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Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

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What happens when you can’t decide whether to make Smitten Kitchen’s Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting OR Roasted Apple Spice Sheet Cake?  OR whether to make a sheet cake or layer cake?  You get Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting!  And holy shmoly are they good!  I think I have outdone myself.

As written below, this recipe makes enough cake batter for one 8-9″ square pan or about 18 cupcakes.  I made cupcakes and doubled the frosting amount.  Had just a little left over and I did a very generous scoop of frosting!

Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

 INGREDIENTS

For cake
1 medium apple, any variety you like to bake with, peeled, halved and cored

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs

1-1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

For frosting (double if making cupcakes!)
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Finely chopped walnuts, optional, for decorating

Dried apple rings, optional, for decorating

 Roast apple: Heat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet or roasting pan with parchment paper. Arrange apple halves face down on paper and roast in a single layer until they feel dry to the touch and look a little browned underneath, about 20 minutes. Slide parchment paper with apple onto a cooling rack and set aside. Once cool, chop into smallish chunks (about 1/2″).

Reduce oven to 350°F.

 Butter an 8- or 9-inch square cake pan.  Cut parchment paper to fit on bottom, line the pan with parchment and butter that too or put liners in cupcake pan.

Make cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in roasted apple pieces (should be about a cup). The batter will look a little curdly and uneven but don’t worry, it will all bake up perfectly in the end.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate. Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely.

If making cupcakes, fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full.  They don’t dome up too much, so you can safely fill them pretty full. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.  Let cupcakes cool in pan on wire rack for about 15 minutes,, then remove from pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Sift powdered sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake.  If making cupcakes, I used an ice cream scoop (about 3 tablespoons) to generously top each cupcake. 

 To decorate, I sprinkled each cupcake with a little chopped walnuts and then took one smallish apple ring, cut it (just so its not a ring anymore) and then twisted it (like the lime or lemon twist garnish in your cocktail.) Too cute!

 

Potato Chip Cookies

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Potato Chip Cookies.  Sound kinda weird, I know.  The first time I heard of them was a couple of years ago when my brother-in-law Sam was filming a segment for his show (oh, right, Sam as in Sam the Cooking Guy) where he was featuring recipes that viewers had sent him.  He called me to see if I had ever heard of Potato Chip Cookies and if I thought they would be too weird.  I said, “I bet they are actually good, with the saltiness of the potato chips added to a sweet cookie”.  So he made them on the show and actually liked them.

Then, a few months ago, I saw a Potato Chip Cookie recipe posted on my favorite Smitten Kitchen.  She tops hers with a little extra crumbled potato chip and says you can drizzle them with or dip them in chocolate.  OMG.  I printed out the recipe and had every intention of making a batch, but it ended up in the recipe file.

And then, when I was visiting a friend in Gig Harbor, WA, last month, she had a cookie jar on her kitchen counter and I asked what the cookies were.  She said, “Border Sugar Cookies…they’re good.  They have potato chips in them.”  Oh boy. They were good!  But why are they called Border Sugar Cookies?  So we looked up and compared the recipes.  Virtually the same.  Border Sugar Cookies are Potato Chip Cookies, but when they serve them at the Border Grill in Santa Monica, they call them Border Sugar Cookies.  Fine.

So fast forward to a coworker’s birthday last week.  She had mentioned that she likes Snickerdoodle or shortbread type cookies, not too sweet, and chocolate is not her favorite (okay, whatever, she’s still a nice kid, and I do love me a shortbread-y, salty, sweet cookie…see Margarita Cookies, also from SK.)  Finally!  Just the excuse I needed to make Potato Chip Cookies!

I pulled the SK recipe and followed it to the tee.  I didn’t drizzle with chocolate, I don’t know that they really need them.  These are delicious.  And not weird at all.  In fact, I think I may have a new favorite cookie!

Potato Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS

 Cookie

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

Potato chip/salt finish (SK says optional, I think its necessary!)

