Thanks for the mincemeat suggestion. We always had mince pie for the holidays, mom used None Such. But years ago Farm Journal had a recipe for green tomato mincemeat that I’ve made and frozen in pie batches. Am inspired to make it again this year and use your shortbread recipe here. Our COVID’s overlapped, my grandson shared his Thanksgiving day, took nearly 3 weeks to clear, thanks to Paxlovid rebound.
Hi Marissa, I’m Lynn, completely new to this app. After reading some of your writing, I knew I needed to follow you:)
I have been taking many virtual tours to the UK lately and have loved imagining being there now and in the past, especially this time of the year. Several times in Christmas tours, mincemeat pies were mentioned. At the store the other day I happened to see a jar of mincemeat! I bought it, having no idea what I would do with it. I knew eventually I would find a use for it, and then what do I see tonight but your post and recipe:) Thanks for sharing this!
I'm holding up fine, but I'm not holding my breath about seeing trump's taxes. I'm mad that the IRS didn't do their job in auditing him annually, but that is just another brick in the wall according to Pink Floyd. Oh, yes, the recipe for LBJ Mac & Cheese (my version after 4 yrs of attempts):
explanation first: This may seem a bit confusing, but bear with me. I took my recipe from 3 different recipes, one is for Creamy Macaroni & Cheese by Julia Moskin of the NY Times 2018. Most of my recipe comes from hers. Two are in an article Julia Moskin did when she was researching & gleaned from macaroni cooks from 2006 or the NY Times (article is called: The Winter Cook; Macaroni & Lots of Cheese.) The 3rd is also a NY Times recipe by Sam Sifton called Lobster Mac and Cheese, which I use several steps of. Interestingly enough, Julia's & Sam's ingredients are almost exactly the same except she doesn't use lobster meat. Here we go with mine:
Ingredients
2 TBSPs unsalted butter
1 cup cottage cheese (NOT lowfat) curd size doesn't matter
2 cups milk (NOT skim)
1 Tsp dry mustard
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg (I use powder)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (I use ready to use ground)
8 oz sharp or extra sharp Cheddar cheese, self grated
5 oz Gruyere, self grated
3 oz Asiago, self grated
1/2 pound of elbow macaroni (8oz), UNCOOKED
This will go into a 2 qt. baking dish. If you want to feed more people or have leftovers for yourselves, simply double the recipe ingredients and use a 4 qt. baking dish.
Step 1
Assuming you bought 4 Lobster tails for a single recipe, take your lobster cutting scissors (don't give me that look, you have some scissors that will work) and cut down the middle of the tails from the head to the end of the tail, or where the meat ends. This will make your work easier when taking the meat out of the tail section. Take a solid metal pan and fill with water enough to cover the tails, about 4 inches deep. Add a bit of salt to the water & bring to a boil. If your 4 tails are all 4 oz each, you will drop them in the water & boil for 4 minutes total. If they are 5 oz each, boil for 5 minutes and so forth. When finished, drain the water and cool the tails off. You'll need to pry the rib cages back to extract the meat. Once you have all the meat out, put it in a Ziplock bag and into the fridge to cool. Once the Macaroni is in the oven, I can cut the lobster tails into 1" chunks.
Step 2
In a blender, puree Cottage Cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, salt & pepper together. You can reserve 1/4 cup of grated cheese or topping, but I don't do that. Heat the oven to 375 degrees & position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Use 1 TBSP of the butter to grease your 2 qt baking dish, which can be a round or square dish/pan. Set aside.
In a very large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese (all of it for me), milk mixture and uncooked macaroni. Toss really well. Pour into the prepared dish, cover tightly with non-stick aluminum foil & bake for 20-25 minutes. (you do not want it to be crispy after this first baking step)
Step 3
I use a jar of Mild Jalapenos (HEB brand) and pick out 20-25 slices and real Hormel Bacon Bits, about a third of a new container. My lobster chunks are ready, too. The Macaroni comes out of the oven, and I toss the foil. Without burning myself, I insert the lobster chunks first, then the Jalapenos, and lastly the bacon bits. I use a spoon to submerge them all, such that each piece is below the surface of the Macaroni. This prevents those items from being burnt. I use the rest of the butter to dab on top of the Macaroni and bake uncovered or 15 minutes or more if necessary. You'll be able to tell if the Macaroni is just right visually.
Notes: Feel free to use other cheese which you think is a better combination for you and your family. The restaurant in D.C. where I ate this dish 5 times in 3 trips wouldn't share the recipe with me, but they are no longer open due to Covid I think. President Obama used to eat lunch there. Kind of cool. Hope you enjoy this recipe. Any questions, feel free to ask me. Best wishes for a Happy 2023.
Your citrus cloud cookies were the hit of our holiday. They’re sublime. And you’re correct, all the chocolate lovers were fans. Thanks so much from Santa Cruz County CA
Glad you're on the mend Marissa! And thanks SO MUCH for the mincemeat recipe. My mother in Australia sent me some mince pies for xmas and they sadly didn't survive the trip very well. Still edible, just not in any recognizable shape anymore!
I apologize. I still owe you my promised Mac & Cheese recipe. I actually have it out to type and send you. I guess I'll type it as a comment on this post by itself. Cheers.
Thanks--this will be a change from mincemeat muffins to use up the extra mincemeat!
Thanks for the mincemeat suggestion. We always had mince pie for the holidays, mom used None Such. But years ago Farm Journal had a recipe for green tomato mincemeat that I’ve made and frozen in pie batches. Am inspired to make it again this year and use your shortbread recipe here. Our COVID’s overlapped, my grandson shared his Thanksgiving day, took nearly 3 weeks to clear, thanks to Paxlovid rebound.
