Cooking Live—Tweet, Tweet
This Sunday at 5 p.m. Ellie Krieger will be cooking live via Twitter.
Krieger, the host of the Food Network’s Healthy Appetite, will cook her Skillet Mac and Cheese, tweeting along the way. So if you have a Twitter account, you can cook the dish right alongside of her.
The recipe is from her new book, “Comfort Food Fix: Feel Good Favorites Made Healthy.”
If you’re familiar with Krieger, you probably guessed that this is a lightened, healthier version of macaroni and cheese.
Krieger uses whole-wheat pasta, 1 percent milk and judicious amounts of cheese here. She also adds cauliflower to bump up the nutrients.
Krieger plans to do step-by-step tweets to make it easy for folks to follow her. She also will answer questions tweeted to her, and will tweet photos of the dish in progress.
The entire chat is set to take one hour.
At the end, people who send in photos of their own finished Skillet Mac an Cheese will have a chance to win a free copy of Krieger’‘s new book.
Skillet Mac and Cheese
Serving mac and cheese in the skillet it’s baked in amps up the homey comfort factor. The secret ingredient in this bread crumb-topped beauty is the finely chopped cauliflower that blends in subtly with the pasta. Using three different cheeses guarantees maximum flavor and meltability.
2 cups 1-inch-wide cauliflower florets
1 1/4 cups Light-and-Crisp Whole-Wheat Bread Crumbs
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups cold low-fat (1%) milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (5 ounces)
1/4 cup shredded Gruyère cheese (1 ounce)
2 teaspoons mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) whole-grain elbow macaroni, cooked for 3 minutes less than the package directions (about 3 cups cooked)
Nonstick cooking spray
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place the cauliflower into a steamer basket fitted over the pot, cover, and steam until just tender, about 5 minutes. Finely chop the steamed cauliflower.
3. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil.
4. In a large saucepan, whisk together the milk and flour until the flour is dissolved. Whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the mixture thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the cheddar, Gruyère, mustard powder, paprika, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Whisk until the cheeses are melted and the mixture is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chopped cauliflower and macaroni and stir until well coated.
5. Spray an ovenproof 10-inch high-sided skillet with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the prepared skillet. Sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture, place on a baking sheet, and bake until the top is browned and the cheese is bubbly, 35 to 40 minutes.
Makes 6 servings, each 1 1/4 cups.
Nutrition information for one serving: Calories 360; Total Fat 14 g (Sat Fat 8 g, Mono Fat 4.7 g, Poly Fat 0.8 g); Protein 20 g; Carb 40g; Fiber 5 g; Cholesterol 40 mg; Sodium 540 mg
Photo and recipes courtesy of Ellie Krieger.