1 tablespoon crushed potato chips

1-1/2 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Chocolate finish (optional)

4 ounces semi-or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon butter, canola oil or vegetable shortening

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar until lightly and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and table salt, if using, until smooth. Add the pecans, 1/2 cup crushed potato chips and flour together and mix until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Scoop a tablespoon-sized mound of dough and form it into a small ball with the palms of your hands. Roll the ball in the remaining sugar until coated. Place on prepared baking sheet and using the bottom of a drinking glass to slightly flatten the cookies. Cookies only need to be an inch apart; they only spread a little. Sprinkle with a few flakes of the potato chip salt, if using. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies until lightly golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer to cool on a wire rack.

If dipping in chocolate, melt chocolate with butter, oil or shortening in a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip half of each fully cooled cookie in the chocolate, and let dry and harden on a wire rack. If drizzling, let the chocolate cool slightly and then dip the tines of a fork in the chocolate and drizzle over the cookies.

Apple/Pomegranate/Blue Cheese Salad with Honey Vinaigrette

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Here’s another recipe that I’ve had for a looooong time.  Probably not as long as I’ve had the recipe for Double Chocolate Brownies (it’s not handwritten, but it is typed in a cutesy font with a cute little “apples & honey” graphic, so it must have been when I first discovered word processing and clip art.  LOL), but a long time nonetheless.

I like to shorten the name of this salad to simply “Apples & Honey Salad”.  I’m not sure where it originated, but I know that it has been a part of many Jewish High Holy Day meals at our home. I mentioned previously that it is traditional at Rosh Hashanah to dip apples in honey and that I like to make recipes for the holidays that feature apples and honey.  The original version of this recipe does and it’s a delicious way to get that apples and honey fix.  It’s also a tasty addition to a break-the-fast meal.

I’ve done many variations of the salad over the years.  The original called for Spring mix lettuces, spicy glazed pecans (that I made myself…now I buy them at Trader Joe’s), apple, dried cranberries and blue cheese.  I’ve switched pear for the apple, pomegranate seeds or any other dried fruit for the cranberries, goat cheese for the blue cheese, arugula for the Spring mix and have done just about every kind of nut.  I’ve played with many different versions of the dressing, too, and I think is one is finally THE one.

I’m posting the original version of the salad, with variations in parentheses.  Any way you decide to mix it up, this salad will be a great addition to your holiday celebration or ANY Fall-inspired meal.

Apples & Honey Salad

INGREDIENTS

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

salt & pepper to taste

Salad

1- 9 oz. package mixed greens (Spring mix, arugula, or any combination you like)

1 medium apple, chopped into 1″ pieces (or you can substitute pear)

1/3 cup dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit you like OR pomegranate seeds. Note: you can find pomegranate seeds at Trader Joe’s or many supermarkets.  OR, follow the directions below for an easy, un-messy way to seed a whole pomegranate!)

1/3 cup chopped nuts (I like the Sweet & Spicy Pecans from Trader Joes, but have used plain pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts and even pistachios)

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (or goat cheese or even feta cheese)

DIRECTIONS

Vinaigrette

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, lemon juice, Dijon, garlic and salt and pepper.  Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify (or you can put all ingredients in a blender or even shake together in a screw top jar).

Salad

If using a whole pomegranate – over a bowl (to catch any juices), cut the pomegranate into four pieces.  Then cover the pieces, in the bowl, with cold water and start pulling the seeds out with your hands.  The seeds will fall to the bottom and the “other stuff” will rise to the top.  Now remove the “other stuff” and drain the water.

To prevent apples (or pears) from discoloring, after chopping, put in a bowl of sugar water (1 T. sugar to 1 c. water) for a few minutes.  Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.

In a large bowl, toss lettuces, apple pieces, cranberries, nuts and blue cheese with about half of the dressing.  Taste and then add more if you need it.

Urban Solace’s Watermelon/Tomato/Cucumber Salad

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I really like the restaurant Urban Solace.  And, as much as I like the food at Urban Solace, I really like  chef/owner Matt Gordon.  He is truly one of the nicest, friendliest and happiest guys I’ve ever met.  And generous too.  A real mensch.  He gives back to the community, a lot.  For the past three years, he has hosted a Passover Seder at the restaurant and donates a percentage of the proceeds to the domestic abuse program I work for.  It’s a super fun evening.  My brother-in-law Sam (The Cooking Guy) and Steve Silverman, a local restaurant critic, lead us through the traditional prayers and readings of the Seder.  And then we feast on a Passover meal like no other.

