Cheese Sauce

I refer to this "base" recipe in a lot of postings so I decided to post it separately so it is easy to use as a reference tool. This can be made dairy free - as posted here with the chicken stock or you can use cows milk or soy milk instead and you can use cows milk cheese as well. It is very versitile and can be used within recipes or alone for chips and cheese dip!

2 T Oil
2 T AP Flour
1.5 C to 2 C Chicken Stock
3 Slices Cheddar Flavored Veggie Slices Soy Cheese. Rice Cheese also works well for this

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the flour, whisk the flour and oil together until it starts to smell nutty, just a couple of minutes. Slowly add the chicken stock whisking together until the lumps are all gone and it starts to thicken - you have just made gravy, by the way. Add the cheese and let it melt completely. DONE! Add this sauce to elbow macaroni or use it to top broccoli, potatoes, really anything you would use a cheese sauce on.

Easter Dinner

I can't remember an Easter dinner that I cooked before today's. It could be because I have never made a huge effort for Easter dinner or it could be because it wasn't terribly memorable. Either way, this one is noteworthy because of its ease of preparation and taste. If you are looking for an Easter meal, try this one. You will hear lots of yummy noises from the table and they won't be drowned out by your "dogs barking".

Menu:
Balsamic Glazed Ham
Dairy Free Scalloped Potatoes
Sauteed Asparagus
Deviled Eggs
Frozen Steamed Veggies in sauce
Gherkins
Dairy Light Banana Pudding

Our church service is from 10:30 until 11:30 so by the time we get home, it is nearly lunch time and no time to put together this giant meal. So, there is a bit of a game plan. After breakfast, I prepare the glaze and pour it over the ham and cut and prepare the potatoes for the oven. If I had thought about it, I probably would have gone ahead and made the deviled eggs too but that was a last-minute addition so I did it when the ham was cooling.

Ham:
I bought a ready-to-eat spiral sliced ham from the store last Sunday and it was on sale - bonus! I followed a Betty Crocker recipe for the ham and it was easy (3 ingredients). Clearly, it was unnecessary but I like to add my little touch to ready-to-eat items anyway.

1/2 C Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 C Dijon Mustard

Combine in a small bowl and pour over ham. I had the ham in a large roasting pan and covered the whole thing with aluminium* foil to be ready for the 325 degree oven for 90 minutes when we got home from church.


Scalloped Potatoes:
My son is lactose intolerant so I have a trick for dairy free scalloped potatoes.

5 small white potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
salt and pepper to taste
2 T olive oil
2 T All Purpose Flour
5 slices Soy Cheese
3/4 C Soy Milk

Grease a small casserole dish and place one layer of potato slices, overlapping each other slightly, into the dish. Cover with a light layer of onion rings and salt and pepper to taste. Tear or cut one slice of soy cheese into 5 strips and place the strips on top of the onions. Repeat until you have it filled to your liking (about 1/4in from the top is where I stopped which meant that I used 3 slices of cheese) and leave the top layer as potatoes and onions - no cheese.

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the flour. Whisk until combined and allow to cook while whisking for about 30 seconds. Add the soy milk and bring to a slow boil. Once it is boiling, add the remaining 2 slices of cheese. Stir together until the cheese melts and pour this cheese sauce over top of the potatoes.

Since this was going in with the ham, I covered it with aluminium foil and set it aside. It went in with the ham, covered, and I uncovered it about 15 minutes before the ham was due out. It still wasn't brown enough for my taste so I turned the broiler on and finished it off.


Sauteed Asparagus:
To trim asparagus for cooking, gently try to break it off at the end with one hand in the center and one hand near the bottom. It will break at the natural point where the woody part begins. As a tip, if you have a lot to do and it all came from the same bunch from the store, it is safe to say that they all will break at about the same point. You can break the first one and then line them all up with the first one to cut at the same place.

Heat a skillet to medium high with a drizzle of olive oil. Place the asparagus into the pan and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and toss around every couple of minutes. Asparagus has a lot of sugar in it so it will brown and burn quickly. It is done when it turns bright green with some browning but is not limp.


Deviled Eggs:

We are but a family of 4 and our children are under 5 so I only used 3 of our Dyed Easter Eggs for our Deviled Eggs.

