Deep Fried Mac & Cheese Bars

Prep Time: Overnight
Cooking time: 10 Minutes

I've experimented with deep frying things before but nothing like this has ever been created in my kitchen.  I was thinking hard about deep fried macaroni and cheese balls (normal) and was trying to think how they get the noodles to hold together in the shape of a circle before dipping in batter to deep fry.  The only thing I could think of was chilling the macaroni because whenever I have done so in the past with leftovers it seems to stick together when it's refrigerated. So I decided to give it a shot.

The mac and cheese is made from scratch, I made the sauce with heavy whipping cream, salty seasonings, tons of cheese, and butter.  After mixing the cheese sauce and noodles, I poured the mac and cheese into a large rectangle Pyrex dish and evened it all out so that the top of the mac and cheese was flat.  

Like most hungry gals, I made the mistake of being impatient. I only waited two hours for the macaroni and cheese to chill in the fridge.  Fail...the key to this recipe is to make sure that your mac has completely hardened up and is thoroughly chilled.  If the mac and cheese is still warm, or even room temp it will fall apart when you try to dip it in the thick/heavy batter, and you will have a big mess on your hands (not to mention a waste of perfectly delicious macaroni and cheese!)  I suggest leaving the macaroni and cheese in the fridge overnight just to be certain it wont fall apart. That being said, you should plan ahead when you want to make this so that you don't have to sit around worry about guessing/checking to see how chilled your mac is.  

The batter was the easy part.  I used basic pancake batter mix, and added in some seasonings to make it less sugary and more salty.  It's better to use a batter than bread crumbs to cover your mac because the batter surrounds the mac and gets every part of it covered unlike bread crumbs.  The batter also forms and hardens faster around the shape of the mac and cheese once you place it in the hot oil.  Because the pancake batter is so doughy it makes this whole thing taste like a very very gooey grilled cheese, it's unreal. 

Ingredients:

MAC & CHEESE 
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 stick of butter
American cheese (cant really go wrong with how much you use, I used about 10 slices of Kraft singles)
1 lb of elbow noodles

BATTER
1 batch of boxed pancake mix (You most likely will need veg oil, eggs, and milk to prepare mix)
1 tablespoon of granulated garlic
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of crushed cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of black pepper

*You will need to fill up a pot with vegetable oil, the amount of oil will vary depending on how big of a pot you use.

Cooking Instructions:

Day 1:  Mac prep. 
1. Prepare the noodles by boiling with salt then rinsing.
2. While waiting for the noodles to boil, make the cheese sauce by melting the butter on low heat, adding in the whipping cream and cheese, then let it simmer (be careful not to let it burn).  It should be done after about 10 minutes but you're going to want to keep it warm so either reduce the heat or put a lid on it.  
3.  Once the pasta and cheese sauce are done, pour cheese sauce on noodles and mix together.
4.  Spray the Pyrex dish with non stick pam.
5. Place macaroni and cheese in pyrex dish, make sure it is spread evenly and as flat as possible. Cover with a sheet of wax paper, once the wax paper is on, you can place other dishes on top of the mac to ensure that it will chill very flat.  
6. Refrigerate over night! Be patient. The longer it chills, the more the mac will stick together.  

Day 2:  The fun part.
1. Prepare the batter by making the pancake batter according to directions on box and then add in your spices and mix.  
2.  Remove mac from fridge and cut into bar-shaped slices.  Be careful because if you cut it too thin it will fall apart easy, if you cut it too thick it might get too heavy and collapse.  
3.  Fill a pot with vegetable oil, about an inch away from the top of the pot, and turn the heat on. (Make sure your pot is big enough to fit your entire bar in the oil.) When it's hot the oil will sizzle, you can get your hand wet and flick a little water into the oil to double check. If the oil sizzles when water touches it, it is ready.
4."Stab" your mac bar with a knife that can support the whole thing longways.
5. Completely cover your bar with batter so that you cannot see any of the mac. The trick is to move quickly from the batter station into the oil.
6. Submerse the covered mac and cheese bar into the hot oil and let it fry for about 2-3 minutes until crispy brown on the outside. 
7. After removing the bar let the oil drip off onto a paper towel while it cools then you are ready to eat!  

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I went out to eat with my friends in Columbus last weekend at a restaurant on campus called "Hangover Easy".  After I already ordered biscuits and gravy I saw a sign on the wall that said "Try our new seasonal pumpkin spiced pancakes".  WHAT.  I was dying, and actually so mad at the incompetent waitress for not letting me know about this?  Anyways, I had to have some.  

When in doubt, google it.  I found a recipe from allrecipes.com.  At first I was weirded out because the recipe called for ginger, and vinegar... which sounded bitter and not very sweet or sugary.  I ended up using apple cider vinegar, and I added probably about 1/4 cup of sugar to the ingredients list.  Also, the pumpkin I used was 100% organic from Trader Joe's.  My whole house smelled of warm pumpkin spice within minutes, and one by one family  members started to appear in the kitchen to investigate what was going on.

One thing I did notice is that it took longer to cook these pancakes.  Usually you turn the heat up and flip each pancake after a minute or two and your golden, but the inside of these took longer to solidify and I think it's because of the mushy texture of the all natural pumpkin puree.  After they were done I sprinkled powdered sugar on the top and stacked em' high.  I put syrup in a little sauce container on my plate so that I could dip then rather than have them doused in syrup.  

After all of my pancakes were assembled and accounted for I dug in.  They were absolutely delicious, they tasted more like soft warm pumpkin cookies than pancakes.  Incredible pancakes, and perfect for the season.  

Here is the link for the recipe where I got my idea from :  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-pancakes/

Spicy Noodle Soup

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30-45 min

I am utterly obsessed with any type of noodle soup; I have been eating Ramen non-stop since my grandmother brought it over when I was high chair and diaper status.  My friends and family all know me as an obsessive ramen lover.  So the whole “college ramen diet” wasn’t even a real thing for me, because I’ve been guzzling noodles my whole life. Recently I discovered that I have a passion for spicier things, especially my ramen noodle soup.  I visited a Korean market located downtown Cleveland and saw that they had ‘sweet potato noodles’.  I was desperate to try and I instantly fell in love because the texture of these noodles is so smooth and sticky.  I wondered how they would taste in a broth similar to ramen so I decided to make my own spicy soup concoction.  I grabbed my wok and ran around my kitchen pouring in spice after spice into the water I began to boil.  Sure enough, when it was done, I realized that I had created the best spicy soup I have ever eaten, and it also had the best tasting noodles to go along with it!! Perfect combination of spices and great hot soup for this cold fall weather.

Ingredients:

10 cups of water

5-6 bullion cubes (chicken)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup Sriracha hot sauce

1/4 cup chopped chives

1/2 pound of Korean glass noodles (sweet potato noodles) (gluten free)

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons of parsley (fresh or dried)

3 garlic cloves (sliced in halves or fourths)

2 tablespoons of creole seasoning

1/4 cup of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon of red pepper paste

1 tablespoon of granulated garlic

1 tablespoon of salt

2 tablespoons of sugar

Cooking Directions:

1. Bring 10 cups of water + a pinch of salt to a light boil.

2.  Add bullion cubes, soy, Sriracha sauce, red pepper paste, salt, granulated garlic, creole seasoning, garlic cloves, and tomato sauce.

3.  Add Korean glass noodles, and leave on light boil for 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4.  Add sliced mushrooms, chives, and parsley. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

5.  Test flavor. If too spicy add water or another tablespoon of sugar.

6.  Slurp away and enjoy!

Side note: If you enjoy any of the flavors specifically you can always add more while the broth is still cooking on the flame.