Got leftover steaks and baked potatoes from last night’s dinner? Turn them into breakfast GOLD by making an easy, delicious hash.

Here’s the how to: Chop potatoes and steak (or chicken, pork chop, meat loaf, whatev) into roughly equal size cubes (1/2 inch-ish). Chop a couple shallots or onions finely. If you’re like me, then for some odd reason your leftovers also fortuitously include a ziploc containing 5 cooked bacon slices and you should definitely chop those up as well. If you’re lucky enough to own a vegetable, like a bell pepper or broccoli or something, well then your fridge is better stocked than mine. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, then give that the chop chop as well.

Heat some butter (or lard, duck fat, olive oil, whatev) in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the potatoes- those should get crispy so they need to cook the longest. If you have some hard vegetable like broccoli then throw that in with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss or stir to brown the potatoes on multiple sides. When you’ve got some nice browning on at least a couple of sides, add the shallots (and your softer vegetable if you’re using one: I’m talking bell pepper or zucchini-type stuff) and cook another couple minutes until the shallots soften but not so long that they brown. Add the meat(s) and cook just until heated through, tossing or stirring, a couple minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust. If you really want to clog your family’s arteries, fry some eggs and put ‘em over the top. What the hell. You only live once.

I like to eat this with some Greek yogurt mixed in, but then again, I’m weird like that.

What is TotMac, you ask? Why it’s homemade Mac N Cheese topped with Tater Tots, of course. Behold: TotMac!

I cannot tell a lie: I did not come up with this concept. There’s a great little neighborhood restaurant here in SF called Q and they are known for topping their Mac with Tots. HOWEVER. While I have enjoyed Q’s Mac on several occasions, I have always felt that the Mac execution could be improved upon. Ergo, I Totted my own Mac, with diabolically delicious results.

So, here’s how it goes down: make some hella good homemade Mac N Cheese. You can really make it however you like it, as long as you PROMISE to make it hella good. Cook frozen tater tots according to their packaging. Cook your Mac N Cheese for 10 minutes less than you normally would. Cover top of hot Mac with hot Tots and cook for about 10 minutes. If you’re CRAZY LIKE ME which is to say LIKE A FOX  you can put crumbled crispy prosciutto or bacon on top of the Mac, but under the Tots.

So Tot your Mac today: it’s highly recommended for those who fancy the idea of double carbing your carbs while white trashing up your fancy Mac N Cheese!

I didn’t originally make this dish with the intention of post the recipe, since it was just something I threw together. In the end, it turned out pretty fabulously so I decided to share it. In fact, Ross said it was “one of my favorite things you’ve ever made, ever” and then stuffed his face with seconds. In fact, before bed he said “I want to eat more pasta.” In fact, when he woke up in the morning, he went straight to the fridge and finished it off. So I can’t promise that YOU will love it, but some people certainly do.

If you like pasta dishes which feature the noodles more than the other stuff- then this is not for you. If, however, you like pasta dishes in which the presence of noodles provides a vehicle to get giant chunks of salty pancetta, earthy vegetables, and fresh ricotta into your face, then you should give it a try. It’s like a bowl full of fall, and extremely satisfying on a chilly night.

A few notes about the ingredients: It’s best if you can get slab pancetta or slab bacon and cut it into cubes, but you could use regular thick-cut bacon if you have to. The ricotta must be fresh, not in the tub from the supermarket. (At the risk of sounding terribly haughty I had actually made my own ricotta, which I’ll talk about in a future post, as it’s actually pretty simple to make at home.) You can get fresh ricotta at an Italian market or a kind of fancy store like Whole Foods. You could also omit the ricotta if you want; it definitely rounds out the dish, but it would still be tasty without. As to the pasta, I used fresh pappardelle, but I wouldn’t recommend it- I think a smaller pasta shape would work much better. Finally, if the pancetta is very salty you may want to be conservative on salting the rest of the dish.