For 6 Deviled Eggs:

3 Hard Boiled Eggs - use fresh eggs and add salt to the water to help the shells release
2 T Mayonnaise
1 t Pickle Relish
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel and slice eggs in half, longways. Separate the yolks into a small bowl and place the whites onto a pretty plate - or a plain old saucer like I did. Add the mayonnaise, relish, and s&p to the yolks. Mash the yolks and stir until smooth. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the wells in the egg whites. If you desire, sprinkle with paprika or top with chopped chives before serving.


Frozen Veggies in Sauce Steamed -
I buy these a lot in many varieties and today I just looked in my freezer for one that had a different color than what I have already on the menu.


Gherkins - literally, I opened a jar and put them on the kids' plates.

Dairy-Free Banana Pudding turns into dairy-light banana pudding with cookies that have dairy.

So, my son is lactose intolerant. He does not have a dairy allergy; therefore, he can have products that have some milk in them but he can't have cows milk, yogurt, or cheese.

I called a friend with experience to ask if she had ever made pudding with soy milk. She said, "Yes, but it never sets." Bugger! I didn't plan to make a dessert today but my bananas are on their way out and I really wanted to fill the time this ham is cooking...So, here is how it went down.

I looked in my pantry and found that I have the powder for Bird's Custard which is basically cornflour and flavorings so it is on the "okay" list for my dairy restrictions. So, I followed the instructions but added a little soy milk to a bowl with 1 and 1/2 banana and, once again, used my immersion blender to puree it and added that into the custard.

I covered my 9x13 dish with vanilla sandwich cookies because that is what I had. They aren't dairy-free but any cookie will do. I used 15 cookies for the bottom(3 rows of 5) and poured the custard on top of the cookies and cut 7 more cookies in half to line the sides (5 halves on each side and 2 halves on each end). I sliced another banana to cover the top. It set up almost immediately and when we ate it it was still warm and, incidentally, delicious. My oldest son took one bite, got down from his seat, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Thank you, mama." Need I say more?


*My husband is British and we became educated on the proper spelling and pronunciation of aluminium. I am trying to help this lost cause by using the proper IUPAC spelling

Crockpot Pork Tenderloin, Cole Slaw, Homemade Rolls, and Dairy Free Mac-N-Cheese

Crockpot BBQ Pork Tenderloin
No need to take this down, you can remember it without even having to come back. Open a package of pork tenderloins (they come two in a packet). Drop them into the crockpot in the morning. Add a cup of your favorite BBQ sauce. Stir it all together to get the sauce on the meat. Cover and leave it for 8 hours. Take the top off after 8 hours and, using tongs, remove the tenderloins to a bowl and with two forks, pull it apart. Pile onto buns (store-bought or home made) and serve with Cole Slaw - see recipe. In SC, we serve the slaw right on top of these sandwiches.

Cole Slaw
Combine 3/4 Cup Mayonnaise, 1/4 Cup White Wine or regular White Vinegar, 1 T Sugar, 1/4 t Dill Weed and Salt and Pepper to taste. Chop or shred a small head of green or red cabbage. Add to the dressing and toss to coat. Let this sit for a while - at least 30 minutes because the vinegar will break down the cabbage some to make it more tender and absorb the flavor.

Homemade Bread Rolls
I have a bread machine that I use pretty regularly and today I used it to make bread rolls for tonight's dinner. If I truly made them from scratch, I would add that recipe here. If you have a bread machine, it is likely that you have a recipe for rolls that came with it.

Dairy Free Mac-N-Cheese
My son is lactose intolerant but Friday is mac n cheese day! The challenge is finding a cheese sauce that both boys will accept that isn't complicated. The secret is out now. Please try it if you have a dairy issue, it really is delicious.

2 T Oil
2 T AP Flour
1.5 C to 2 C Chicken Stock
3 Slices Cheddar Flavored Veggie Slices Soy Cheese. Rice Cheese also works well for this

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the flour, whisk the flour and oil together until it starts to smell nutty, just a couple of minutes. Slowly add the chicken stock whisking together until the lumps are all gone and it starts to thicken - you have just made gravy, by the way. Add the cheese and let it melt completely. DONE! Add this sauce to elbow macaroni or use it to top broccoli, potatoes, really anything you would use a cheese sauce on.