Sounds Good #7 Homemade Mac 'N' Cheese

Tired of Kraft Mac 'N' Cheese?? Make your own! This recipe certainly takes longer and more patience but ohhhh the taste is awesome!

You need to do several things for this recipe: 1) Make a Roux, Cook Pasta, and Make Béchamel Sauce. 

1) Make a Roux: Equal parts flour and clarified butter (melt butter and pour through a strainer to remove milk solids) 2 Tablespoons clarified butter and 2 Tablespoons of flour. Heat butter and mix in flour until it thickens into a paste make sure not to burn by using a medium heat. 

2) Start a pot of salted water and boil. Add enough pasta when water is boiling for quantity of people going to eat. Cook pasta until done (au Dente) 

3) Make Béchamel Sauce: To make about a quart (liter) of béchamel saute a few ounces of small cut onions in a saute pan until the onion becomes translucent. Add a pint (16 ounces) of milk and a pint of heavy cream to the pan and bring to a low simmer (not a rolling boil or simmer) just barely bubbling. Allow the liquid to simmer for about 20 minutes occasionally whisking it to make sure it doesn't scald. After it has simmered mix in roux and whisk until roux dissolves and mixture visibly begins to thicken careful not to boil, burn or scald. IF mixture becomes TOO THICK add more milk in small amounts until it thins out slightly. 

4) Turn Béchamel into a Mornay sauce by adding cheese. If you want your Mac 'N' Cheese to be the typical Kraft yellow then use all yellow cheese. If you want your dish to be AWESOME mix small amounts of 4 to 7 different cheeses. I went and bought a blend from my local grocery store and added some cheddar at the end so our had 7 kinds. OHHH NELLY IT WAS GOOD!  

Pour pasta into cooking pan after it has been drained. Pour Mornay over pasta into pan and then pour bread crumbs over mixture, Panko Bread crumbs work best. Bake in oven at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until bread crumbs start to brown. Serve it up with a protein such as beef pieces or shredded chicken. 

Sounds Good #6 Feijoada Burritos

This recipe is my own design and makes amazing black bean burritos. 

You need a pressure cooker to make this recipe

1/2# of black beans

1/2# of beef, cut in very small pieces. 

1/2# of bacon

Water: Cover beans with water 2 fingers lengths above beans. 

3 bay leaves

Garlic: about a teaspoon of minced garlic

1/4# pork cut in small pieces

4 large Tortillas (preferable Mission, or any other authentic tortillas)

1 Cup of cooked rice

1 Cup of shredded cheese of your choice (Jack, Cheddar, Mozzarella or all 3)

Options to vary: 

1) 4 ounces of a red wine (Cab Sauv, Pinot Noir, or Merlot if nothing else available)

2) Use less beef and add a Bouillon beef cube

Load pressure cooker with beans, beef, pork, water, garlic, bay leaves, and add in variations such as wine or Bouillon. Hold out bacon until end. 

Time on this recipe largely depends on your personal pressure cooker model. Most American cookers can take several hours anywhere from 2 to 8. My best advice in using an American cooker is to cook beans until they become very soft and not chewy. Also when the water they are cooked in starts to turn grey/black and thickens into a salty liquid it is done. I would not recommend salting this recipe at the beginning. Salt and pepper are best added when the beans are done cooking and are used more to season the liquid. 

When feijoada is done remove bay leaves and set on a low simmer on stove or on a low heat in the pressure cooker. Use a large saute pan to cook bacon. Cut bacon in small pieces cook on a medium/high heat to remove most of the fat. Keep fat and cook bacon separate and remove bacon to bowl with several paper napkins or paper towels to absorb any extra fat. When bacon is dry mix into the feijoada. By cooking bacon separate you can remove a large portion of the fat in this recipe. 

Lay out tortilla and place a spoonful of cooked rice down on tortilla. Use a slotted spoon or slotted ladle to remove enough feijoada (but not much or any of the liquid) to cover the rice. Cover beens in cheese and roll up burrito in a way that it creates an envelope to hold your delicious burrito! 

Beef Tenderloin how to cut Filet Mignon Part 2

Clean up flap of fat 
Remove silver skin carefully from heel to tip of the boning knife. 
Be careful not to cut away meat. 
Clean loin of beef
Chain meat. Some people say the time it takes to clean and separate silver skin and fat from meat takes to long and isn't worth it but taking a few extra minutes and being careful can pay off in the long run and give you back a lot of meat to use for stir fry, fajitas, or even burritos. 

Look at all that meat!!!! Well worth the extra 10 minutes it took to clean the chain. 

Beef Tenderloin How to cut Filet Mignon! Part 1

Remove Tenderloin from plastic carefully not to spill blood.
Pat down tenderloin to remove access blood. 
Remove and save chain from main part of loin. 
Set chain aside and remove flap from loin or not if you desire a larger cut of filet. 
Remove fat and bone spurs from bottom of loin, clean up any fat on the bottom. 

Sounds Good #5:Orange Blossom Vinaigrette

This is a recipe I got from a chef in Charleston, SC when I was on internship. 

This is a large recipe it makes 2 quarts of vin.

1 Small red pepper

1 Small green pepper

1 Small yellow pepper

2 oz red onion

1/4 bunch of cilantro

1/2 quart of honey

2 quarts of blended oil

1 Cup of Rice wine vin

1/4 Cup dijon mustard

1/2 Cup Whole Grain mustard

1/2 teaspoon Cumin

1/2 Tablespoon Chili Pepper

1/2 Tablespoon Salt

1/2 Tablespoon Pepper

Blend everything together in a Cuisinart or a Blender if necessary.