Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Three Cheeses with Truffle Oil

A truly decadent mac 'n' cheese recipe that I made for Thanksgiving last year. Even though the recipe says it will serve 4, it could easily serve more. The original recipe called for shaved truffles but I opted for a good quality truffle oil (from Wegmans).

Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Three Cheeses with Truffle Oil
1 1/2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
1 1/2 cups sliced shitake mushrooms
2 Tbs oil or bacon fat
1 1/2 Tbs sherry vinegar
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
3 cup whole milk, warmed
4 oz herb chevre, crumbled
4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
4 oz parmigiano reggiano, separated in 2 2oz piles
1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp fresh sage, minced
2-3 tbsp truffle oil, depending on how strong you like it (I recommend Wegman's truffle oil)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
10 oz pasta (elbow, shells, bow-tie, etc)
kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a large pot of water over high heat and cover. Place a large saute pan with 2 tbsp oil or lard over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms to the pan and saute for 7-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are fully cooked and slightly caramelized. Toss or stir occasionally. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper then de-glaze the pan with sherry vinegar. Allow all of the vinegar to cook out, then remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.

2. Begin the cheese sauce. Add 4 tbsp butter to a medium-sized sauce pan and place the pan on the stove over medium heat. Once all the butter is melted and hot, whisk in 4 tbsp flour. Cook the flour, whisking, for about 30 seconds , just long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste, but not long enough for the flour to start caramelizing. Add the thyme, rosemary, sage, and red pepper flakes. Continue stirring and allow the herbs to saute for about another 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking continuously, so the roux and milk incorporate smoothly and there are no lumps. Allow the bechamel to come to a simmer (it won't gain it's full thickness until it does), stirring occasionally.

3. While waiting for the sauce to come to a simmer start the pasta. Liberally salt the pot of boiling water, almost to the point it tastes like sea water. This may take a few handfuls of salt . Add the pasta to the water and cook the pasta for a minute or two less than the suggested time on the box.

4. Once the bechamel has reached a simmer, stir in the chevre, cheddar, 2oz of parmigiano, and truffle oil until all the cheese has melted. Turn off the heat and and taste the sauce for seasoning levels. Season with salt and pepper as necessary. In small mixing bowl, mix together the panko and remaining 2oz of parmigiano reggiano.

5. Strain the pasta immediately once finished cooking. In a mixing bowl, toss the pasta, cheese sauce, and mushrooms together. Pour the macaroni and cheese into a deep glass or ceramic loaf pan and sprinkle the panko/parmigiano mixture evenly across the top. Bake the mac-n-cheese in the upper part of the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the topping is golden and the cheese sauce is bubbly. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

A sick pup and weekend meals by Jim

I'm glad Jim's been in the mood to cook this weekend. I'm exhausted from being up all night with a sick doggie. Sophie had me up almost all night panting, scratching and acting very hyper. Turns out she was having a bad allergic reaction to something. By 9:00 this morning she was covered in welts and miserable. I'd given her an antihistamine during the night but it didn't seem to help so we put her in the car and took her to the Alexandria Animal Hospital which is, thankfully, about 2 miles from home.

They gave her a shot of Benadryl, we got a bottle of pills to give her for the next 10 days and we were on our way. She slept most of the day from the Benadryl and is now welt-free. I, however, am exhausted. Only 3 hours sleep is not near enough for me. I was dragging my ass all day. But at least our little girl is feeling better. In fact she's curled up next to me while I write this and snoring. I'll be doing the same shortly myself.

But getting back to Jim's cooking this weekend. Yesterday we went to Wegman's and saw them filleting a huge halibut. We picked out two pretty pieces, got some morel mushrooms (gads those things are expensive) and Jim began to put together a plan for dinner. He made a sauce for the halibut out of onion, white wine, a touch of cream and the morel mushrooms. Then he cooked the halibut in an iron skillet while he cooked some pasta. Once it was all done, he plated the pasta and put a piece of the halibut on top then poured some of the sauce over it. We also had a fresh baguette was also on the table to sop up the sauce.
The meal was great. The halibut was fresh and flavorful and topped with the sauce made it out of this world. The sauce had just enough creaminess to it from the cream to give it a nice mouth feel and flavorwise everything was perfectly balanced. The only thing Jim would do different next time would be to use a stick blender to puree the onions and make the sauce completely smooth.