Needless to say, I was really excited when I saw the recipe for Matt’s watermelon salad posted in the U-T a couple of weeks ago.  Yet another great use of those cherry tomatoes in our backyard and the beautiful yellow watermelon I picked up at the farmer’s market!

(Matt says the salad ingredients serve two. It makes a ton of vinaigrette; I actually halved the ingredients and still had leftovers!  You can store the leftover in a glass jar in the fridge.)

Urban Solace’s Watermelon/Tomato/Cucumber Salad

INGREDIENTS

Salad

2 cups cubed seedless watermelon

1/4 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup arugula

1⁄8 cup feta cheese

1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

1 tablespoon plumped currants (oops, I forgot these!)

1 tablespoon each fresh basil and mint, cut into thin strips

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

This makes a large quantity that can be used for other salads.

1 tablespoon minced shallots

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup lime juice

1/8 cup honey

1/4 cup pomegranate molasses (available at specialty markets or online OR Trader Joe’s carries a pomegranate syrup that you could use)

2 tablespoons ground coriander, toasted first (I left this out…sorry, Matt!)

2 tablespoons kosher salt  Ewww…I just noticed that this says 2 tablespoons salt!  I rechecked the newspaper article…that’s what it said.  No way it’s right.  I used 1 teaspoon!

1 pinch ground black pepper

2 cups vegetable oil (preferably a blend of canola and olive oil)

DIRECTIONS

Toss all salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

Place all ingredients except oil in a blender. Emulsify, adding oil slowly. Taste for seasoning.  Toss with salad ingredients.

Apples & Honey Cake

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The Jewish High Holidays are almost upon us. The holidays begin with Rosh Hashanah (from the Hebrew words rosh, meaning head or beginning, and hashanah, meaning year).  Tradition tells us that we should dip apples in honey to ensure that the coming year is sweet.   I like to include apples and honey in my holiday recipes as well.  This is one of my very favorites.

Fast & Festive  Meals for the Jewish Holidays is my “go to” cookbook for anything Jewish.  I bought the book and met the author, Marlene Sorosky, some years back (in fact, I just opened the book and looked at what she signed, “To Cheryl, Yom Tov!  Marlene Sorosky, 9/97”) and have made many of the recipes in it since then.

This cake is all apple-cinnamon-honey-y.  It’s moist and dense and delicious.  I think I’ve made at least one every Rosh Hashanah since 1997!  Marlene calls it “Crowned Apple Cake”.  I call it “Apples and Honey Cake”.  You’ll want to add it to your holiday recipe collection.  (Actually, you’ll want to add it to just your plain ol’ recipe collection…you don’t have to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, or any holiday for that matter, to enjoy it!)

Apples and Honey Cake

INGREDIENTS

Apple mixture:

4 large green apples (about 2-1/2 pounds), such as Granny Smith or Pippin
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1/3 cup orange juice
3 teaspoons baking powder
2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
About 1/2 cup walnut or pecan halves for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in lower third of oven. Grease and spray a 10-inch tube pan with removable bottom.

Peel, quarter, core and slice apples inch thick. Place in medium bowl with honey and cinnamon. Toss to coat and set aside while preparing cake.

In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer on low speed, mix flour, sugar, oil, eggs, orange juice, baking powder, vanilla and salt until combined.

Increase to moderately high speed and mix until well-blended, about 2 minutes.

Pour one-third of the batter into prepared pan. Arrange one-third of the apple slices over the mixture and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if using.

Cover with half the remaining batter. Arrange half the remaining apple slices over batter and top with remaining batter, spreading the top evenly.

Overlap remaining apple slices around top of batter, extending out like petals.

Pour any juices that remain in bowl over apples. If desired, arrange nut halves along the outer edge to circle cake.

Place cake on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 80 to 90 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean. If top gets too brown, cover loosely with foil. Remove cake from oven and cool 10 minutes. Loosen from pan edges and bottom with a spatula. Lift cake from pan to serving plate.