Autumn-Is-Here Pasta

serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh pasta
• 1/2 lb slab pancetta, cut in 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and cut in small cubes
• 1/4-1/3 lb chanterelle mushrooms, chopped finely
• 2 leeks, sliced thinly and rinsed free of dirt
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
• about 1/2 cup fresh ricotta

Method:

• Cook pasta according to directions.
• Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, cook pancetta in a single layer over medium low heat, until crisped and browned. Remove to paper towels.
• Pour out grease, leaving a light coating in the pan. Reserve remaining grease in a bowl.
• Raise heat to medium high and add carrots. Cook until soft and a bit caramelized. Remove to bowl.
• Add 1-2 teaspoons to reserved grease and cook mushrooms over medium high heat until browned and crunchy. Remove to carrot bowl.
• If you still have grease, add another 2 tsp to pan, or if you’re out of grease add 2 tsp olive oil. Add leeks and cook 2-3 minutes, until bright green. Add white wine and lower heat to low. Cook until wine has evaporated.
• Stir in mushrooms, carrots, bacon, and sundried tomatoes. Mix with pasta.
• Top each serving with about 2 Tblsp ricotta.

Method:

I throw together a risotto dish quite often, but admittedly it’s a one of those things that can be hit or miss for me. Sometimes it rocks your world, and sometimes it’s merely OK. Last night I think I stumbled on the secret to great risotto: aged black garlic in the mix. When combined with that magical triumvirate of cheese, cream, and oil, you just can’t lose.

For those of you who don’t read food blogs all day long, you may not know what the hell I’m talking about. Aged black garlic is newish on the culinary scene, and is just that: whole heads of garlic that have been heat-aged, producing a soft black clove inside. It’s nothing like raw garlic. It’s sweet, salty, soy-saucey, and I’m inclined to think it’s like natural MSG- add it to anything and it makes you want to keep eating more and more. If you’re tempted to try it, you can buy black garlic online at Earthy Delights. I got a whole box and I’m totally hooked on the stuff,  so you’ll be seeing it appear in future recipes.

As to the risotto- let’s just say that my family is not the type to praise something unless it’s good. In fact, they’re downright tactless. But the unanimous decision on this risotto was that it was out of this world. Thank you, black garlic.

Risotto with Black Garlic and Oyster Mushrooms

serves 8 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 4 T olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• about 4 cups chicken or mushroom broth
• 4 cloves aged black garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cups grated or shredded parmigiano
• salt and pepper

Method:

• Heat 2 Tblsp olive oil in a large saucepan. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and cook over medium heat until browned and shrunken, about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, heat remaining oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, and rice. Cook, stirring often, to soften the shallot and garlic and to toast the rice a bit.
• Add wine and lower heat a bit. Stir. When wine has almost evaporated add about 1 cup of broth and the chopped black garlic. Add salt and pepper.
• Continue cooking, stirring often, adding broth 1 cup at a time and letting it cook off. If rice is still not cooked and you run out of broth, you can start adding water in 1/2 cup increments.
• When rice is creamy but not mushy, with all liquid absorbed, turn off heat and stir in cream and cheese. Taste and add salt and pepper. Pour into serving bowl and top with mushrooms. Serve immediately.

The other night, I made Mac and Cheese with no recipe and had an epiphany- you don’t need a recipe to make Mac and Cheese. (I know, that’s not a particularly brilliant flash based on the context.) While there are lots of great recipes out there (I particularly favor this one) this is a dish that is perfectly suited to experimentation and variation. As long as you have the basic proportions and method down, you can go wild with this!

To make a 9×13 pan of tasty M&C, the proportions you need are essentially 1 pound of pasta, 2-3 cups of roux, 2-4 cups of cheese, and 1-2 cups of topping. Once you have this basic setup, you can play around with flavor combinations to your heart’s content.

About the elements:

• THE PASTA: Whatever shape you like should do fine. I have never tried with a long noodle like spaghetti or fettucine but if you’re feeling adventurous I’m sure it won’t kill you.
• THE ROUX: The base of the gooey cheesy part is a white sauce or roux. To make a roux you need 1 Tablespoon butter to 1 Tablespoon flour to 1 cup milk. For 2-3 cups double or triple those amounts. Melt the butter and add flour, whisking. Cook until pasty. Add milk, salt, and pepper, and continue whisking as you bring to a boil. Cook until thick.
• THE CHEESE: You can use one type of cheese or a mixture. If you’re using a mild cheese like a medium cheddar, you might want to punch it up with a parmigiano or a brie. On the other hand, if Gorgonzola’s your game, you may want to cut the pungency with a more demure Jack.
• THE TOPPING: The basis of the topping is generally bread crumbs mixed with a bit of melted butter. I like to add grated parmigiano and often, a pork product (crispy bacon pieces or prosciutto spring to mind.) Toasted nuts would be interesting, especially depending on your cheese choice (blue cheese mac with pecan topping, anyone?) You can make a couple pieces of toast in the toaster and put them in the food processor to get 1-2 cups of crumbs. Mix with a few tablespoons of melted butter, salt, pepper, and other accoutrements as desired. Or, you could skip the topping altogether and go for a strictly creamy casserole.
• THE EXTRAS: If you’re inspired to mix in a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, some chopped steamed broccoli, a swirl of pesto, a fistful of browned sausage, or anything else tasty you can imagine, then don’t let me stop you! You should also feel free to jazz up your roux by starting it with sautéed shallots, a couple chopped chipotles, some fresh herbs, or… the possibilities are endless.