Tonight he prepared a couscous paella. It was fairly easy to put together which made me happy since it meant I could zombie out on the couch with a still sleepy dog. The recipe is a true creation of Jim's that he made using what he thought would be good together and he was spot on. For the meat, he used a smokey chorizo sausage and chicken legs. Poblano peppers, onions and saffron joined the party to boost the flavor. Served with a nice sauvignon blanc, it was absolutely fabulous. I told him to write this recipe down so it can be made again and I'm posting it here to share with everyone.


Halibut with with morel chardonnay cream sauce
Cooked pasta (I used campanelle, other short pastas would work as well)
1 onion, diced
1-2 tablespoons Smart Balance spread (you can use butter)
6 large morel mushrooms
1 cup chardonnay (or other dry white wine)
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup cream
2 large halibut fillet pieces with skin (about a half-pound each)
Italian parsley

Sautee onion in Smart Balance (This is the only thing that is healthy in this dish). Slice morel mushrooms longways, wash gently on inside and out. Place in skillet with the onions, cook for about 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, put wine and chicken stock in skillet. Reduce with onions until liquid is reduced by 1/2.

While this is reducing, heat olive oil iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Salt and pepper halibut fillets. Add halibut pieces meat side down and cover. After 5 minutes, flip fillets to skin side, reduce heat and cook for 5-10 minutes until done. Skin may stick; that's ok, just take the meat right off and leave the skin in the pan.

After sauce has reduced, add cream, stir, then add mushrooms. Cook for a short time on low heat to let the mushrooms absorb some of the sauce.

To plate, put pasta on plate. Spoon chardonnay cream sauce, with onions and mushrooms, on to pasta. Sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley. Place halibut fillet on top.


Couscous paella
4 chicken legs
4 oz Spanish chorizo (dry sausage)
2 poblano peppers
2 small or 1 large onions
3 cloves garlic
1 box (10 oz) couscous
2 cups chicken stock
large pinch saffron
1 lime

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Salt chicken legs then brown in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove.

While chicken legs are browning, dice onions and poblano peppers, rough chop garlic and slice chorizo into 1/4 inch slices. Sautee onions and poblano peppers until they start to brown, then add chorizo and garlic. While this is sauteeing, put the large pinch of saffron in a little (1 oz or so) hot water to let it bloom.

After chorizo gets a little crispy and brown around the edges, add 2 cups chicken stock and saffron and water. Return chicken legs to skillet. Braise covered for 10 minutes, then flip chicken legs and braise for another 10 minutes. Remove legs, strip meat from legs and return meat to pan. Return pan to boil. Add couscous to skillet, turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add lime juice and salt to taste.

Mushroom Turnovers

One of the great things about my job is all the fun people I work with. For example, we have a group of us who participate in Murder Mystery programs written by a dear friend and fellow librarian, Ted. I had my first taste of acting in one of these programs three years ago when I played the part of a self absorbed jazz singer named Toni Deff. (get it, tone deaf, hahaha). I never thought I could pull it off but once the program started, I was hooked. I've since played another roll as a gardener called Petunia Budd and I filled on once as a wealthy yacht owner named Marina Swagg. And in May I will be in Ted's newest program as a widowed ranch owner. I can't say much as we haven't even practiced for this one yet alone performed it.

Collectively, Ted refers to the lot of us as the Murder Overdue crew. And last night about 15 of us got together and had a great time. And to help out, I made mushroom turnovers. I found the recipe in Southern Living and changed it a little to make it slightly healthier. I don't think it affected the flavor at all as I got many compliments on them. A bit time consuming to put together but the end result was worth it. The only thing I would do differently next time is to better seal them. Seems most of them opened up at the seams so I referred to them as the exploding mushroom turnovers.

Mushroom Turnovers

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup butter, softened
2 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 lb mushrooms, chopped
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup low fat sour cream
3 tbsp sherry

Combine first 3 ingredients. Shape dough into a ball; cover and chill 1 hour.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion, and sauté 12 minutes or until onion is golden. Stir in chopped mushrooms and sauté 3-6 minutes or until liquid begins to decrease. Stir in thyme, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle 2 tbsp flour evenly over mushroom mixture. Stir in sour cream and sherry. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Pat or roll chilled dough to 1/8” thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 3” round cutter.

