the thrifty crafter

As a child, my husband would run out of the house and down the street, yelling and waving his arms around frantically in protest anytime his mother would attempt to make him eat cauliflower for dinner.  I, on the other hand, love the cruciferous vegetable in any form and am always looking for innovative ways to introduce this fiber-packed little cabbage into our meals.

Now if there is one thing that my husband loves and has the potential to make anything better, its cheese.  So when I saw Rachael Ray’s recipe for a smoked gouda mac n’ cheese with cauliflower in it, I knew I finally had a shot of showing him just how lovely this little white wonder can be.

The sweetness of the cooked cauliflower cuts the smokiness of the gouda and the hint of heat from the cayenne really makes this dish a winner.  I lightened up the original version by using whole grain pasta, nonfat milk and a reduced fat smoked gouda (Trader Joe’s), then baked it til bubbling after adding a crunchy panko topping.  Get ready for a tasty surprise ladies, your hubbies might actually love this one – mine did!

Ingredients:

• Coarse salt
• 1/2 pound whole grain penne
• 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat smoked Gouda
• 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Freshly ground black pepper
• small pat of butter
• 1/3 c panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the cauliflower and cook for 3 minutes more or until pasta is cooked al dente and the florets are just tender. Drain well and place in casserole dish.

While the pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium-low heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil and heat with the butter until it melts. Add the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to sweat them out and turn the juices sweet. Raise the heat a bit, then whisk in the flour, cayenne, and paprika. Whisk together until the roux bubbles up, then cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens nicely, about 5 minutes.

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it. Note: reduced fat cheese doesn’t melt as well, so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t completely melt down.  Stir in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over the cauliflower and cooked pasta in the casserole dish and toss to combine.

Melt a pat of butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Add panko crumbs to the butter and toss to combine.  Sprinkle over the top of your mac n’ cheese and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees until sauce bubbles and panko crust is golden brown.  Serve (and try not to eat the entire casserole dish in one night!).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, light sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it’s completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the icing, beat butter in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until fluffy.  Sift 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time into bowl and mix completely before next additions. Add the milk 1 tbsp at a time to achieved desired thickness. Mix in vanilla and cinnamon until well combined.  Pipe onto your cooled cupcakes and garnish with chocolate curls (use a vegetable peeler to shave chocolate bar).

I found the grogeous photo above while perusing the web for Cinco de Mayo decorative inspiration – doesn’t the vibrant mix of colors just make you want to grab a margarita and host a festive get together?  Fiesta time is just around the corner, so stop by your nearest dollar store for some brightly colored crepe paper streamers and get busy creating these easy and colorful flowers. I used single colored rosettes to create a twine-strung garland and dual-colored flowers to create festive napkin rings for setting the table.

Napkin Rings

Here’s what you need:

• multiple colors of brightly colored crepe paper streamers
• needle & scissors
• dental floss
• floral tape
• floral wire
• plain napkin rings (mine are green glass and are from my decorating stash – a clearance find at Ross)

Here’s what you do:

1. Take two colors of streamer and pinch together at bottom.  Using your free hand, feed more streamer to the  pinched end, creating the center of your rosette.
2. Use needle and floss to secure first few folds.
3. Continue adding streamer around the base and use floss to secure after every few additions.

   

4. When flower is the size you want, tie off floss and snip ends.
5. Bend the end of your floral wire over a few times to create a decorative knot.

   

6. Thread the floral wire through the center of the flower, inserting from the top.

   

7. Wrap floral tape around base of flower to secure to wire.
8. Place flower in desired position on napkin ring and wrap wire around to secure.

Rosette Garland

Here’s what you need:

• multiple colors of brightly colored crepe paper streamers
• needle & scissors
• dental floss
• jute twine or some other type of string/yarn/ribbon

Here’s what you do:

1. Using the same technique as above, bunch together one edge of a single streamer to create the center of your flower.
2. Knot end of floss and thread through end to secure.  Add more folds to the pinched edge and secure with floss.  Repeat until flower is the desired size.
3. Tie off end, leaving a 1 1/2 inch tail of floss.
4. Tie rosettes onto jute twine with equal spacing (with my hand outstretched, I used the length from the tip of my index finger to the tip of my thumb for spacing – about 6 1/2 inches)
5. Hang and admire your handiwork!

Cost: $8 for both projects, with plenty of left over streamers for another use!

Tips: Brown floral tape and coordinating brown cloth covered wire were purchased at Joann’s for $4.  Streamers were purchased at the 99 cent store for a buck per color.  You could also use thread to secure your rosettes, but I prefer the strength of floss, as well as the fact that it doesn’t tear the delicate crepe paper.