cheddar cheese Archives - The Midnight Baker

Cheddar Ranch Meatloaf

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 23:00:25 +0000

If you love ranch and cheddar, then this is your meatloaf!

Cheddar Ranch Meatloaf Equals Comfort Food

Meatloaf is one of those perennial comfort foods.

Even the thought of it brings back memories of wonderful family dinners from most folks’ childhood. It’s also one of the most popular items on old-time diner menus.

So you really can’t go wrong with serving meatloaf for dinner!

Infinite Variations On A Theme

Meatloaf is one of those things where you can have almost infinite variations.

Ask ten people how they make meatloaf and you’ll have ten different recipes! It’s much like pot roast in that respect.

Off the top of my head, I’d say most folks use ketchup or BBQ sauce as an ingredient in their meatloaf. I’ve done that a couple of times myself, but believe it or not, I’m not a great lover of meatloaf. Therefore, I look for more unusual seasonings.

A number of years ago, what I thought was a terrible mistake yielded one of my best-loved meals: Maple Meatloaf. And yes, it has a very unusual secret ingredient, and that was a total mistake too!

I wanted to give this meatloaf a ranch flavor because that’s a flavor I appreciate.

This Is A “Guy Pleaser”

If you’re stumped on what to feed a group of guys, you can’t go wrong with meatloaf!

Most Fridays, I cook a hot lunch for a friend and the two fellows who work for him. These three guys are also food critics for my newest recipes, so they were the first to try this.

The final word was this cheddar ranch meatloaf was delicious and there wasn’t a crumb left. That says a lot because the loaf I made would have easily served 6-8 people.

I also found this great tasting too–and remember, meatloaf isn’t one of my most favorite meals either.

The Recipe

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Cheddar Ranch Meatloaf

If you love ranch and cheddar, then this is your meatloaf!

Prep Time5

Cook Time1

Total Time1 5

Course: beef, Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheddar cheese, easy meatloaf recipe, ranch seasoning mix

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 481kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lbs lean ground beef
1 envelope ranch seasoning/dressing mix -OR- 1/4 cup homemade ranch seasoning
2 tbsp au jus gravy mix
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
3 eggs
1 tbsp dried onion flakes -OR- 2 tbs finely minced fresh onion
2 tbsp cream or evaporated milk
3-4 slices American cheese optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Shape into a loaf and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment.
Bake for 60 minutes or until center of loaf registers 160 degrees F on a meat thermometer.
Garnish with cheese slices if desired.

Nutrition

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Double Cheese Bacon Pie

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Double Cheese Bacon Pie

Bacon and a double dose of cheese. It gets no better than this.

Who doesn’t love cheese and bacon???

This supper or luncheon dish will satisfy the fussiest eater.

Somewhat like a quiche, it’s base is a custard, but that’s where the similarity ends.

The custard has a heaping helping of jack cheese (you can sub any melting cheese you like here), plenty of bacon and a crowning glory of more cheese, but this time it’s cheddar.

Cheese & bacon!

A pinch of some thyme and a whisper of green onion finish off the savoriness of this dish.

Caution–this is NOT diet!!! However you can reduce the fat some by using evaporated skim milk in place of the cream and milk and lower-fat cheeses if you want.

I cheated here and used those ready-made pie crusts that are sold in the dairy section, but you can also use the frozen kind and of course, make your own favorite single-crust recipe.

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Double Cheese Bacon Pie

Bacon and a double dose of cheese. Quiche gets no better than this.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bacon pie, quiche

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 705kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
1 cup half and half *
1/2 cup milk *
4 eggs
10 strips cooked bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
2 green onions chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 pinch dried thyme
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If using pre-made rolled pie crust, fit in a regular (not deep dish) 9-inch pie pan. Flute and prick fork holes in the bottom of the crust. Lay a piece of aluminum foil on the top of the pie crust and distribute pie weights (if you wish to use them). Navy or great northern beans can be used as pie weights. Uncooked rice may be used as weights too.
Bake pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights if you used them. Return crust to oven and cook 5 more minutes or until the fluting just begins to get golden. Remove from oven.
In a large bowl beat the eggs. Add the milk, salt, pepper, green onions and thyme. Beat well. Add the 1 cup of Monterrey Jack and stir to combine. Pour in partially baked pie crust.
Distribute crumbled bacon evenly across filling. Top with the 1 cup (or more if you like) of shredded sharp cheddar.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until center is set.
Remove from oven and cool for about 15-30 minutes. Pie is not served hot--it is served very warm.

Notes

*1 can (12 oz) of evaporated milk or evaporated skim milk may be substituted

Nutrition

Double Cheese Bacon Pie

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Classic Cheddar Bacon Macaroni & Cheese

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Classic Cheddar Bacon Macaroni & Cheese

Cheddar cheese. Bacon. Macaroni. Nothing more needs to be said.

