Baked Mac N Cheese with Breadcrumbs and Red Onions

Serves:  6

Ingredients:
12 ounce elbow macaroni pasta
3 cups of yellow finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup of butter, softened plus more for skillet
1 medium red onion – diced
¼ tsp. parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups milk, if you want the casserole creamier add more milk
1/2 cup Progresso bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sauté’ diced red onion in butter, drain and cool.

In large bowl, stir together 2 ½ cups of cheddar cheese, ½ cup sour cream, and butter. When cool, add onions to the cheese combination, stir. Add milk and mix together. Butter 9×13 baking dish. Set aside.

Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Salt the boiling water.  Stir in pasta and boil 10-12 minutes, stirring recurrently until “al dente”.  Drain well and pour in large bowl of cheese combination. Stir until fully combined.

Place macaroni combination in the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle on top ½ cup of cheddar cheese parsley, salt/pepper, and bread crumbs. Cover and bake for approximately 45 to 50 minutes.

Chinese Shrimp with Broccoli

Ingredients:
2lbs shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 large head broccoli (sliced into florets)
Sauce-
2/3 cup soy sauce
½ cup chicken broth
1/3 cup rice wine
3 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (minced)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup water

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl combine soy sauce, chicken broth, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper. Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of water.

Step 2: Heat a wok over medium high. Add vegetable oil. Add broccoli and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until it has reached your desired tenderness. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little more oil to the wok if needed. Add garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add shrimp and stir fry for 1 minute.

Step 3: Add sauce mixture to the wok and bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute. Add the cornstarch and water mixture and cook while stirring until the sauce thickens. At this point the shrimp should have turned pink and be fully cooked. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp. Add broccoli florets back into the wok, mix well. Remove from heat and serve.

(Makes 4 Servings)

Eggy Bread

3 slices bread
2 eggs
a splash of milk
a knob of butter


Crack the eggs into a shallow dish that a slice of the bread will fit into. I use a rectangular tupperware container. Add a splash of milk, and whisk with a fork until evenly mixed. Drop in a slice of bread and then turn to coat both sides in egg. Repeat with the other two slices of bread. Leave them to sit in the egg for a minute, while you get the fry pan ready. I just stack them up on top of one another.

Warm a large fry pan with a knob of butter. When the butter is foaming, add the slices of bread so that they’re all flat on the pan. If there’s a little bit of egg left in the container, carefully pour it on top of the slices of bread. Fry until nice and golden and then flip and fry the other side. 

I like to eat this plain or with a little lemon and sugar on top, like a pancake. I cut it into fingers for Roman to eat. Make sure it’s cool enough for your baby before handing it over. 

Honeyed 5-Spice Wings with Creamy Cilantro Dip

For the wings:

Mulberry Soda

If mulberries aren’t available where you live, I’m sure any other berry would be just fine in it’s place. 
Makes approx 3 cups syrup

6 cups mulberries
2 cups (500ml) filtered water
The peeled zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup (125ml) honey (or 2/3 cup raw sugar), or to taste
The juice of 1 lemon
Soda or sparkling mineral water, to serve
Ice and fresh mint leaves, to serve, optional

Place berries, water and zest into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, discard lemon peel, then using a stick blender or food processor blend until smooth. Pass mixture through a fine sieve set over a clean saucepan and discard solids. Add honey and return to heat, simmer 5 minutes, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Cool and store in the fridge until needed.
To serve pour a little syrup into each glass, add ice and mint leaves and top up with soda or sparkling mineral water.

Asian Skirt Steak Over Matchstick Veggies

Serves: 4

Ingredients
Steak

• 1 lb skirt or flank steak
• 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• Pepper

Veggies

• 1 bell pepper, julienned and cut into matchsticks
• 6 scallions, cut into matchsticks
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Method

1. For the steak marinade, mix soy sauce and sesame oil. Place steak in bowl and toss to coat. Season with black pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, mix the matchstick-cut vegetables with the remaining ingredients.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, cook steak for 7 minutes on one side, don’t move the steak for the first 2 minutes to get a good sear. Flip and cook another 5-7 until steak reaches desired doneness. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
4. In the same skillet, lower heat to medium-low and wipe the pan with a paper towel. Add the matchstick veggies and saute for 2-3 minutes.
5. To plate, place the veggies on the bottom and sliced steak over them. Garnish with sesame seeds.