The Only Brownie Recipe You’ll Ever Need

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I have had this brownie recipe for a long, LONG time.  So long, in fact, it’s handwritten on an index card (a yellowed, chocolate-stained index card, I might add)!  I have no idea if someone gave it to me or if I found it and copied it from a cookbook or magazine.  These are to-die-for brownies. Double chocolate…with chocolate chips stirred in…fudgy…moist…the only brownie recipe you’ll ever need!  And easy…almost as easy as making from a box, but a zillion times better. Once you make them, you’ll never make brownies from a box again.  Please don’t make brownies from a box again.

Double Chocolate Brownies

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons water

3/4 cup sugar

1-12oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup nuts (I usually use walnuts)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°.  Lightly grease a 9″ square pan.

In medium saucepan, combine butter, sugar and water; stir until butter melts and bring just to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Add half of the package of chocolate chips and vanilla and stir until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.  Add dry ingredients and stir until smooth.  Stir in remaining chocolate chips and nuts.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool (if you can wait that long) and cut into squares.

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

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Okay, so I still have blackberries left over after bringing them all the way home to San Diego from Gig Harbor, WA and already making a batch of Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbet…they are getting really squishy and juicy and I do NOT want to throw out them out!  Went to my usual source of inspiration, Epicurious, and found two recipes that sounded good (blackberry, lemon and thyme muffins and a blackberry upside down cake), but had less than stellar reviews (btw, LOVE that I can read reviews before trying a recipe!).  So, I visited my other online inspiration, Smitten Kitchen, and found a Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, which she described as, “you can just ignore the word “raspberry” up there and swap it up with any which berry you please, like blackberries or blueberries or bits of strawberries or all of the above. This is a good, basic go-to buttermilk cake — moist and ever-so-light.”  Perfect!  Oh, did I mention there’s leftover buttermilk too…I hate it when that happens.  Why do they only make buttermilk in quart size?

Okay, on to the recipe.  Everything SK said about this cake is true. And I LOVE the little bit of crunchy sweetness from the extra sugar sprinkled on top.  It is delicious…a perfect little late afternoon snack or really wonderful with coffee for breakfast!

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup (5 ounces) fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons () sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Blackberry Heaven

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If you follow Eat.Cook.Blog on Facebook, you know that I was in the PNW last weekend.  I was in Seattle for my sister’s oldest son’s wedding and then in Gig Harbor, visiting a dear high school friend.  If there was a theme of the weekend it was BLACKBERRIES.  At the wedding reception, my nephew and his bride decided to serve pie (Peach Blackberry pie) rather than wedding cake…how cute is that?!  I’m told that when they sampled the caterer’s pie, they weren’t crazy about it and persuaded the caterer to use my brother-in-law’s recipe.  Oh, and, btw, that’s a picture of my sister and brother-in-law on their wedding day!

So, after the wedding and related events, its on to Gig Harbor.  Gig Harbor is an adorable little town and my friend lives a few miles from the harbor, in a little house, with a gorgeous deck overlooking a lagoon/tideland area.  It’s beautiful, green and serene.  After an evening of relaxing and dinner (I made Steak with Bloody Mary Salad) and drinking wine on the deck, in the morning, she asked if I wanted blackberry pancakes for breakfast.  Of course…duh.  So she says, “okay, we’ll go pick some”.  So…we walked down the lane and we picked blackberries.  There were zillions of them!  Blackberry heaven.  And we picked a LOT of them.  We took them back to the house and she made delicious pancakes.  Talk about farm to table!  Or, I guess, more accurately, bush to table!

I was leaving the next day and, like a good houseguest, asked if I might be able to take some of the blackberry haul back to San Diego with me.  I mean, who wants a coffee mug or t-shirt as a souvenir when you can have blackberries?

I put them in a plastic container and into my carry-on bag.  (Not liquid, right, TSA, right?) Okay, so by the time I got back to San Diego, a mug or shirt would have travelled a little better.  The berries were a little worse for the wear, a little squishy and juicy, but that’s okay.