I am such a NUT for a GOOD mac & cheese. Even better if it has bacon in it.

The other night, I received some requests via email from a couple of fans of Amazing Recipes which is my recipe page on Facebook (hint—you can like the page from here——>) for recipes I make in my rice cooker since I have talked about the rice cooker on that page and on my regular Facebook Fan Page.

This is one of those recipes! It’s totally ready to eat straight out of the rice cooker, but I like to put it in a casserole with buttered bread crumbs on the top and brown it off a bit. More visually appealing, IMO.

The secret here to keep the sauce creamy so it doesn’t separate–even when reheated (what? you had some left over????) is Velveeta. You can make the sauce entirely with Velveeta if you like but I use half Velveeta and half of a good sharp yellow cheddar.

If you’re dieting, bypass this entirely because it’s chock FULL of fat and calories. Don’t let the nutrition information put you in a coma–I told you so. But sometimes we just WANT IT and so I advise EAT IT, but control the portion.

Directions are for a 7-cup rice cooker, however I will note conventional cooking methods at the end.

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Classic Cheddar Bacon Macaroni & Cheese

Cheddar cheese. Bacon. Macaroni. Nothing more needs to be said. I am such a NUT for a GOOD mac & cheese. Even better if it has bacon in it.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, pasta, side dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bacon, mac and cheese

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 984kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
Water to cover macaroni about 1/4-inch above the macaroni in the rice cooker pot
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp oil or butter

FOR THE SAUCE

1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk I generally mix 1 1/2 cups milk with 1/2 cup half and half cream
1 cup cubed Velveeta
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar
2-3 strips of crisp bacon diced
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE TOPPING

1 cup soft breadcrumbs
1 tbsp butter melted

Instructions

Place the macaroni, water, salt and oil in bowl of 7-cup rice cooker. Set rice cooker to COOK. Check macaroni in about 10 minute. If water is almost absorbed, switch cooker to WARM. When water is absorbed, the cooker will automatically switch to keep warm mode, but it’s better in this case to catch this before it does. However, if it has already gone to keep warm, it’s no tragedy, but some elbows on the bottom may have started to brown (which is perfectly OK). Leave the cooked elbows in the rice cooker’s pot.
Add sauce ingredients to cooked macaroni in the rice cooker’s pot. Switch cooker to COOK and with lid open, stir until cheeses are melted. Close lid and cook for about 5 minutes, or until sauce is reduced by 25%.
While sauce is reducing, mix breadcrumbs with the melted butter. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 1.5 quart deep casserole.
Add macaroni and sauce to prepared baking dish. Top with buttered bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until sauce bubbles along the edges and the crumbs are nicely browned.
Serves 4-6
**For Conventional Cooking**
Cook elbows as per package directions; drain and set aside.
In a medium saucepan ,combine sauce ingredients, except for bacon. Stir constantly over medium heat until cheeses are melted. Reduce heat and stir constantly until sauce is slightly reduced (about 25%). Add the bacon and cooked, drained macaroni. Proceed from here as in the directions above.

Nutrition

Classic Cheddar Bacon Macaroni & Cheese

Classic Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese

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Chicken and Garbanzo Enchiladas

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Chicken and Garbanzo Enchiladas

Why not try these spicy yet different Mexican enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo?

This is another Mexican recipe I did for the Herdez® folks.

These enchiladas combine Herdez® Roasted Pasilla Chile Sauce with the chicken breast and garbanzo filling and also in the cheesy topping. Viva Mexican food!

Since we don’t like anything to wet and saucy, I tend to go easy on baking casseroles that have a sauce. If your family likes mucho sauce, then double the recipe for the sauce, and you will need 2 jars of the Pasilla Chile Sauce if you do.

Chicken and Garbanzo Enchiladas

FILLING:

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken breast
1 – 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar OR Monterrey Jack cheese
1/2 jar Herdez® Roasted Pasilla Chile Sauce

TOPPING SAUCE:

1/2 jar Herdez® Roasted Pasilla Chile Sauce
6 oz process cheese spread (i.e. Velveeta), cubed
1 tbs butter

ALSO NEEDED:

12 – 8-inch flour tortillas

additional shredded cheddar/jack cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9-inch pan with non-stick spray.

Mix filling ingredients. Divide evenly between the 12 flour tortillas; roll up and place in prepared pan.

Prepare sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients in a microwave-proof bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute; stir. If process cheese is still lumpy, microwave for an additional 30 seconds on high. Stir until process cheese spread is completely combined.

Pour sauce over enchiladas in pan. Spread sauce evenly over enchiladas.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Top with additional cheese.

Serves 4 (3 enchiladas per person)

Chicken and Garbanzo Enchiladas

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Disclaimer:
I am an Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com.

Products received from advertiser are only used for experienced-based reviews on The Midnight Baker. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are purely the sole opinions of The Midnight Baker. This blog was written in support of Herdez and their Mexican Cooking Sauces.

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