Chicken and Sausage, ala New Orleans knockoffs

The lady across the street made this Thursday, and since there are only two of them she sent the extra over here. I don't know WHAT makes this super-simple recipe so good...but it is lovely. We cooked a loaf of the artisan bread and made a salad with smoky bacon bits...lovely. Just luhvly.

Ms Jean's Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

1 POUND OF SMOKED SAUSAGE CUT INTO 1/4 INCH SLICES ( I USED HILLSHIRE FARMS)
2 RIBS OF CELERY, CHOPPED
1 MED ONION, CHOPPED
1 MED GREEN BELL PEPPER, CHOPPED
THREE AND A HALF OR FOUR CUPS COOKED CHICKEN
1 32-OZ CONTAINER CHICKEN BROTH
1-1/4 CUPS UNCOOKED LONG GRAIN RICE
1 TBSP CAJUN SEASONING

COOK SAUSAGE IN DUTCH OVEN OR REALLY LARGE SKILLET ABOUT THREE MINUTES, ADD CELERY, ONION AND BELL PEPPER AND COOK 6 TO 8 MIN OR UNTIL TENDER. STIR IN CHOPPED CHICKEN, RICE AND CAJUN SEASONING. BRING TO A BOIL. COVER, REDUCE HEAT AND COOK ABOUT 45 MINUTES OR UNTIL RICE IS DONE AND LIQUID IS ABSORBED. REMOVE FROM HEAT AND LET STAND 10 TO 15 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING.

Creamy Mac 'n Cheese

I confess...I like the stuff in the blue box. Happy-time comfort food...courtesy of Kraft. I'm in. However, New Year's Day I had a baked mac 'n cheese that was honestly good...it was creamy. People always SAY their M&C is creamy but it's NOT. It's dry and tough and has too much pasta. This stuff, on the other hand, was so good that I had to get the recipe for The Not Nice Kid, who had more than one serving.

Mary's Creamy Mac 'n Cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups milk
2 10-oz blocks sharp Cheddar, shredded and divided
1 10-oz block extra-sharp Cheddar, shredded
16 ounces corkscrew pasta, cooked al dente

Melt butter, whisk in flour until smooth and cook for two minutes, whisking constantly. Stir in salt, peppers and garlic. Gradually whisk in half-and-half and milk and cook, whisking constantly, 8-10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in half of sharp Cheddar. Stir in extra-sharp Cheddar and mix until smooth. Remove from heat. Combine pasta and cheese and pour into a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining Cheddar. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. (Instead of the granulated garlic, I mixed a clove of roasted garlic, mashed to a paste, in with the cheese sauce. Yum-yum.) When I protested that cheese doesn't COME in 10-oz blocks but in EIGHT ounce blocks it was pointed out that KRAFT comes in 10-oz blocks. So I'm guessing this started out as a Kraft recipe. Whatever...it is REALLY good.

Cheese Straws

I've probably already done this but you need to hear it again. Because Cheese Straws are really important in the Grand Scheme of Things. And in TGSofT, you need to get it right.

Center Star/Neiman Marcus Cheese Straws
(Those are NOT mutually exclusive terms.)

1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
2 sticks butter, room temp
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Cayenne pepper
3 cups all-purpose flour

Buy your cheese in blocks and grate it. Do NOT buy grated cheese in bags; I don't think that stuff is really cheese. It's easiest to grate the cheese cold into the bowl, and then let it come to room temperature. Add the butter, salt, baking powder and cayenne. For public consumption, I use one teaspoon cayenne; for The Inmates here, I use a tablespoon. Mix all this together with your dough hooks until well blended. Add three cups flour (don't use King Arthur or other high gluten flour...White Lily or another soft Southern winter wheat is best) and mix with the dough hooks JUST until the mixture starts to lose its crumbly texture. You need a cookie press, with a star extractor disk...usually there are two star disks and you'll need the larger one. Pack the cheese dough into the cookie press and pipe long straws onto ungreased cookie sheets...you should have two large baking sheets of straws. Have oven racks in the two center positions in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Swap the sheets, moving the top to the bottom and the bottom sheet to the top rack, and bake an additional ten minutes. Swap sheets again and bake five minutes, or until just beginning to lightly brown...usually on the bottom. Remove from the oven and cut across the pan, forming roughly three-inch straws. Lift onto cooling racks and let cool completely. Store (if they last long enough) in a paper bag or loosely covered container.

My friend, Bobby, makes wonderful cheese straws and he has a suggestion. He uses one stick butter and one stick margarine...preferably that "baking" margarine they came out with last year. If you are making cheese straws and the dough gets warm, the cheese straws will spread. So either make sure the dough is cool, or use half butter and half margarine.