I made the yummy, cheesy, decadent mac n cheese from a Food Network recipe. There's always a fold out booklet in each issue of the magazine and they are called "50 somethings". Each month its a different type of food you can make 50 different ways. So I picked this one out of the Mac N Cheese variety booklet. Anyway, here's how you make both the chicken and comforting mac n cheese. Oh yeah and they'll be plenty of the pasta to indulge in later - not sure if that's a good or bad thing?!?!?
BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
serves 2
ingredients
• 4 skin on chicken drumsticks
• Kosher salt & Freshly Ground Pepper
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (click here for homemade recipe)
• 1/2 tbsp fresh chives, minced
directions
1. Preheat the grill over medium high heat. Let chicken drumsticks sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Baste with olive oil and season with Salt and Pepper on all sides.
2. Grill for 7-8 minutes on first side, then flip over and grill for another 8-10 minutes until cooked through and charred slightly. Start basting the chicken with the BBQ sauce during the last 10 minutes of cooking time. Don't start basting the chicken until it's almost done as the sauce will start to burn otherwise.
3. Remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chives right before serving.
Alfredo Mac 'n Cheese with Artichoke Hearts & Fresh Herbs
4-6 servings
ingredients
• Kosher Salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 8 oz penne pasta
• 1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temp)
• 2 cups heavy cream (at room temp)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus a little extra for topping)
• 1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley & rosemary, chopped
directions
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then cook the pasta according the package instructions. Save about 1 cup of the cooking water before you drain. Drain the pasta in a colander. Wipe out the pot so it is dry.
2. Rub the smashed garlic clove in the same pot you used to cook the pasta, reserve the garlic clove and mince up on a cutting board. Add the butter to the pot and melt over medium-high heat, once melted add the minced garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add the cream, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper to taste and bring to boiling, stir occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the liquid has reduced to about one-third. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and artichoke hearts.
3. Add the pasta to the pot and stir. Next add 1/4 cup of the cooking water at a time to get the sauce to the consistency you want it, thicker is better. I only added about 1/4 cup and that's all I needed for this batch. Taste and season to taste with salt & pepper. Stir in the chopped rosemary and parsley.
4. When serving, top with some grated Parmesan.
A quick tip when using fresh herbs - if you have a recipe that uses dried herbs you can always use fresh to substitute but will have to double the amount to bring out the fresh flavors. The only exception to this is fresh oregano... if you use too much it ends up tasting like perfume - Yuck. But just the right amount is great! Rosemary, is a very strong herb as well, so use it carefully as well. The best bet is to use a little, taste, and add more if needed because you can't take it out of the meal once it's in.
I also always snip off the fresh herbs from the plant right before I am going to start prepping for a meal, then wash and dry them. I remove the leaves from the stems and hold off on chopping them up until right before I am going to use them. It's best to use fresh herbs in the last stage of cooking (with heat), otherwise, they lose most of their fresh flavor if you put them in at the beginning. There are always exceptions, but for the most part I stick to that motto.
Here are a few of my herbs from my garden this year...
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| Spearmint, Sage, Thyme, Flat Leaf Parsley, Chives, Rosemary & Basil |
Enjoy!
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