Tilapia in a Pouch

I have been eating a lot of fish lately. Its tasty, good for you, quick...what else can a college student ask for (other than cheap)! Anyway, I usually just season the fish however I want it and then cook it in a skillet on the stove for a few minutes each side. Last time I wanted to try and bake it! The whole oven seemed like a waste for one tiny piece of fish, so I baked it in my little toaster oven...it turned out great!

What You'll Need:

• Tilapia filet
• olive oil to drizzle
• salt/pepper
• garlic
• onion
• mushrooms
• red peppers
• lemon slices

Now, this is just the way that I did it... you can use any combination of spices and vegetables you want in this. You could do it Asian style with some water chestnuts, soy sauce, bamboo chutes, and bok choy... Mexican style with tomatoes, peppers, onion, jalapeño, and taco seasoning... Italian style with fresh basil and lemon etc... really, the possibilities are endless.

All you have to do is sliver up the vegetables, chop your garlic, slice your lemon, season your fish, wrap it up in a foil pouch, and bake it at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the fish is flaky. The worst part about baked fish is usually the tendency to dry it out. When it is wrapped up in the pouch though, it holds in the steam and the fish is pretty hard to overcook.

Bleu Macaroni and Cheese

I first made this dish for Thanksgiving dinner 2 years ago. It was a minor disaster (equivalent to a small California earthquake)! I don't mean the flavors were a disaster, they were great, it was more of the proportions that were "off," to say the least.

Long story short: the recipe I followed said to use 2 cups of macaroni to serve 2 people. I quadrupled the recipe in order to serve it as a side dish at my big family Thanksgiving dinner. Does anyone know how much 8 cups of macaroni is once you cook it? It's probably enough to feed the entire population of Wyoming for about a week...

Needless to say that we had WAY to many noodles, not enough sauce, and nowhere to put it! However, I didn't realize the noodle sauce ratio would be off until after I mixed it all together and filled up 6 casserole dishes with the macaroni.

Conclusion: Flavor= fantastic; Proportions = disagreeable

ANYWAY: we figured that the recipe must have meant 2 cups cooked macaroni, not 2 cups uncooked macaroni... either way I still think that would have been too many noodles... I have fiddled with the proportions and come up with this: a good noodle sauce ratio that makes ONE casserole dish of gourmet macaroni and cheese.

What you'll need:
2 3/4 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)

3 cups whole milk

8 oz. Gruyere cheese

6 oz. Sharp White Cheddar

4 oz. Bleu cheese (I love a great Roquefort)

pinch of nutmeg

4 Tbl. butter

4 Tb. flour

salt and pepper to taste

breadcrumbs and dried basil for topping

Warm the milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. In the meantime use the butter and flour to make a roux (melt butter and sprinkle in flour and cook for a few minutes until lump free and doesn't smell like flour any more--should be golden colored). When milk is simmering, add the roux and thicken to a saucy texture. Add in the pepper and nutmeg for flavor (don't add salt until after you've added cheese... you probably won't need any).

When the sauce has thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the monstrous pile of cheese that you've convinced your family to grate up. Stir in until incorporated and smooth. Pour the sauce over cooked noodles in a baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and basil over the top before baking.

Bake for 30-45 min at 400 degrees or until the cheeses are bubbling and the top is crispy and browned. It wont need the full 45 minutes unless you refrigerate it overnight before cooking...could be done as soon as 20 min. Just watch for bubbly cheese!

How To: Spruce up Sauce from a Jar

Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many in the " How To" series! This firs t one is just an easy way to spruce up any pasta sauce from a jar. You don't have to make homemade sauce if you want great flavor, but you also don't have to settle for just the typical jar sauce either.

Here's what I like to do:

• Saute a few cloves of garlic and some sliced onions in olive oil
  
• Slice up Italian sausage and throw in with onions (ground sausage fine too... whatever you have)
• Pour in jar of sauce (vodka sauce is what I had... anything you like will do)
  
• Add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or a full flavored wine if you like-reduce the sauce to your liking
• Add in some chopped fresh basil or parsley. Wilt the herbs as you stir them in and add some freshly graded Parmesan Cheese
• Pour over your favorite noodle (whole wheat penne) and enjoy!