Hi Marissa, I’m Lynn, completely new to this app. After reading some of your writing, I knew I needed to follow you:)
I have been taking many virtual tours to the UK lately and have loved imagining being there now and in the past, especially this time of the year. Several times in Christmas tours, mincemeat pies were mentioned. At the store the other day I happened to see a jar of mincemeat! I bought it, having no idea what I would do with it. I knew eventually I would find a use for it, and then what do I see tonight but your post and recipe:) Thanks for sharing this!
MARISSA! I admire you and what you accomplished (against all odds) in the last four weeks more than I can say!!!
P.S. Those shortbread bars!!!! Delightful!
I hope you and your taste buds are on the mend and will be at full function before January 1 when we tend to scale back on yummy things. Heavy sigh.
I'm holding up fine, but I'm not holding my breath about seeing trump's taxes. I'm mad that the IRS didn't do their job in auditing him annually, but that is just another brick in the wall according to Pink Floyd. Oh, yes, the recipe for LBJ Mac & Cheese (my version after 4 yrs of attempts):
LBJ (Lobster, Bacon, Jalapenos Mac & Cheese (4 kinds) follows below:
explanation first: This may seem a bit confusing, but bear with me. I took my recipe from 3 different recipes, one is for Creamy Macaroni & Cheese by Julia Moskin of the NY Times 2018. Most of my recipe comes from hers. Two are in an article Julia Moskin did when she was researching & gleaned from macaroni cooks from 2006 or the NY Times (article is called: The Winter Cook; Macaroni & Lots of Cheese.) The 3rd is also a NY Times recipe by Sam Sifton called Lobster Mac and Cheese, which I use several steps of. Interestingly enough, Julia's & Sam's ingredients are almost exactly the same except she doesn't use lobster meat. Here we go with mine:
Ingredients
2 TBSPs unsalted butter
1 cup cottage cheese (NOT lowfat) curd size doesn't matter
2 cups milk (NOT skim)
1 Tsp dry mustard
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg (I use powder)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (I use ready to use ground)
8 oz sharp or extra sharp Cheddar cheese, self grated
5 oz Gruyere, self grated
3 oz Asiago, self grated
1/2 pound of elbow macaroni (8oz), UNCOOKED
This will go into a 2 qt. baking dish. If you want to feed more people or have leftovers for yourselves, simply double the recipe ingredients and use a 4 qt. baking dish.
Step 1
Assuming you bought 4 Lobster tails for a single recipe, take your lobster cutting scissors (don't give me that look, you have some scissors that will work) and cut down the middle of the tails from the head to the end of the tail, or where the meat ends. This will make your work easier when taking the meat out of the tail section. Take a solid metal pan and fill with water enough to cover the tails, about 4 inches deep. Add a bit of salt to the water & bring to a boil. If your 4 tails are all 4 oz each, you will drop them in the water & boil for 4 minutes total. If they are 5 oz each, boil for 5 minutes and so forth. When finished, drain the water and cool the tails off. You'll need to pry the rib cages back to extract the meat. Once you have all the meat out, put it in a Ziplock bag and into the fridge to cool. Once the Macaroni is in the oven, I can cut the lobster tails into 1" chunks.
Step 2
In a blender, puree Cottage Cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, salt & pepper together. You can reserve 1/4 cup of grated cheese or topping, but I don't do that. Heat the oven to 375 degrees & position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Use 1 TBSP of the butter to grease your 2 qt baking dish, which can be a round or square dish/pan. Set aside.
In a very large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese (all of it for me), milk mixture and uncooked macaroni. Toss really well. Pour into the prepared dish, cover tightly with non-stick aluminum foil & bake for 20-25 minutes. (you do not want it to be crispy after this first baking step)
Step 3
I use a jar of Mild Jalapenos (HEB brand) and pick out 20-25 slices and real Hormel Bacon Bits, about a third of a new container. My lobster chunks are ready, too. The Macaroni comes out of the oven, and I toss the foil. Without burning myself, I insert the lobster chunks first, then the Jalapenos, and lastly the bacon bits. I use a spoon to submerge them all, such that each piece is below the surface of the Macaroni. This prevents those items from being burnt. I use the rest of the butter to dab on top of the Macaroni and bake uncovered or 15 minutes or more if necessary. You'll be able to tell if the Macaroni is just right visually.
Notes: Feel free to use other cheese which you think is a better combination for you and your family. The restaurant in D.C. where I ate this dish 5 times in 3 trips wouldn't share the recipe with me, but they are no longer open due to Covid I think. President Obama used to eat lunch there. Kind of cool. Hope you enjoy this recipe. Any questions, feel free to ask me. Best wishes for a Happy 2023.
Your citrus cloud cookies were the hit of our holiday. They’re sublime. And you’re correct, all the chocolate lovers were fans. Thanks so much from Santa Cruz County CA
Glad you're on the mend Marissa! And thanks SO MUCH for the mincemeat recipe. My mother in Australia sent me some mince pies for xmas and they sadly didn't survive the trip very well. Still edible, just not in any recognizable shape anymore!
Take care and feel better!
Yum!
Thank you for the wonderful mochacinno brownies recipe. I have baked and given them to friends and family. They were a hit.
Beautiful! Glad you're getting your senses back!
I apologize. I still owe you my promised Mac & Cheese recipe. I actually have it out to type and send you. I guess I'll type it as a comment on this post by itself. Cheers.