Ms. Griddle: 07/24/13

Puffed Cheddar Cheese Twists

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
Combine the cheddar, flour, salt, and cayenne pepper by swirling it around with your fingers. Add the cubed butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingertips, working quickly (you don’t want to melt the butter). Once the big butter pieces are broken down, stir in the egg white until evenly distributed. The mixture will be crumbly but you should be able to knead the mixture into a cohesive dough ball fairly easily (do not overwork).
Roll out onto a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into long strips with a pizza cutter and twist them onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until crisp and a light golden brown. Let cool slightly, then enjoy!

Makes 24

Grease a nonstick mini muffin pan very well with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, then cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the package says. My elbow macaroni said to cook for 7 minutes, so I drained it after 5. After you've cooked and drained the pasta, return the empty pasta pot to the heat and turn the heat down to medium. Melt the butter and add the paprika. Add the flour and stir the mixture around for 2 minutes. While whisking, add the milk. The mixture will be very thick, but that’s intentional. Just make sure you have stirred out any lumps. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cheeses and drained pasta, stirring it all together until the cheese and sauce are well distributed.
Portion your mac and cheese into the muffin cups, either with a spoon or a 3-tbsp cookie scoop. Pack the mac and cheese into the muffin cups with your fingers really well. If you don’t pack the mac and cheese down, they won’t hold their shape when you take them out after baking, and you certainly don't want them to fall apart.
Bake the mac and cheese cups for 15 minutes until bubbling and gooey. Remove them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes, then carefully run a plastic knife or toothpick (assuming you need to not destroy the nonstick coating on your pan) around the edges to loosen. Remove the mac and cheese cups from the pan and garnish with chopped chives or scallion greens. Enjoy!

Makes 1 sandwich

½ package of ramen, any “flavor” (we used a Korean brand, “extra spicy” vegetable flavor)
½ of the ramen seasoning packet (you wont need other things like a small oil packet or dehydrated vegetables)
handful of kimchi, chopped and squeezed of excess kimchi “juice”
1 tablespoons oil for cooking (I used grapeseed)
2 tablespoon butter, softened
2 thick slices very sturdy bread
handful of mozzarella or jack cheese
handful American or Cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Drop the ramen noodles in and cook until the ramen noodles are soft, about 8 minutes (this will depend, obviously).
Drain the ramen noodles of the cooking liquid (use a colander), then put the noodles back into the pot or into a bowl. Pour the contents of half the seasoning packet over the noodles. Toss the noodles to combine. Set aside to prepare sandwich.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan over low heat.
Spread the outside of both slices of bread with softened butter. Place both slices of bread buttered-side down in the oil in the pan. Pile one slice with mozzarella/jack cheese; pile the other slice of bread with American/Cheddar cheese. Cook until bread is toasted and cheese has melted.
Remove the grilled bread with cheese to a plate or cutting board. Pile as much ramen noodles on one slice of the bread as you’d like. Add chopped kimchi on top. Close the sandwich with the other slice of grilled bread and cheese. Press together firmly.

In a preheated 350 degree F oven, toast the crushed noodles and nuts until golden brown.
In a large bowl, combine the coleslaw, green onions, toasted ramen noodles and cashews.
Prepare dressing, by whisking together the sugar, oil, vinegar and soy sauce.
Pour the dressing over the salad, toss and serve.
Chinese Cabbage Salad is ready.

Serves 4

Combine the beef, carrots and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender. Drain, if needed.
Add in the water, cabbage, soy sauce and half the package of the seasoning packet. Break the noodles into pieces and add to the pan. Cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the noodles are tender, about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more of the seasoning packet if needed.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Break up ramen noodles into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. They should cover the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle the cooked meat over dry noodles (I seasoned my beef when I was cooking it). Pour the jar of sauce over the top. Sprinkle the beef flavor packet over the sauce. Sprinkle one cup of the cheese over the top of sauce. Gently mix together. Pour the water over the top. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until liquid is totally absorbed.
Remove from oven and remove foil. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Return to oven for 5- 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serves 1