mac & cheese with corn and spinich

I think everyone goes through a faze where all they want to eat is mac & cheese, mine is happening right now (again). But when I walk down the aisle at the market and I see those boxes of mac & cheese, I cant help but think about how much crap they put into them. Besides I can make mac & cheese from scratch that is much better than that, or at least just as good.

To me, everything amazing about mac & cheese is in the sauce. To start off I make a classic Bachamel sauce (recipe), to that I add my cheese – you want a nice flavorful cheese that melts well, a lot of places use all these fancy cheeses like Gouda or provolone and aged cheddar. Yes these are all fine cheeses but once you mix it in the sauce who gives a crap? To me 1/4 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 of medium cheddar is perfect. Once the cheese is melted put it on a low heat and let it do its things. 

Now, this is called mac & cheese with corn and spinach, so here come the veggies. Start off by sautéing you corn, if you’re using frozen, that’s fine just stick them in the microwave to heat up first, and then drain off all the extra liquid. Sauté the corn in a little bit of oil then add some salt and pepper. Once you see some color come out of them add about two handfuls of fresh spinach, use tongs to move around the spinach.  Once the spinach is cooked all the way down, incorporate it into the sauce.

By this time your pasta should be just about done. Drain your pasta out, but leave about 3 Tbsp of your pasta water in the pot. Return the pasta to the pot and place is back on the fire – low heat. Add your sauce and mix thoroughly. Classic mac & cheese uses macaroni, I prefer linguine, but it's your pasta so use whatever kind you like.

Yum, I think I'm going to make some more.

loaded potato salad

At work the other day, I was prepping for the day’s special – seared ahi tuna with potatoes, haricot vert, and eggs – when the special was changed on me. The change wasn’t an issue for me, I just didn’t want to waste all these blanched fingerling potatoes and hard boiled eggs. So I decided to make a potato salad for family meal (the meal made for the staff, right before dinner service starts). 

Blanching is a very simple process where after you cook something in boiling water you put them in an ice bath to stop them from continuing to cook.

First I needed my dressing, being an Italian restaurant there is no mayo to speak of, and I didn’t have the time to make some, I used sour cream – 1-1/2 cup, goat cheese – 1/4  cup, sriracha – 1/2 Tbsp, scallions – 2 chopped , red wine vinegar – 1 Tbsp, and of course salt and pepper.

When I make potato salad I like to have nice sized chunks of both potato and eggs. Then I fiercely mix them into the dressing. 

Next is the easy part; chopping everything up and throwing it into the bowl. I used red onion, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, cucumber. As for measurements, everything was pretty much eye-balled but I’d say I used about 1-1/2 cups of everything, except the onions, once diced about 1/2 a cup.

Mix it all together and there you have it.