So, now, what to make with them?  Muffins?  Pie?  Cobbler?  All sounded yummy, but it was over 90 degrees at home!  Not exactly baking weather.  Ice cream?  Didn’t want to bother with that whole egg-custard-based thing.  Sherbet?  Perfect.  I Googled around and found a few recipes, a couple of them made with buttermilk and I thought that sounded interesting.  Pulled out the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid (best attachment ever, btw) and, voila, a couple hours of later had a creamy, tangy but sweet, beautifully dark purple bowl of frozen goodness!

Oh, and if you don’t have an ice cream maker, I’ve included alternative directions for freezing below. 

Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbet

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw first)

1 cup sugar

2 cups low-fat (1%) buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla or lemon juice (I used vanilla…I suppose you could use any liquor or even red wine)

DIRECTIONS

In a blender or food processor, whirl the blackberries (along with any juices from thawed frozen berries) until smooth. Pour the puree into a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much puree as possible; you should have about 1-1/2 cups puree. Discard the solids.

Add the sugar and whisk until dissolved. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.

Freeze the blackberry mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm enough to scoop, about 4 hours.

OR

Transfer puree to a 13-in. x 9-in. dish. Freeze for 1 hour or until edges begin to firm. Stir and return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours longer or until firm.

Just before serving, transfer to a food processor; cover and process for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

You say “to-MAY-to”…I say “to-MAH-to”!! Part Four

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A Panzanella Salad is an Italian salad made with tomatoes and stale bread. This is easily one of our favorite and most-often made salads, especially when we have tons of tomatoes growing in the backyard. I first found it in an early (April, 1996) issue of (what else?) Bon Appétit and have made it countless times since. We’ve taken it camping, to picnics and BBQ’s…it’s easy to make ahead and pack up. Just pack the croutons separately and toss everything together when you get to your destination.

It calls for Plum tomatoes, but you can use any variety you like. I love it with a combination of different colored heirloom cherry tomatoes.

Panzanella Salad with Olives & Cheese

INGREDIENTS

Dressing

1/2 c. olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1 T. Sherry wine vinegar

1-1/2 T. capers with 1 t. juices

1 garlic clove, minced

Salad

4 c. 3/4-inch cubes French bread baguette (about ½ of an 8 oz. loaf)

1-1/2 lbs. Plum tomatoes, cut into ¾-inch pieces

2 c. English hothouse cucumber, cut into ¾-inch pieces

½ c. diced red onion

3 T. chopped fresh basil

18 brine-cured black olives (such as Kalamata)

8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into ½-inch pieces

Fresh basil for garnish

DIRECTIONS

For Dressing:

Combine all ingredients in blender and puree.

For Salad:

Preheat oven to 450˚. Place bread cubes on large baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Cool.

Mix bread cubes, tomatoes, cucumber, onion and chopped basil in large bowl. Add enough dressing to coat generously and toss well. Let stand 10 minutes, tossing occasionally. Divide salad among plates. Top with olives and cheese. Garnish with basil sprigs.

Nacho Mac

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Okay, the official name given by Bon Appétit (March, 2007) is Nacho Macaroni and Cheese. We call it Nacho Mac, but you have to say it like “Not CHO Mac”, as in, “my mac…not YO mac”. Get it? LOL. Alright, it’s a silly little Bruser family thing. But this is definitely one of the Bruser family’s favorite dishes. It goes without saying that any time one or both of the kids are home, I’ll make it.

It’s really easy and one of the best macaroni & cheese’s I’ve ever had. I mean, come on…tortilla chips and salsa verde baked into macaroni & cheese? Make it. And then you’ll walk around saying “Not CHO Mac”, too.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups elbow macaroni

1/2 cup bottled thick and chunky salsa verde

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

3 cups (packed) coarsley grated sharp cheddar cheese (12 ounces), divided

4 teaspoons flour

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425°F. Cook macaroni in large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, blend salsa and cilantro in food processor or blender. Toss 2 cups cheese and flour in medium bowl to coat.

Bring milk, cream, and cloves to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cheese mixture. Whisk until sauce is smooth, about 1 minute. Mix in macaroni; season with pepper.

Spread half of macaroni mixture in a casserole/baking dish. Drop half of salsa mixture over in dollops. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining macaroni mixture and salsa mixture. Sprinkle chips over. Top with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.