Mac + Cheese + Pie = ^_^

So I saw a recipe for a mac n cheese pie that I was going to make but then... I got too lazy to make a crust.  INSTEAD, we have this mini pie maker that works really well with those Pillsbury Grands biscuit dough in the can.  But I also wanted to make a spicy mac n cheese using pepper jack cheese so I researched a couple different recipes and came up with one of my own.  I couldn't use all pepper jack cheese or else the flavor would have been way too overpowering so I used half mild cheddar and half pepper jack.  I never really measure when I cook so these measurements may be a little off but here's about what I think I did:

Ingredients: 

Makes about 16

2 cups of small pasta, cooked al dente

4 oz Monterey pepper jack cheese, cubed

4 oz mild Cheddar cheese, cubed

1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon or to taste of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, tabasco, and garlic

1 cup half-and-half cream

1 tbsp butter

2 cans Pillsbury grands biscuits

Sorry if these measurements aren't really correct...you just have to taste and experiment!

This is the kind of pasta I used.  They're super small!

Just in cause you've been deprived of a childhood and don't know what I'm talking about, these are the type of buiscuts you should get.

What to do:

~ So first cook your pasta and be sure not to overcook it since it'll cook a little when mixing with the other stuff.  

~ Then on the stove cook on medium your butter, half-and-half cream, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, tabasco, and garlic.   

~ Then add both cheeses and let it melt until you get a nice creamy cheesy mixture.  

~ Then finally mix in your sour cream followed by the pasta very last.

~ So once you have your mac n cheese done, time to make the pies!

~ If you don't have a cute handy dandy pie maker, then well, TO BAD.  Should have thought about that before you made your mac n cheese!  Nah jus kidding I'm sure you can use little bowls or maybe even a muffin tin instead and just bake them.  But I dunno I've never tried it so don't blame me if it fails.  Anyways, grease whatever you're going to use and place one layer of the grands biscuit dough onto the bottom, fill it with a small spoonful of the mac n cheese and lay another layer of dough on the top of the filling then close the mini pie maker or if you're using something else, pop them in the oven.

~ The pie maker cooks it pretty fast so it only takes a few minutes; baking in the oven will take longer.  

~ Check them to make sure they are golden brown then pop the little pies out and you're done!

MarMOND!

WOW, it has been over a year since my last post and I am back due to the fact that I have yet another summer of NOTHING to do!  SO let's kick off 2011 with a REAL recipe like a REAL food blog!

After watching "Cupcake Wars" on the food network, I was instantly inspired to try making a marshmallow whipped frosting since one of the contestants made some type of marshmallow frosting.  So after this inspirational moment, I decided to make a Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cupcake with an Almond whipped cream topping.  What, Marshmallow?  Anyways, I have been in a homemade whipped cream mood lately and wasted many hours brainstorming a good combination.  BUT I also wanted to use greek yogurt in my cake since I've tried it in a healthy cheesecake I made once and it has a super rich and creamy flavor.  So finally I found a recipe for a Fresh Strawberry Yogurt CAKE and just modified the recipe to make it into fun cupcakes!

Cake:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz. plain or vanilla greek yogurt (I did half plain and half vanilla - vanilla is slightly sweeter)

12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced

1 cup powdered sugar

Frosting:

(I just made up my own recipe so I'm not sure about the measurements but I will give you an estimate - but really you should just add ingredients and keep tasting until it tastes good!)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup finely chopped almonds

What to do:

~ Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

~ Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt then set aside.

~ Blend together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time and stir in lemon juice.  Alternate beating in the flour mixture from earlier and the yogurt, mixing until everything is blended together.

~ Toss strawberries and gently mix them into the batter so they don't get mushy

~ For the frosting, make sure the whipped cream is super cold and stick the bowl and whisk you're going to use in the freezer to make sure those are super cold too.  

~ Once they're all chilled up, start whisking the whipped cream at a high pace and once you begin, don't stop or else the whipped cream might loose it's fluffiness.  Early on in the whipping process, slowly dust in the powdered sugar while you're whisking and throw in the almond extract whenever.

~ Whipping the cream sometimes takes forever but don't over-whip!  Whip until it "peaks" as in the look like little mountains when you pull the whisk out.  And once it's done, fold in the almond pieces into the cream.  Frosting DONE!

So now that you have both the cake and frosting done, you can decorate your cupcakes however you desire.  To put the frosting on, since I don't have a piping bag, I just used a sandwich sized baggie instead.  You just put some frosting into the baggie, seal it so there's no air, and the twist the top corner so all the frosting goes to one of the bottom corners, and then cut off a little hole from the bottom corner the frosting is on and there you go!  Pipe away!  Yay!