Mac and Cheese dinner and Puppy Gone Wild

I made Macaroni and Cheese the other day. Yesterday, the puppy was begging for some and after having his taste of it he had a wild child moment of excitement and I caught this video clip with my Nikon Coolpix 4300. I'm not sure if it was a cheesy high or just the fact that he totally loves the tub. But he is the bounciest little guy and he loves water. So the tub is the best game in town for him.

Anyhow, I made 2 batches of the Macaroni & Cheese, for my husband I used regular milk, butter and a combo of Mozarella and Muenster Cheese to make the sauce. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic and chives. And I baked it in the oven at 370 degrees for 20 minutes. A normal but very creamy recipe.

For me though, I improvised and I have to say, it is the bomb. Recipe to follow...

Recipe for Baked Beans

Ok, so I didn't get to make my Mac n' Cheese yesterday. Opened cabinet to find there was no pasta left to make it with. And since cheese sauce without the pasta is just Cheese I didn't cook. But this morning I woke up craving Baked Beans the way Aunt P used to make them for me.

Now I know, beans are on my allergy list since they do have tryptophan, but I really crave them sometimes. And besides, Richard loves them. So I bought 3 cans of red beans a few weeks ago just for this purpose. I carefully rinsed them and set to drain. Then I cut up a whole vidalia onion, and 3 cloves of garlic added them with a diced up hunk of salt pork and 1 oz of goat butter in a cast iron pot. I cooked this for several minutes until the onions had gotten lightly browned and then I dumped the beans in.

I stirred this up for a bit before adding 1/4 cup of honey, 1 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 3 tbsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 tbsp cloves, 2 tbsp paparika, 1 tbsp mustard powder, 1 small can of tomato paste and stirred well. I also added 1/2 can of crushed pineapple drained. When this reaches a slow boil I turned the heat down to low and let it simmer covered for 3 hours at least.

These are the best beans ever, sweet and lightly spicy with a delightful sauce. The salt pork seasons them incredibly well.

Tonight I will also make Corned Beef and Cabbage along with boiled potatoes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Yes, the luck of the Irish I hope will be with me and I pray it will be with all of you too.

I will give you my recipes tonight for the good Irish dinner.

A Quick where to Find!

Like I said, I have to get creative to make dishes I can eat that still taste great. I love figuring out how to make something that tastes as good or better than the original dish and that I can safely eat. My favorite is using a cheese called "Manouri" which is a Greek Sheep Milk Cheese.

"Manouri is a traditional ancient Greek cheese that is made from the whey of feta, blended with sheep's milk cream. In addition to being used in the traditional Greek delicacy spanakopita, this rindless log-shaped cheese is an exceptionally delicious eating cheese. With a moist, soft texture, Manouri is at first soft and buttery, followed by a uniquely lemony aftertaste.
Made from pasteurized sheep's milk."

I get a laugh every time I say the name of this cheese cause face it, it's not flattering and sounds like something you use to fertilize your garden. But in reality, it is a nice, slightly dry cream cheese that is very delectable in flavor. I get this at a Russian / International Food store on Gaskins Road in the West End of Richmond. There are actually two locations there now, one in a white building just across from the cemetary on Gaskins (Near corner of Patterson Road). The other is owned by a very sweet younger Polish couple in Gayton Crossing near the Good Food's Health Food Store.

At Good Food's I get Goat Butter, and several very nice Goat Cheeses. A Cheddar and Jack Cheese with Sun dried tomates. Very flavorful. They are a great location for exotic honey and a sweetener that I like to use in tea made from the Honey Leaf Stevia plant. It's a natural sweetener that is 40x's sweeter than sugar. It can be used for baking and we will get into that later.

UPDATE: I have found this in St. Petersburg at Spiro's Restaurant and Deli, 6801 Gulfport Blvd S, South Pasadena, FL 33707 (727) 384-0750. It has gone up a bit in price over the years, but what hasn't right? It is now just over $8 per pound. But well worth it. They also have several other varieties of Sheep and Goat milk cheeses as well as a gorgeous deli and fresh produce market. So for Florida friends, you have choices.

Online, I have found one fairly good source for interesting cheeses from all over the world as well as other exotic foods. They have a store front on Amazon.com as well as their own site. The store is called IGourmet.com. I get sheep ricotta and other specialty cheeses from them. And if you can find it, there are some great exotic sea salts that are lower in sodium but great for flavor. My favorite is pink salt from Hawaii. I heard about it on one of the Food Network shows that I watch, East Meets West was the name of the show.

I will be making my Macaroni and Cheese tonight. So that will be the first recipe I post here. Hope you enjoy!
Rose

Rose's Kitchen Creations, The Beginning!

Hi, I started reading the "Julie/Julia Project" and thought, "I can totally relate with her". Then I thought, "Why don't I do something like that."

 January 4th, 2008 

So I gave it a bit of thought and realized, I may love to cook and I have tons of cookbooks. But with my food allergies, I could never follow the recipes verbatim, or even close to it. I would have to make revisions. Next I realized I have been doing this all along for years. I read a recipe, and I like how it sounds, then I carefully revise with ingredients that won't make me sick. I have come up with lots of tasty meals this way.

So here I decided to create my blog using lots of recipes from different cookbooks. The twist is, I am going to make them my way and post each revised recipe for those who also share my allergy problems. Things like homemade Macaroni and Cheese made with Sheep & Goat Cheeses for the lactose intolerant people. And my favorite is my Cheesecakes with a Greek Sheep Milk Cream Cheese called "Manouri".

Along with these revisions, I will give you links to places you can find these substitute ingredients. And for people in the local area (Richmond, VA) I will give you locations I go to buy some of my ingredients. Such as the Manouri, I can get this at several Russian Deli's / International Food Stores in the area. One is in Gayton Crossing near Good Foods. And at Good Foods I can find a really great Goat Milk Butter. It's wonderful for making sauces. And at Kroger you can get not just regular Goat Milk but a very nice 1% too. You can find it in the health food section. If your Kroger doesn't carry it, ask them to. They can get it for you.

Ok, so that is my proposal for a site. Every night I will come up with a new revised recipe. I will post pictures, the complete recipe and where to find the special ingredients used in them. I will have recipes for people with Lactose Intollerance, Gluten and Wheat Allergies and like me, allergies to Tryptophan. For those who don't know, Trypto is what makes you sleepy after a Turkey dinner or a warm glass of milk. It is actually in quite a few foods and for me it makes me terribly miserable.

If you have a special allergy like to peanuts or something, let me know I will see what I can come up with for tasty alternatives for you too. Let me know if it is just peanuts or all nuts.

Thanks and good luck everyone!