macaroni and cheese Archives - The Midnight Baker

Beefy Taco Mac Bake

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Beefy Taco-Mac Bake

This beefy taco casserole is made even better by making your own baked tortilla chips!

Make something Mexican was the request–and I had everything mostly on hand with this.

Beefy Taco-Mac Bake

I’ll be upfront and say I’m not a great lover of taco seasoning because of the cumin, but when I combined this with some of Goya’s Adobo seasoning, it tasted really GREAT!

I also wanted to use up an odd bit of spiral pasta I had hanging around for I can’t remember how long, plus I had some leftover sliced olives from when I did the Mexican French Bread Pizza for an olive promotion for Price Chopper Supermarkets.

Only thing I was lacking was a bag of tortilla chips–but I did have some small flour tortillas, so I made my own. One thing I can say is I will NEVER buy tortilla chips again. I think the homemade ones actually was the thing that made this casserole shine.

This casserole is really a combination of taco-flavored beef macaroni and nachos! A real family pleaser!

A combo of nachos and tacos combine here

Like my bakers? They’re Temp-Tations Floral Lace and are available from Temp-Tations. Mine are blue but they come in many nice colors. Here’s the website:
Temp-tations.com

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Beefy Taco Mac Bake

This beefy taco casserole is made even better by making your own baked tortilla chips!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Keyword: beef recipes, taco casserole, taco mac

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 651kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 oz rotini pasta
1 lb lean ground beef at least 90 percent lean
10.75 oz condensed tomato soup
15 oz canned diced tomatoes*
4 oz canned diced jalapenos optional
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese**
2 tbsp taco seasoning 1.25 oz package
2 tsp Adobo seasoning Goya makes this

Topping:

2-3 cups broken tortilla chips***
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese**
1/2 cup sliced black olives
3 green onions chopped

Instructions

Cook pasta per package directions. Drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray either and 11 x 7 or 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in a large heavy skillet; drain fat.
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato soup, taco seasoning, Adobo seasoning, 1/2 cup of cheese and the pasta. Stir to combine. Place mixture in the prepared baking pan.
Top with broken tortilla chips. Top tortilla chips with the 2 cups of cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with sliced olives and chopped green onion.
Serves 4-6 depending on appetite.

Notes

*For added heat a can of Rotel tomatoes may be substituted.

**A combination of sharp cheddar and Monterrey jack may be substituted for the Mexican blend--1/2 cheddar, 1/2 jack. All cheddar or all jack is another alternative. Choice is yours!

***I made my own tortilla chips from 6-inch flour tortillas. Brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil. Repeat for how may chips you want to make. I used 4 tortillas. Stack tortillas oil side up and slice into eighths. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Someone had a hearty appetite!

Ready to eat!

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Smoky Beef Mac & Cheese

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Smoky Beef Mac & Cheese

Chipolte peppers make this smoky beef mac and cheese flavorful.

I’m a sucker for chipoltes and anything it’s in. I forget where I heard about using them in macaroni and cheese now, but I always thought it was a good idea.

Rather than make a meatless mac & cheese, I had a small package of ground beef in the freezer–the not-quite-a-pound that was leftover after vacuum sealing all the full pounds I could get out of the bulk package I’d bought, so I thought it was perfect to use in here.

All right, I can hear some people going, “EEEWWW, canned cheese soup.” Hey, I hear you, but when you make mac & cheese without wanting to make the sauce from scratch, it actually stops the cheese from separating–Velveeta will do the same if you add a small amount to a cheddar sauce. Trust me, you don’t taste it in here because of the amount of real cheese you add. But if you want to make a sauce from scratch, that’s good, but for this dish, we’re going with speed here. Plus, they’re all pantry shelf items most well-stocked kitchens have on hand.

I found one large chipolte was good in this. If you want to add more, go right ahead! I used Mexican blend cheese, but a Colby or sharp cheddar will do too. And of course, evaporated skim milk may be substituted for the regular kind.