Spoon 1 tsp mushroom mixture on half of each dough circle, fold dough over filling. Press edges together with a fork to seal. Place turnovers on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Note: To make ahead, place uncooked turnovers in a single layer on baking sheets, and freeze. Transfer frozen turnovers to large zip-top plastic freezer bags, seal and freeze up to 1 month. Place frozen turnovers on ungreased baking sheets. Bake as directed.

Yield: Makes 3 dozen appetizer servings

Grouper Goodness

While my brother was up here for the weekend, we went to Wegmans. He was like a kid in a candy shop. I think we spent a little over 2 hours in the store, which included a quick bite for lunch.

While perusing the aisles, we stopped in the cheese shop and picked up some Humboldt Fog, a Gouda that had been aged three years and another cheese with morels and leeks. We pondered on whether or not to just make a meal of cheese, French bread and wine. That is, until we hit the meat and seafood section. I think there were a few grunts and non-verbal noises signifying approval. And that was from both of us. Suddenly dinner was being reformulated.
We already had some dried morels and fresh chanterelles in our cart so thoughts of what meat or fish would best go with them began running through our heads. We finally selected on some beautiful grouper fillets.

We popped them in the freezer when we got home because as it turns out we wouldn't be cooking them for a few days. But they were worth the wait.
First we made some cornbread and set that aside. Then pan seared the grouper with some potato slices and popped that in the oven to finish cooking. Next we sauteed the mushrooms (adding some baby bellas we also hand on hand), using the liquid from the morels, white wine and a little bit of butter to make a sauce.

We plated the fish on top of the potatoes and topped that with the mushroom sauce. The result was very tasty. Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture of the finished dish. Alas it is but a memory now.

Morel goodness

I first ate morel mushrooms this year and asked myself why it took me so long to try them! I had them at Corduroy with the scallops. They're so good! And expensive.

Each time I go to the market and see them on sale for $40 per pound, I cringe. Not just for the price but for fear I'd not cook or use them to their best potential. I was hesitant to make it a costly experiment. Jim, however, was fearless.

After dropping me off at work yesterday, he headed to Wegmans. His main reason for going was to find something yummy to fix me for dinner that night. You see, I cooked dinner every night last week because his schedule was crazy. Usually it's a shared effort but not this week and he wanted to thank me for working so hard every night to cook. *Pause while everyone says "awwwww"*

The seafood department had several very tempting delights. He narrowed his options to the fresh Wahoo or the dry scallops. At $10 per pound the dry scallops were a deal so he picked up some of those. To quote him, "They were as big as a kittens head" and extremely delicious! He pan seared them then made a pan sauce with white wine, capers, lime juice and the remnants of the olive oil left in the pan. Sides of rosemary oven roasted potatoes and some garlic sauteed green beans rounded out the meal. Oh, and some fresh French bread to soak up the sauce. mmmmmmmm It was wonderful. The scallops were meaty, sweet and tender.
But back to the morels. While he was meandering around the store, he picked up some sirloin steaks, veal demi glace sauce and a pack of dried morel mushrooms among many other things. He was not only planning to fix me dinner Saturday night but tonight as well. Called me spoiled. The trade off works out like this.......5 nights of so - so dinners (Humble, ain't I?) for two slendidly prepared meals. I can handle that. He reconstituted the morels in a cup of boiling water. He let them sit for about 20 minutes then placed them and the water back into the pot and added some of the demi glace sauce. Then he cooked the liquid down to about half. After pan searing the steaks he served them with the morel mushroom sauce. A nice ear of corn each and a salad and we had dinner. We also had a nice bottle of Mulderbosch Faithful Hound.

The morels acted like little sponges, holding the sauce within their little selves. Each time you speared one with your fork a little sauce would squeeze out. And a nice slice of French bread stood by ready to sop it up. Poor Sophie sat on the floor looking up at me patiently waiting to lick the plate but unfortunately, I sopped everything up. We did have a treat for her though. While trimming the steak, Jim saved a few small bites of steak just for her. I cut them up in to teeny pieces and put them on my plate then set it down for her to enjoy. The plate was spotless in no time.

Tomorrow we're fixing pizza, a joint effort dinner. Then on Thursday my brother flies up from Knoxville, TN. He and I are going to take a cooking class at Galileo this Saturday. It's going to be a five course meal featuring lobster. We're gonna have a blast. And hopefully lots of pictures to post. Til then........