Jan 20, 2013

Best Mac & Cheese. Ever!

J-man was somewhere around 18 months when I cooked this for the first time. The recipe belongs to a woman who entered a contest at ABC for the best Mac ‘n Cheese. She submitted the winning recipe, and then I tweaked it because I can’t leave well enough alone. Now I’ve never really been a Mac & Cheese fan; in Holland we grow up on a different kind of macaroni….

    Nov 5, 2012

    Autumn Pasta Bake

    I was flipping through a BBC GoodFood magazine while doing my weekly grocery shopping—something I do every three days, or so it seems—when my eye caught a pasta recipe that included spinach and walnuts. Bingo! Those magazines cost E9,25 here! That’s a whopping $11,85. Absolutely crazy! Left the magazine at the store (seriously, it didn’t even include oven temperatures and their baking time was way off), and just incorporated those…

      Jun 28, 2012

      Breakfast Pasta Bake

      For years I’ve searched for that one breakfast pasta casserole—strange as it may sound to the Dutchies—recipe my grandmother always use to make. It wasn’t in the recipes I found after my mom died. When I described the dish to a friend of mine: the flavor, texture and feel to it, she handed me an old recipe belonging to her mother that she thought might to be the one. Or…

        Mar 6, 2012

        Creamy Chicken Peperonata

        There aren’t a lot of real easy recipes out there I like better than chicken peperonata. Simple, too. You cut up some chicken, add onion, garlic, tomatoes and a boatload of peppers, simmer the whole shebang and voila… peperonata. That’s the recipe in a nutshell, mind you. Anyway, the flavor this simple combination of ingredients gives your poultry or meat is astonishing. Especially grilled meats. But I’ll be more than…

          Dec 12, 2011

          Country Club Chicken

          It wasn’t until a friend of mine casually asked me what I had put into the chicken casserole that made it so creamy without making it greasy, that it dawned on me this is more an American than a European way of cooking. Using a concentrated soup as the basis of your casserole—turning it into a sauce like that—isn’t really common in Dutch cooking. Actually, it’s really uncommon. I love it,…

            Jul 6, 2011

            Tomato & Mascarpone Pasta

            Actually, the title should have read: Tomato & Mascarpone Pasta with Garlic Bread. It’s a combination of flavors that’s highly addictive, and I’m so not exaggerating. You should see what happens when I hand a plate full of this to my kid! He opens that tiny mouth and just shoves two servings right in there. When it’s summer I crave simple, pure, and easy-to-prepare foods. Nothing too complicated, just laid-back…