Make sure to serve with mass quantities of sliced green onion. It makes this dish sing.

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Smoky Beef Mac & Cheese

Chipotle peppers make this smoky beef mac and cheese flavorful.

Prep Time25

Cook Time35

Total Time1

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beef recipes, comfort food, mac and beef, mac and cheese

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 672kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 oz lean ground beef
10 oz cheddar cheese soup
12 oz evaporated milk
3 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese *
1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce finely chopped
2 tsp Adobo seasoning **
2 cups elbow macaroni
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 tbs olive oil
2-3 green onions sliced

Instructions

Season with Adobo seasoning and brown ground beef in heavy skillet. Drain and set aside.
Cook elbows in large pot to al dente stage; about 8 minutes. They should still have some "bite" in them. Drain and return to pot.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray or grease a 1.5 quart baking dish.
Add the cheese soup, milk, shredded cheese and chipoltes to pot with macaroni. Stir and combine well. Stir in ground beef.
Turn into prepared baking pan. Mix the Panko crumbs with the olive oil and distribute evenly on top of casserole.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and Panko crumbs are golden brown. Garnish with green onion slices.

Notes

*Colby or cheddar cheese may be substituted for Mexican blend

**This product is available from Goya but if you can't find it, a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder and a pinch of oregano will do.

Nutrition

Smoky Beef Mac & Cheese

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Salsa-Licious Mac & Cheese: Meatless Mondays

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Salsa-Licious Mac & Cheese

So easy and so tasty. A different mac & cheese. Can be made totally meatless and a giveaway too!

I have been thinking about doing something like this literally for years.

My friend Kevin said his mom *always* added a bit of salsa to her mac & cheese and I thought heck, that’s a great idea because the tomato/peppers combo would really kick this up.

I thought I’d dust off this idea when Revol contacted me to do something for one of their “postcards,” which are recipe cards that are displayed with the product in stores.

As Revol is international, I tweaked Kevin’s mom’s idea a bit to use ingredients that would be available world-wide and/or give a viable substitution for ones not available globally (i.e. Velveeta).

And if you’re wondering why something with ground beef is the “Meatless Monday” post–the meat can be easily eliminated here with absolutely no loss of great flavor!

I did this in my 1.8 qt Belle Cuisine, which is my most-used Revol baker. However, this recipe can be doubled or tripled and made in a larger pan. If you want to make this in a larger 13 x 9 pan, double the ingredients.

So here’s the giveaway part–for Easy Greasy. This little kitchen item is designed to drain grease from whatever you cook. There’s also a handy cover for the grease collector so you can store it and empty it when full.

I found it did the job well. Basically its a colander/can re-design that all fits together nicely. Made totally in the USA and designed by and marketed by an every-day Mom!

What I didn’t care for was that even when it was washed, it still smelled like the beef fat I drained. I’m a TERRIBLE anti-grease-a-holic and I have a keen and some say, OVER KEEN sense of smell. That bothered me. A pet peeve. It may not bother others at all.

Here it is in action:

EasyGreasy

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Salsa-Licious Mac and Cheese:

Luscious, creamy mac and cheese kicked up with ground beef and salsa!

Prep Time25

Cook Time20

Total Time45

Course: beef

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: ground beef recipe, mac and beef, mac and cheese

Servings: 3 -4

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup green bell pepper diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes with juice OR 3 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic minced
8 oz lean ground beef optional for meatless
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Velveeta cubed
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
sliced green onions for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Brown ground beef, onion and pepper together in a large saute pan or deep skillet.
Add the tomatoes and Velveeta. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted.
Stir in cooked elbows.
Transfer to a 11 x 7 - inch baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbling.
Garnish with green onion if desired.
Serves 2-3
NOTE: If you cannot get Velveeta (outside US/Canada) then substitute 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar)

Nutrition

Salsa-Licious Mac & Cheese

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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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