Cheesy Rice with Chicken and Green Beans

This is easy comfort food, born of leftovers. Feel free to mix it up with other vegetables - cooked broccoli, cauliflower, or summer squash would be obvious substitutes for the green beans. You can, of course, make rice and chicken specifically for this dish if you like. It lends itself to having the ingredients made ahead.

2 Tbsp butter
2 large shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
6-7 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups chicken broth
3-4 cups cooked chicken
3-4 cups cooked green beans in 1-inch lengths
4 ounces shredded cheddar, or to taste

Melt the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Add the shallot or onion and saute over medium high heat for a couple minutes. Add the rice and the chicken broth. Mix well to thoroughly combine and moisten the rice. Reduce heat to low-medium and cover the pan. Cook until the liquid is largely absorbed and the rice is quite tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the rice has absorbed most of the broth, stir in the chicken and green beans and continue to cook until heated through. Add the cheddar. You can sprinkle it over the top and let it melt or stir it in.

Serves about 6.

Cheesy Summer Squash with Bacon

This was an inspired variation on my standard Cheesy Summer Squash Saute on a night when I had lots of squash, and an open package of bacon, but no basil on hand. The addition of bacon, along with the cheese, makes this substantial enough to serve as a main dish if you like.

4-6 ounces uncooked bacon, chopped small
1 large onion, sliced
3-4 large summer squashes or zucchinis, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (or half or quarter rounds)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Cook the bacon most of the way in a large skillet. Pour off excess fat if there is a lot, leaving a generous amount for sauteing the onions and squash.

Add the onions and squash to the pan and saute over high heat for a few minutes, until they begin to brown on the bottom, then lower the heat to medium and saute, stirring periodically, until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pan from heat and top with cheese. Cover until the cheese melts. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6.

Mac & Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes and Basil

It's a whole new level of macaroni and cheese. Here roasted tomatoes and onions are added to the classic along with a handful of chopped fresh basil. Yum! Cherry tomatoes work nicely here; leave them whole if small or slice in half if large.

1 large red onion, sliced or coarsely chopped
2 lbs tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk (room temperature is best)
8 oz. shredded cheddar
1 lb cut pasta (shells are good)
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the onion and tomatoes in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast for about 25 minutes, until tender and rich in flavor. Remove from the oven.

While the vegetables roast, make the sauce. Start by making a classic white sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan or deep skillet, then stir in the flour. Keeping the heat very low, whisk it constantly as it browns and thickens, bubbling. Slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time, over low heat. Whisk constantly until the sauce thickens a bit, then raise the heat to medium until the sauce reaches a simmer. Turn the heat down again at that point and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently (you can switch to a spoon for this).

While the white sauce cooks, boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water.

After the sauce has simmered for its 10 minutes, remove it from the heat and stir in the cheese, a handful or so at a time, until it melts. Stir in the vegetables and the basil. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pot. Pour the sauce over it and stir to coat evenly. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6.

Mac & Cheese with Hot Dogs

While this is definitely not my usual fare, it is the sort of dish that children gobble down and adults find more comfort in than they might care to admit. It was brought about, here in our house, because we bought some old-fashioned pork hot dogs from Bostrom Farm some weeks ago on a whim. We figured we might grill them, or that our two-year-old might work his way through them. But grilling season is over, and they are not as convenient for the toddler as anticipated--being the old-fashioned kind, they came not just frozen but also uncooked. So we cooked up several and I made old-fashioned macaroni (well, actually shells, if you really want to know) and cheese. I prefer this type of mac and cheese just tossed with the cheese sauce rather than baked, but you can certainly top it with bread crumbs and stick it in the oven if you want to. I made this with mostly sharp cheddar and a small amount of Dutch Gold (Edam) from Chase Hill Farm, but you can use other cheeses as well. A mix is nice.

3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk (room temperature is best)
8 oz. shredded cheese
3/4 lb pasta (shells or elbows are ideal)
4-5 old-fashioned pork hot dogs, cooked and sliced in rounds

Start by making a classic white sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan or deep skillet, then stir in the flour. Whisk it constantly as it browns and thickens, bubbling. Slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time, over low heat. Whisk constantly until the sauce thickens a bit, then raise the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently (you can switch to a spoon at this point).

While the white sauce cooks, boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water.

After the sauce has simmered for its 10 minutes, remove it from the heat and stir in the cheese, a handful or so at a time, until it melts.

When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pot. Pour the cheese sauce over it, then stir in the sliced hot dogs. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6.

Mmm...Camembert

My happiest discovery at the farmers market this week was the Camembert cheese on offer from Chase Hill Farm. This has been one of my husband's favorite cheeses since he spent a year in Normandy as a teenager, and it has grown on me as well. We bought some and it did not disappoint! Excellent flavor, and a lovely, gooey interior. This cheese is also available at Green Fields Market.

If you're not familiar with Camembert, it looks a lot like Brie but has a stronger flavor. Try it on crackers or bread. It is also good with sauteed greens on pizza or in a crepe.

Making Ricotta

Having made mozzarella last weekend, I thought I should try my hand and ricotta this weekend. It's actually quite a bit easier than the mozzarella--just a matter of adding citric acid to milk, heating it pretty hot, then spooning out the separated curds. I didn't use raw milk this time, just regular whole milk from Mapleline Farms, but it came out delicious. Now I am feeling inspired to order some more cultures and try out some other relatively easy cheeses, and also yogurt.

Learning to Make Cheese

I spent all day Saturday at Ricki Carroll's house in Ashfield attending a beginner's cheesemaking class. If you've read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, you know who Ricki is. If you haven't, suffice it to say she's a celebrity in the artisan cheese world who has been teaching cheesemaking since the 1970s. Ricki's business has quadrupled or so since Barbara Kingsolver's book came out, so it's good thing my husband registered me for this class back before Christmas (it was a Christmas present)--they fill up quickly and there are waiting lists.

So I spent the day with about 40 other people learning the process to make many different soft cheeses (fromage blanc, queso blanco, creme fraiche, yogurt (not really a cheese, but included anyway), etc), mozzarella, ricotta, and farmhouse cheddar. I went home exhausted and with my brain feeling overstuffed, but excited to give it a try myself. I bought her mozzarella and ricotta kit, along with a gallon of raw milk from Sidehill Farm (also in Ashfield). In the class we worked with both raw milk and regular pasteurized whole milk from the grocery store (not ultra-pasteurized, though--it doesn't work for cheese).

This morning I made my first attempt at mozzarella, and although it was not quite as exquisite as the example made in class, it wasn't half bad. I'm looking forward to experimenting with other cultures and cheeses and working on the mozzarella some more. I should note that the techniques for the mozzarella, ricotta, and soft cheeses are all quite simple and you end up with the final product in anywhere from 30 minutes for the mozzarella to 18 hours or so for something like fromage blanc.

Making your own cheese from local milk is about as local as you can get your food to be, unless you own and milk the cow (or goat) yourself. But of course, here in the Pioneer Valley, it's entirely unnecessary unless you want to do it for the fun and the challenge, like me. After all, we have several excellent local dairies making truly wonderful cheese, and certainly much more interesting and sophisticated cheese than I am ever going to produce at home. But if you're interested in learning more about the cheesemaking classes, or ordering Ricki's book or other cheesemaking supplies, check out her website: www.cheesemaking.com.