Breaded Shrimp with Veggies

Food costs are high, these days … (“How high is high?” asked the customer of the cash cow. “Very high!” said the cash cow, grinning …) 

Let’s start again: With food costs high, many of us have been watching our pennies. But oh-h-h-h, I’m a sneaky one! I’ve had a dozen breaded shrimp in my freezer for weeks. Buying them on sale, I was waiting for the moment when I could showcase them as a lovely (but inexpensive) dinner.  If I remember correctly, the package was $8-to-$10.

I didn’t want to use these as an appetizer. Appys are what you stuff into your face, from the lips to the hips. But Ron ... He’ll eat anything - anything - served with a bit of flair. He didn’t know these breaded shrimp were packaged appys: He thought I’d made them myself.

Which is why I excavated the contents of the fridge to dig up some carrots from 1997, a few Brussels sprouts, and a chunk of squash. A day or two before, with the shrimp on my mind, I made some Tartar Sauce and Seafood Cocktail Sauce. 

So … Toasting a few slivered almonds in the toaster oven, and then baking the shrimp in the same place (follow the directions on the package, dearies), I steamed the squash and slivered the sprouts, lightly salting and sautéing each in a skillet coated with olive oil on medium-high.  

Finding two rectangular serving plates, I arranged a ribbon of each sauce to the left, the shrimp at the center, and the almond-toasted veggies to the right. This produced to meals, with plenty of sauce left over. Everything looked so attractive that Ron stuffed his face, from which the calories will never migrate to his hips. This is the cross we women bear. Such is life.

Grandpa’s Secret Macaroni and Cheese

Be still, my beating heart! Himself has given up the secret recipe he has clutched to his bosom for 28 years, since he first created it for his younger daughter’s first-grade class. It was an instant hit, and has been a family favorite ever since. Friends and family have tried without success to pry this recipe from him, but I’m his wife, and I haf vays!  

Got the recipe! Promised him I wouldn’t tell a soul! Liar, liar, pants on fire, here it is! The secret ingredient is Worcestershire sauce - and plenty of it! The correct way to pronounce that lovely word is “Woos-ter” - but some folks disagree.

Grandpa’s Secret Macaroni and Cheese:

4 c. (1 L) dry macaroni

2 tsp. (10 mL) canola or olive oil

4 c. (1 L) milk

¼ c. (60 mL) butter or margarine

¼ c. (60 mL) all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper, to taste

7 tbsp.(105 mL) Worcestershire sauce
5 tbsp. (75 mL) ballpark mustard

1 lb. (454 g) pkg. grated aged cheddar

Two pieces dry toast, crumbled 

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water and a little oil to a rolling boil. Add macaroni, stirring well to keep pasta from sticking to bottom of pot.  Cook about 12 minutes. Drain cooked macaroni, returning to pot. Melt butter in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat. Add flour, stirring about 30 sec. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Remove from heat, adding half the grated cheddar cheese and stirring until melted. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni, combining well. 

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Transfer cooked, sauced macaroni to large, greased baking dish. Spread half of remaining cheddar evenly over macaroni. Top macaroni and cheese with crumbed toast. Sprinkle remaining cheddar over bread crumbs. Bake 20 min.

Assemble your ingredients - milk
and cheese, too!

Boil salted water. Add macaroni.
Cook al dente - just until tender.

Cheese sauce: Combine melted butter with flour.

Gradually add milk, whisking well.

Whisk! Whisk! Whisk! as the macaroni simmers.

Whoo hoo! Bring on the mustard for some zip!

Add Worcestershire sauce - lots!

Remove from heat: Stir in half of cheese until melted.

Pour sauce over well-drained macaroni: Mix well.

Transfer to greased baking dish.

Sprinkle with half remaining cheese.

Crumble cubed toast (or croutons).

Sprinkle crumbs over entire dish.

Top with remaining cheese. Into the oven this goes!

Potatoes au Gratin

“Au gratin” is a French term meaning “sprinkled with breadcrumbs, grated cheese, or both.” Even if you’re wildly in love with cheese, there’s plenty to be said for “both.”

The first time I made this yummy recipe, I used more cheese than called for - and learned a lesson not to do that again! Lots of cheese means lots of fat: What didn’t settle on my hips puddled at the base of the casserole dish. The lesson? Buy the Arnold Schwarzenegger of cheeses - a robust, muscular Cheddar - and you won’t need to assume “more” is “better.” 

Bread crumbs help sop up the fat, boosting the flavor of this dish, I think. It’s true, crumbs add extra calories, but with a dish already as calorific as Potatoes au Gratin, it’s not a big deal (unless you have issues with gluten). I usually keep a small container of soft bread cubes in the freezer, but dry bread crumbs serve this dish even better. So here we go!

Potatoes au Gratin:

4 Russet potatoes, rinsed, scrubbed, unpeeled, in 1/4-in. (0.6 cm) slices 

1 medium onion, sliced into quartered rings

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (for potatoes)

3 tbsp. (45 mL) butter or margarine

3 tbsp. (45 mL) all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. (1 mL) salt (for sauce)

1-1/2 c. (375 mL) milk 

1-1/2 c. (375 mL) aged Cheddar, grated

1/4 c. (60 mL) dry bread crumbs

Paprika, as garnish

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Spray-grease a 9x13 in. (23x33 cm) casserole dish. Line base of dish with half potatoes. Season lightly. Cover with onions and remaining potatoes. Season lightly, again. 

In medium skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter or margarine. In small bowl, combine flour and salt before whisking into fat. The French term for this is a roux - the basis of the thickening agent for soups, sauces, gravies, and stews. 

To this roux, slowly add milk, whisking until mixture thickens. 

 

Turn heat under skillet off, adding cheese to hot mixture all at once. Using wooden spoon or silicone spatula, stir continuously until cheese is fully melted. 

Pour cheese mixture over and around potatoes, ensuring sides and corners aren’t forgotten. Sprinkle with crumbs. Cover casserole tightly with foil. Bake 90 min. Garnish with a few shakes of paprika. Serves 6.