Five Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

Five Cheese Mac -N -Cheese

This recipe is a stepped-up version of my old favorite Baked Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese.  While I still use some Velveeta I have added four other smooth melting cheeses of a richer taste.  Here I am using Gruyere, Gouda, Fontina, Cheddar, and Velveeta.   Other good cheeses would be Asiago, Colby, Monterey Jack, or Havarti. I wanted a little crunch on the top so I topped it with toasted Panko bread crumbs, crisp fried bacon, and sliced green onions. For a smoky flavor you can use a smoked cheese here I am using a smoked Gouda, but you could also use smoked Fontina or Smoked Gruyere.

As a general rule when creating a good Mac-n-Cheese keep these proportions in mind.
For each pound of uncooked macaroni use, 2 cups of cream, 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, and 1 to 1.25 lbs of cheese.  

The Ingredients 

1/4 lb of bacon

2 cups Heavy Cream 

1/4 cup unsalted Butter (1/2 of a stick)

4 oz Fontina

4 oz Gruyere

4 oz Gouda (for this recipe I found a Smoked Gouda with Bacon)

4 oz Velveeta

4 oz Cheddar cheese

1 lb Pasta (here I used Penne and large Elbow Macaroni)

1 cup Panko 

3 Green onions

Mixing and Preparation 

Fry the bacon until crisp, save the bacon fat.

Grate or cube the Fontina, Gruyere, Gouda and Velveeta cheeses and combine. 

Heat the butter and milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. In small batches add the first four cheeses to the milk and butter mix until thoroughly melted.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Grate the Cheddar Cheese.

Combine the pasta and cheese sauce, pour the Cheese sauce into a baking dish approximately 9X12 inches.

Top with the grated cheddar cheese.

Toast the panko bread crumbs in a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of bacon fat until lightly brown.

Slice the green onions.

Combine the Panko, Bacon.  The evenly sprinkle on top of the Mac-N-Cheese.
Top with Sliced Green Onions

Bake in a 350° oven  for 30 minutes. 

   

Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki Sauce

For years I have searched for a great and easy homemade teriyaki sauce.  Now, there are a lot wonderful bottled commercial teriyaki sauces, but I only need teriyaki a few times a year. Therefore I either never have enough or it has been around for way too long. Shirley use to make a fantastic teriyaki sauce from memory, but she is now suffering from dementia and is unable remember. This recipe is quick and easy, and uses staples from the pantry, and I do not have to buy anything special.

The Ingredients 

1 cup  Soy Sauce (I prefer the low sodium soy sauce)

1/2 cup Water

4 Tablespoons Sweet Rice Wine 

1/2 cup Honey

1 Tablespoon Molasses

4 cloves Garlic

1 Tablespoon Ginger

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Vanilla Almond Granola

Vanilla Almond Granola

A chunky, crunchy, snacking granola.  I created this granola to help satisfy those cravings for something crunchy to snack on.  

Ingredients

4 cups Rolled Oats
1 1/2 cups Slivered Almonds **
1 1/2 cups Peanuts **
2 cup Shredded Sweet Coconut **
2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

3/4 cup Wheat Germ*

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

2/3 cup Water

2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract

1 tablespoon Almond Extract

1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Coconut oil ***

1 cup Peanut Butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, salt, wheat germ, and brown sugar.  Mix thoroughly.

In separate bowl combine and stir in the water, vanilla and almond extract.  Slowly add while stirring to the oat and nut mixture. 

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and peanut butter.  Heat until coconut oil is melted and the peanut butter is soft.  Stir to thoroughly combine syrup, oil and peanut butter. Slowly pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, while stirring. 

Divide into two equal batches spread each batch into a 9 x 12 cake pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 250° stirring every 30 minutes. 

Here I have formed he granola into chunks before baking.

*The Wheat Germ totally optional I have included it to make a chunkier granola.  Others options are flour, oat flour, coconut flour or almond flour.  I have been experimenting with different ingredients to bind the granola for the ideal chunky granola.  As I make improvements I will update this blog.

**The peanuts are optional you can substitute your favorite nut or omit the peanuts. For a breakfast granola I leave out the peanuts and increase the almonds and coconut.

***While I have only used coconut oil in this recipe, any good cooking oil should work.