Homemade Macaroni and Cheese...Basic Cheese Sauce Recipe

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, just such warm creamy yumminess to eat on any day of the week and something my kids love! Yeah I know we all have eaten that uber orange stuff in a box but nothing beats homemade mac with a creamy cheese sauce that can be used for other recipes like Broccoli and Cheese soup. I learned how to make this cheese sauce on the back of an Argo cornstarch box about 20 years ago and have been making my mac and cheese this way, I have tried variations with extra sharp cheddar and one with 5 blend Italian cheese and add lots of garlic and parsley for a penne pasta dish I make that my kids love...I have made Alfredo with this recipe using Parmesan and regiano and asiago so if you have the basic white sauce recipe you can make many different cheese sauces I bet one with pepper jack would be awesome. Hope you experiment and try this recipe!

 

Ingredients

4 cups cooked whole wheat or regular durham semolina macaroni or penne, or shell pasta

2cups or more of extra sharp cheddar or your favorite cheese(s)

1/3 cup of Parmesan (optional)

1/4 cup heaping of sour cream

4 tbsp butter or margarine or spread like smart choice

3 tbsp of cornstarch

1 cup of milk low fat or non fat is fine

salt and pepper to taste

optional topping like bread crumbs,crushed crackers, chips, crushed croutons

1/4 c or more of cheese to top casserole

additional butter or margarine to dab on bread crumbs

a note to bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes till topping browned and cheese melted

Video Recipe

"Clamchop" as my girlees used to call Clam Chowder Soup

I made this soup last night and invited some friends over.. it ended up being a few girlfriends of mine and we ate soup and had a drink and laughed and talked into the nite.  That is exactly what I like to happen when I cook for the people I love in my life...good food, good conversation, and good times.. thanks Pauline, Stephanie and Denise!

Clam Chowder soup has been a favorite of mine since I was a child, my Mother never made it but she loved it too. I perfected my recipe by trial and error and by reading the ingredients on a can of soup. Basically I surmised that it was a glorified potato soup, but as I have cooked it more often I realize it is much more. I love clam chowder or clam chop soup as my daughters use to call it when they were little. It is an ideal comfort food served in a soup mug or in a bread bowl...these I made following a bread recipe http://noturtypicalgmacooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/homemade-bread-so-easy-kid-could-make.html  that is posted on my blog, using the water method, since it yeilds a much more crusty bread. So I hope you enjoy it and if you do not want to make a vat, this serves about 16-20 people simply cut everything in half. Also a note about the cornstarch I did add about 1/2 cup of dry cornstarch mixed with enough water to dilute it... and added it to the final soup. This thickened it perfectly, add more or less to your desired consistency. When you add water to cornstarch it is hard to stir at first but with a few stirs it becomes thinned out and should be like a heavy cream in consistency. Make sure to always dilute with cold liquid, and stir as you add the cornstarch until the desired consistency is acheived.

Ingredients

4 cans of whole baby clams or minced clams with juice

3-4 pounds of potatoes diced into 1 inch cubes

2c. chopped onin

2c. chopped celery

1 stick or 1/2 c. butter

1/2 pint of half and half

1c. milk

1/4 plus 1/2 c. corn starch

1 pound of bacon fried and crumbled

enough water two knuckles high over potatoes

sea salt and white or black pepper to taste

more fried and crumbled bacon

Video Recipe

Homemade Cream of Broccoli Soup and "Gorilla" Cheese Sandwiches

Who remembers the grill cheese sandwich as a child? Dipping it in your tomato soup, total complete yumminess...takes me back to my days as a kid on Lincoln Street. Well tonight I make a version of a "gorilla" (as my lovees used to say when they were little) cheese sandwich that I saw You Tuber Foodwishes make, and my homemade cream of Broccoli soup that is sooo good. The turn of the weather here in the Cen  Cal valley has me pining for comfort food... its only dropped down into the 80's but hey that's 20 degrees less than it was 1 month ago. So I hope you are ready for some comfort food recipes this month. Last month was super hectic and I blogged not one bit... but now that football is winding down for my daughter we are getting ready to have a break and some good home cooked food so I am warning Taco Bell that they may take a dip in sales this month.

Traditionally soups that are cream base are well, made of cream and lots of butter and flour and fat and calories. So in order to eat the grill cheese sandwich LOL I needed to cut calories somewhere and I do it by using chicken broth, the broth from the broccoli that I have boiled and 2 percent milk, along with olive oil, and margarine (yikes i know) you could use butter folks and some good ole cornstarch. This cream base can be used for many soups and sorry but when I was filming it I somehow lost the part where I mix the liquids with the cornstarch so bear with me and I will post that piece again when I make some clam chowder this weekend.

Ingredients for Cream of Broccoli Soup

8 cups of boiled broccoli pieces and some stem

1c. of chicken broth

1c. of 2 percent milk

2 c. of water from the boiled broccoli

3tbsp butter or margarine

1tbsp of olive oil

3 cloves of minced garlic

1/2c. of white onion

3tbsp of cornstarch

salt and pepper to taste

~for garnishes~

crumbled bacon

croutons 

 grated sharp cheddar cheese

Gorilla Cheese Sandwiches

bread for however many servings you want to make

good ole white bread or fancy schmancy grown up bread

good quality sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese grated and some sliced

butter, margarine, mayo or olive oil to toast bread

Video Recipe

just a note people I say the F word to my kid, its not said with any seriousness, if you know me you know I am who I am so take it or leave it....I am not on the food network but maybe I should be well at least I could battle with Gordon Ramsey in Hells Kitchen! F bombs would be flying! I take nothing in life too seriously shoot I woulda had an aneurism by now if I did...