I wanted to make this dinner kind of a farewell to summer as well as a hello to fall. The pork chops had a nice maple-garlic glaze, and as we know very well maple is one of my favorite flavors. We had mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, and biscuits which are three of my favorite comfort foods. I also made a spinach salad with strawberries and blueberries...I love fruit in summer. For dessert, of course, we had peach cobbler.
My best part of the dinner, though, was the mac and cheese! I made it in the slow cooker, which I didn't think was possible.
Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups milk
One 12 oz can evaporated skim milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled to room temp
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar
1/2 pound macaroni, I used Cavatappi (my current favorite pasta), par cooked and drained (this means cook them for about five minutes until tender but not completely cooked)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Spray the inside of your slow-cooker with cooking spray or grease it with olive oil. Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and salt in slow-cooker and whisk until until smooth.
Add the shredded cheese (except the Parmesan) and macaroni, sprinkle with black pepper, oregano and garlic pepper, stir to coat.
Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to LOW and cook for 2 hours. My crockpot has a "simmer" setting as well, which is lower than low... I did 1 hour on low, 1 on simmer, 30 minutes on warm.
Oh! And by the way, here's the peach cobbler.
Also, I don't know if I mentioned this last time I made the peach cobbler, but to peel the peaches effectively, boil them for one minute, and then plunge them into icy water... the skins are really easy to peel off after that. And peaches are so gorgeous when you peel them!
Hey Ash, I tried this recipe and I liked it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.food.com/recipe/paula-deen-crock-pot-macaroni-and-cheese-257276
I liked this one, it's very similar to yours, but this had a little sour cream in it, and using the cheddar cheese soup, shredded cheddar, and butter to make a kind of sauce in a saucepan. Then I added it to the crock pot full of noodles, and added the mustard and the pepper and, my own addition, added some chopped garlic.
One thing I added too was sautéed mushrooms in onion. I sauteed them in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and ROSEMARY. When mixed in with the garlic with the noodles and cheese and stuff.
Keep the recipes coming!
I have that one saved as well...I can't wait to try it! You have to hand it to Paula Deen, she works miracles with butter. I will definitely have to give that one a try. Also, it occurs to me that it's been way too long since Jim and I have sent you a care package! I'll have to include some cookies or something this time around!
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