The Method:
Heat oven to 350.

• Cook the pasta to al dente and drain.
• Make the roux and stir the cheese in it.
• Combine the cheesy roux and the cooked pasta well and pour into a buttered 9×13 glass pan.
• Distribute topping over Mac and Cheese and bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese bubbles up.
• Serve immediately.

I get tired of plain ol’ mashed potatoes, so I’m always looking for ways to change it up. I like to combine cauliflower and potatoes in this mash for the added nutrition benefits and the great flavor combination. After mashing the two together, I gratinee them in the broiler with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano for a taste and texture treat.

Potato Cauliflower Gratin

serves 8 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• trimmed florets from 1 head cauliflower
• 1/2 cup butter, cut in chunks
• 4 oz. cream cheese, cut in chunks
• about 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup grated parmigiano
• salt and pepper

Method:

• Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook 15 minutes.
• Add cauliflower and cook an additional 5-10 minutes, until potatoes and cauliflower are soft and cooked through.
• Drain and return to pot. Add butter and mash. Add cream cheese and continue mashing. Add milk a bit at a time and continue mashing to desired consistency (I like this combo a little lumpy but feel free to go smooth with it.)
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread mixture out into 9×13 or other ovenproof pan. Sprinkle cheese over top.
• Broil a couple of minutes until cheese is browned.

Macaroni and Cheese has become a standard of the hipster food scene, and seems to be on almost every trendy menu. Yet surprisingly, I’m not sick of it yet! Maybe that’s because it’s just cheese, noodles, butter, bread crumbs, and often some form of bacon or ham. What’s not to like? Seriously, how could I get sick of that combo?

I will say that in addition to Mac N Cheese being hella good, it is also highly changeable and adaptable. This was what I hope to be the first in a series of many experimental Mac N Cheeses. For this one I added roasted garlic, shallots, and a bunch of cheeses including Affinois. If you’ve never had Affinois, it’s a triple-creme brie-style cheese from France that tastes ridiculously good. I had a tough time deciding if I wanted to use the outside crusty part, and in the end I decided to just use the insides. It added a subtle flavor and increased the creaminess.

And then, for the piece de resistance: crispy prosciutto on top. I crisped prosciutto in a low oven, crumbled it, and mixed it with toasted bread crumbs, butter, and freshly grated parmigiano. Once you’ve crisped prosciutto, you’ll start putting it all OVER the place. It’s especially good on salads. Then again it’s also just good on its own- good luck resisting its charms!

Macaroni and Cheese of Epic Proportions
Serves 6 as a main course, 8-10 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole bulb garlic
• 4 oz. prosciutto
• 1 1/2 lbs. pasta (I used fusilli)
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 qt. whole milk
• 1/2 lb. Affinois, inside scraped out
• 1/2 lb. emmenthal or Swiss cheese, grated
• 1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 1/3 cup toasted white bread crumbs (I like them a little chunky)
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano
• olive oil for drizzling
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Cut top off garlic. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap tightly in foil. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, open foil, and set aside to cool. When cool, squeeze out garlic innards and set aside.
• Meanwhile lay prosciutto out in a single layer on a rack over a sheet pan. Cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for 20-30 minutes, until crispy. Remove and set aside to cool.
• Cook pasta according to directions, drain and set aside.
• Melt 2 Tblsp butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Saute shallots with thyme sprigs until soft. Add 6 Tblsp butter and melt. Add flour and bring to a boil, whisking, until mixture pulls from sides of pan.
• Add milk and continue to whisk until sauce thickens. Remove thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add Affinois insides, emmenthal, and cheddar, and stir to melt. Taste and re-season if necessary.
• Mix cheese sauce with pasta. Pour into deep 9×13 dish.
• Make topping by crumbling prosciutto in a bowl. Mix with bread crumbs, parmigiano, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Season with pepper. Sprinkle on top of pasta.
• Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10-15 minutes, until topping just starts to brown and cheese is bubbly.

