar, sifted (1/2 cup)
- milk to thin
- a handful of toasted flaked almonds
instructions:
How to cook Cherry Cake
- Preheat oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Lighty butter a 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf tin. Line with baking paper. Set aside.
- Rinse the glace cherries in hot water to remove all of the syrup and sugar. Dry well and then cut in half. Set aside.
- Sift the flour into a bowl. Whisk in the lemon zest and almonds. Stir in the halved cherries.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at at time. Stir in the almond extract. Fold in the flour mixture and milk, making sure the cherries are well dispersed.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin. Smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Check at about 45 minutes and if you think it is getting too dark, cover loosely with a double sheet of aluminium foil. It is done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. (Today mine took about 15 minutes extra.) Leave cake in the tin to cool completely.
- Tip out onto a wire rack. Whisk together the icing sugar, a few drops of almond extract and just enough milk to give you a thick drizzle. Flick over the cake and scatter with toasted almonds. Cut into thick slices to serve.
Have you ever noticed how important food figures into a good book or story? When I think of my favourites there was always some kind of food involved. Perhaps thats because children enjoy food and adventure hand in hand, and so long as they are active, they don't have to worry too much about the calories. Ahh to be a child again . . . what were some of your favourite stories/books when you were a child?
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