macaroni cheese

macaroni cheese

17 Jun 2013

Whenever the temperature drops I want comfort food like soups and casseroles. My all time favourite comfort food would have to be macaroni cheese. 



I've been making this recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly New Cookbook since I was about 12. 



I've adapted the recipe a little as I don't eat bacon. When I make the cheese sauce, instead of bacon I use a small onion, either chopped and gently fried or else I slice the onion and infuse it into warm milk.



I've also reduced the fat content of the dish by using low fat milk, reduced fat cheese and I only use 1 teaspoon of butter to make the cheese sauce. That way I can still enjoy my favourite comfort food, whenever I'm in the mood.



Instead of packaged breadcrumbs I like to use fresh breadcrumbs which I lightly spray with olive oil spray before baking. I also sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the crumbs, firstly because I love Parmesan but also because it goes nice and crunchy when baked in the oven.



The original recipe states it serves 4 but at my place it feeds 2. I like to make this in individual dishes so I decided to bake the macaroni cheese in my cute little milk pan. The other serve is in the fridge waiting to be cooked.

Here's the original recipe for you.
Macaroni Cheese 
From the Australian Women’s Weekly New Cookbook

250 g (8 oz) small macaroni

3 rashers bacon

30 gm (1 oz) butter

⅓ cup plain flour

2¼ cups milk

Salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

¼ teaspoon dry mustard powder

90 gm (3 oz) cheddar cheese, grated

30 gm (1 oz) butter, extra

½ cup packaged dried breadcrumbs

30 gm (1 oz) grated cheddar cheese, extra

Put macaroni in boiling salted water; cook approximately 10 minutes or until tender; drain. (I keep ½ cup of the cooking water in case I need to thin out the cheese sauce). Put in an oven proof dish.

Preheat the oven 180°C. Put chopped bacon in a pan; sauté until crisp; remove from pan. Heat butter in pan; add the flour; cook 1 minute. Gradually add the milk; cook stirring until sauce boils and thickens; reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the dried mustard, salt and pepper and mix well. (I usually add a pinch of cayenne pepper as well). Gradually add grated cheese, stirring until all the cheese is melted. Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked macaroni and mix thoroughly.

Melt the extra butter in the pan; add the breadcrumbs; mix well. Sprinkle over the cheese sauce; then sprinkle extra grated cheese over the breadcrumbs.

Bake in a preheated oven 180ºC oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is brown and the sauce is bubbling.



I hope you enjoy the recipe.

See you all later,

Jillian

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the christmas collection 2012 - xmas fruit and nut cake

the christmas collection 2012 - xmas fruit and nut cake

19 Dec 2012

This recipe is another blast from the past. Xmas Fruit and Nut Cake is also known as stained glass window cake and it was very popular when I was teenager. I haven’t made one in years but I had lots of leftover dried fruit and nuts from my Christmas baking that I didn’t want to go to waste. The original recipe was from another old cookbook I have on my shelves, The Australian Women’s Weekly New Cookbook.



The original recipe used glacé cherries, pineapple and apricots plus a variety of nuts but as I’m not a huge fan of glacé fruit I substituted other fruits. Apart from some glacé cherries and ginger I used figs, raisins and chopped mixed peel instead. I couldn’t go past my cute little loaf tins so I made 4 mini cakes and one larger cake from the mixture.



Here's the recipe for you.

Christmas Fruit and Nut or Stained Glass Window Cake
(adapted from The Australian Women’s Weekly New Cookbook)
printable recipe
Cake Recipe
250 (8 oz) whole seedless dates
125 g (4 oz) soft figs, halved
125 g (4 oz) glacé ginger, coarsely chopped
90g (3 oz) red glacé cherries, whole
90g (3 oz) green glacé cherries, whole
50 g (1¾ oz) raisins
50 g (1¾ oz) mixed peel, finely chopped
170g (5½ oz) brazil nuts
125 g (4 oz) blanched almonds
80g (2 ¾ oz) walnuts
2 large (60g) eggs
½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon rum
90 g (3 oz) softened butter
¼ cup plain flour
¼ cup ground almonds
½ teaspoon baking powder

Optional Topping
60g (2 oz) glacé ginger, coarsely chopped
50g (1¾ oz) red glacé cherries, whole
50g (1¾ oz) green glacé cherries, whole
90g (3 oz) brazil nuts
60 g (2 oz) blanched almonds
50g (1¾ oz) walnuts
A few halved dates or figs
Apricot jam for glazing

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F. Line 1 bar tin (9 cm x 22 cm) or 8 small loaf tins (5 cm x 10 cm) with baking paper.

Combine the fruit and whole nuts in a bowl and mix well. In a large bowl, cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy; add the eggs and the rum and stir well to combine. Sift the flour and baking powder together into a small bowl. Add the flour and the ground almonds to the creamed mixture with the combined fruit and nuts. Divide the mixture evenly between the pans.

If desired place the extra fruit on top, pressing down gently into the mixture. Bake the small cakes for 45 minutes and the large cake for 1½ hours.

Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. When completely cold, wrap the cakes in plastic wrap or foil and store in an airtight tin until required. If desired, glaze the top of the cake just before serving with warmed apricot jam. Slice thinly to serve.

Any combination of glace fruit and nuts can be used. The original recipe used glace pineapple and apricots but I used figs and ginger instead.



The sliced cake still looks like a stained glass window, just like I remembered.

See you all tomorrow with the next recipe from my 2012 Christmas Collection,

Jillian

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