Cheesy Quinoa

For Christmas, my awesome older sister (the "German Sister" as we call her, since she lives abroad and is married to German citizen) came to visit. She brought me an assortment of grains - polenta, amaranth, quinoa, and another one with a German name, which I think is something like millet.

I've started experimenting with them, but as James is very hesitant even about rice, I have to be strategic.

I've never eaten quinoa (keen-wah, not kwin-no-uh as I previously called it), but I decided to throw caution to the wind and make up a recipe as I went along. I wasn't being super risky, because basically I decided to make macaroni and cheese with quinoa instead of noodles. I don't claim this recipe to be part of a 2009 extreme body makeover weight watcher diet. But it does have more fiber and protein than velveeta shells and cheese, and James ATE IT. He actually asked me what it was, said he loved it, and got a second helping.

So you see the strategy? When I introduced him to fish, I started with potato chip crusted fish, then to a cheesy parmesan tilapia, then finally to seasoned grilled salmon. If I had tried the salmon first he never would have tasted it. And now he loves it and requests it. So I started him on a cheesy gooey buttery grain dish. We'll evolve from there. I served this with sauteed chicken tenders and green beans.

About the Cheese Sauce:

Mac and Cheese is something I struggled with for a long time with. For whatever reason, I was very roux challenged. I have to credit this article from the nest with saving me from my grainy mac and cheese days. I still use lowfat milk with no trouble, but letting the bechamel cool before adding cheese, and using a mixture of cheeses (I like gruyere - not great flavor in my opinion, but melts beautifully- and sharp cheddar - not a great melter, but so much flavor!), and heating the milk before adding has made me a Mornay sauce queen!

Cheesy Quinoa

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 cup milk

3 oz gruyere, shredded

3 oz cheddar, shredded

cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Rinse the quinoa a few times to wash away any residue from the bitter outer layer. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa and let it simmer, covered, for about 10-15 minutes until it is fluffy and the liquid is absorbed. Meanwhile, make your sauce.

2.Heat your milk in either a saucepan or the microwave. You want it warmed up, but not boiling.

3. Melt butter in a large saucepan (You're going to have to whisk up a storm, so it needs to have high sides if you're a mess like me!)over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until smooth. Continue to cook and whisk the roux until it darkens slightly (takes 5 minutes or more) from a buttery yellow to a caramel tan. The roux needs to cook slightly to cook out some of that raw flour flavor.

4. Add the milk slowly, whisking as you go to distribute the fat throughout the liquid. Bring to a boil and cook and whisk until it thickens. Turn off the heat, and let it sit for a minute or two, stirring a few times.

5. Add the gruyere and stir until it melts in. Then add the cheddar. It should melt, but if some of it doesn't, it will melt when added to the hot quinoa. Stir in a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

6. Stir the sauce into the quinoa, and taste. I added a little salt and pepper at this point, but taste yours first, because the salt levels in cheeses and chicken broth vary, and you don't want to overdo it.

This recipe made probably 4 large side dish portions.

Pumpkin Bread

On Christmas day, I walked into the kitchen to find this:

My sweet husband made me breakfast! Best egg sandwich I ever had, he's been hiding his cooking skills from me for all these years. From now on, he makes the mac and cheese in the house! :)

My friend Natalie bought me a really great silicone baking mold for Christmas, and I had to use it for Christmas day. Believe it or not - this is the only thing I cooked for any of our Christmas celebrations! I love the pans, and the pmpkin bread turned out really good!

Pumpkin Bread

From Allrecipes

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Downeast-Maine-Pumpkin-Bread/Detail.aspx

Shrimp Enchiladas

Happy New Year!
Somewhere around Christmas I lost my camera cord...so I've got a camera full of recipes I want to share from the holidays, but I'm determined to find that cord first! My guess would be that the cats have found it and buried it in a couch cushion somewhere :)

I promised my sister and a friend of James's that I would get them my recipe for shrimp enchiladas, which I forgot to take a picture of, so here you go! This is one of my favorite recipes to make for company. It has so much flavor, and the shrimp are a nice change from your standard enchiladas.


Shrimp Enchiladas
Adapted from Annies Eats

Shrimp Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced (I prefer to use red, orange or yellow...but green's cheaper!)
1/2 cup shallots (regular onion will work, I love the flavor of shallots though)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp. butter, divided
1 pinch oregano
1 pinch black pepper
A dash of cayenne pepper
1 pinch smoked spanish paprika
1 cup cream
1 ½ tsp. all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

milk
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup tomatoes, diced
6 flour tortillas

Directions:

Sauce:
Melt 2 tbsp. of butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Reserve a few tablespoons of bell pepper for topping enchiladas. Add remaining peppers, garlic and ¼ cup of shallots to the skillet and sauté until crisp-tender. Add oregano, salt, cayenne powder, black pepper, and flour; blend well. Cook the butter in the flour for a few minutes until it starts to darken some in color. Add cream. Lower heat to medium and cook until slightly thickened. Add 1 cup shredded cheese and stir until melted. It will be very thick at this point. Set aside.

Shrimp:
In a skillet, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Add shrimp and remaining ¼ cup onion to the skillet and sauté shrimp until pink. Season the shrimp with salt and paprika. Remove shrimp from pan with a slotted spoon and chop; return to the skillet. Add 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce.

To build the enchiladas: (this gets messy!)
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease an 8×8” baking dish.
Mix remaining cheese sauce with some milk (I eyeball this, probably somewhere from a few Tbs to 1/4 cup) to thin to a pourable sauce consistency.
Dip a tortilla into the sauce, flip to coat completely. Spoon some of the shrimp mixture onto the tortilla. Roll up tightly and place in the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Top with remaining sauce, remaining cheese, and sprinkle remaining bell peppers and tomatos.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Serve with additional diced bell peppers and tomatos.