I made this recipe off of the always informative Doesn’t TaZte Like Chicken. Although it’s called a tomato cream sauce, it has meat in it so to me it’s more like a creamy tomato bolognese. I put it over gnocchi. Yum!

The sauce comes out incredibly rich and flavorful, as well as very ORANGE. While I absolutely loved the taste and texture and everything else, Ross kept saying “this dinner is so ORANGE. Great, but, like, really ORANGE.” And it is. It kind of looked like the color of liquid Doritos. Not that that’s a bad thing. I love Doritos, and this sauce. (Objects in pictures may look less orange than they appear in real life.)

Find the recipe here and enjoy!

This recession/depression business is really starting to get me down! In light of that I wanted to share a recipe with you that’s triply good for these dark, dank economic times. Why triply? First of all, people in the South traditionally eat Hoppin’ John on New Year’s to bring prosperity and good fortune. Second, the ingredients are really cheap, so it’s easy on the wallet. Third, it packs a nutritional wallop of protein, folates, carbs, and more, so you won’t have to eat again for awhile.

I was looking for recipes involving black-eyed peas, and Hoppin’ John is the one that most intrigued me. I’ll admit, it’s totally, completely, 100% because of the name.  All of the recipes I found involved crazy time-consuming things like soaking the peas overnight and procuring ham hocks and what have you, but I was like “I want my dinner NOW, dammit!” So this is the corner-cutting, lazy-ass version I came up with to maximize deliciousness and minimize time and effort.

As to the name, a bunch of people have different theories about the name that seem highly farfetched, so I’ve decided just to go with it and not wonder too much. Confusingly there’s talk of making the leftovers into pancakes and calling it called Skippin’ Jenny or some such nonsense but I can’t even get into that.

Lazy Man’s Hoppin’ John
This is good with a side of wilted kale or collards, and should be served with Frank’s Red Hot sauce on the side for those who like the extra heat. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 5 slices smoky bacon, chopped in small pieces
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1 small red pepper, chopped into 1/4 inch squares
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1-15 ounce can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire
• salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Method:

• Put bacon in medium-sized saucepan, and cook until crispy over medium het.
• Add onion, pepper, and garlic and cook 3-5 minutes, until vegetables are soft but still vibrant.
• Add rice, black-eyed peas, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Cook for 5 minutes, stirring to combine. Taste and add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.
• Stir and cook another 10 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve immediately.

Ah, that elusive concept known as “healthy lunch.” Despite my best intentions I find that in the middle of the day it’s hard for me to resist the charms of foods like pizza with ranch dressing, giant burritos, or 9 pounds of hummus and falafel with 17 slices of pita. The other day I took a little time to make a healthy, flavorful, simple noodle bowl with whole wheat fettucine and a whole lot of hot sauce. Not only did I feel physically energetic and alive for the rest of the day, but also smugly virtuous. Win-win!

Spicy Thai Noodle Bowl for One

Ingredients:

• 4 oz fresh whole wheat fettucine
• ½ tsp vegetable oil
• ¼ cup chopped white, yellow, or red onion
• 1 Tblsp torn cilantro leaves
• ~10 cracked coriander seeds
• 1 pack liquid chicken broth concentrate or 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• juice from 1 small lime
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• sambal oelek or sriracha to taste

Method:

• Cook fettucine in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and reserve about 2 Tblsp pasta water.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a small sauté pan. Add onion, cilantro, and coriander seeds and sauté until soft and fragrant, and onion just starts to brown.
• Add broth and coconut milk, plus a large pinch of salt and about 3-4 grinds of pepper, and reduce over medium high heat until thick and creamy.
• Add fettucine and reserved pasta water to pan and cook over medium high heat until sauce coats the noodles, about 3-5 minutes.
• Turn off heat and stir in lime juice and scallions.
• Pour into bowl and top with sambal oelek or sriracha to taste. If you put the amount shown here you will be in for some serious heat!
• This recipe can easily be made vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth.