Jalapeño Macaroni and Cheese (Gluten Free)

I LOVE homemade mac & cheese. Do you? Please say yes.

If you haven't made homemade macaroni and cheese before, give this recipe a try. It's pretty easy and so tasty.

When I make macaroni, I always remember 2-2-2-2. I use two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, two cups of milk and two cups cheese. This is always my starting point, and from there I can make adjustments. Sometimes I use cheddar cheese. This time I used Monterey Jack because I thought the color contrast of a light cheese with the jalapenos would be nice. And I really liked it. I always add in a bit of mustard with my cheese sauce also (sometimes dry mustard powder), usually Dijon mustard. Salt and pepper only after you’ve added your cheese.

For a bit more decadence, you can bake this afterwards with more cheese on top, or some gluten free bread crumbs. (Or both!)

To make this ahead and have it ready to go in the oven for dinner, cook your noodles a little less by a minute or two (because they will cook in the oven and you don’t want mushy noodles). Then follow the recipe up to and including mixing the noodles into the cheese sauce. Pour the whole thing into a baking dish and then refrigerate until needed. Warm it in the oven at 350F (180 C) until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes or so, but check it often after 20-25 minutes.

To make this less spicy, remove the seeds from your jalapenos before adding them in. (Leave the seeds in for more spice!)

What would you add in with this? I think corn would be a good addition. Also, I LOVE spice, so instead of eating this with ketchup like my son does, I drizzle some Sriracha sauce on top. I used the new Walmart brand of gluten free elbow macaroni noodles and was quite pleased with them. They were not at all mushy in leftovers the next day.

Monterey Jack & Jalapeno Macaroni

creamy macaroni and cheese with spicy jalapeno

Yield:
Preparation time: 5min
Cook time: 8-12 min

Ingredients:

• 400 grams gluten free elbow noodles (fusilli or penne would be good here too)
• 2 cups grated cheese (I used Monterey jack)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons gluten free flour mix
• 2 cups milk
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced
• 1 teaspoon mustard (I used Dijon)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Boil your noodles according to package directions. Then drain and let sit in colander while you make the cheese sauce.

2. In a hot skillet or dutch oven, over medium-high heat, melt the butter. (In my cast iron enamel dutch oven on my stove top, I only need to use medium heat to get this very hot) Sprinkle flour over top of the melted butter and mix with whisk. Cook flour until light brown and nutty smelling. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking well to avoid having lumpy sauce. Once incorporated, let simmer and bubble until it thickens. Then add cheese, jalapenos, mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Mix reserved noodles into the sauce and serve.

3. OPTIONAL: Use noodles that have been cooked a minute or two less than package time, and once everything is mixed together, pour into casserole dish, top with cheese and gluten free breadcrumbs if desired, then bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes at 350 F.

Gluten Free Perogy (Pierogy)

Gluten Free Perogy.   Or Pierogi.  Or  Pierogy. However you want to spell them, they are awesome.  I use perogy.

Fun fact: I went to a Ukrainian school for a year when I was a kid.  Then I went to Ukrainian-Immersion for another few years.

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on perogies or anything Ukrainian. haha

(EDIT: You know what, I was just reading that these are actually Polish. I've always thought they were Ukrainian. Very interesting. I had to add in this wikipedia info.)

Varenyky (Ukrainian:) are stuffed dumplings of unleavened dough. Varenyky are nearly identical with some types of Polish pierogi. In some regions of Western Ukraine, such as Carpathian Ruthenia and Galicia, both terms, varenyky and pyrohy, are used to denote the same dish. The name pyrohy is also common for the Canadian Ukrainian. This can be attributed to the history of Ukrainian and Rusyn immigration to Canada, which came predominantly from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, where the local dialects had many common words with Polish, German, Romanian and other Central European languages. -- source

But I did eat a lot of perogies as a kid.  And as I grew up.  And then a couple of years ago, all of a sudden it was one of those foods that existed only outside of the things I was ok to eat. (If you’re Celiac too, or have a family member or friend who is, then you are familiar with this problem). 

Perogies are one of those foods which prompted me to start creating my own recipes and to start this blog to share those recipes with other people who thought perogies (or pasta, or cookies, or crackers, etc…) were lost to them forever.  No way man, we’re not settling for that.  We’ll eat exactly what we want and it’ll taste just as good.

Right?

Anyway, like I said this one was of the first foods I recreated as gluten free by myself, and as such, these photos are a bit old.  Not my best.  But please make these anyway!! They are soo good.  And feel free to use white potato in yours.  However you want them.  Use a different filling completely if you like.  They are your perogies now and you can eat them as you please.  (But topped with sour cream is my favorite.)

And make extra and freeze them.  To do this, just make the dough, fill and assemble, but don’t boil the perogies.  Freeze them in a single layer on a pan, and when they are frozen move them to a large freezer bag or container. Then when you crave perogies, just continue with the rest of the recipe steps by bringing a large pot of water to boil, drop frozen perogies in and boil about 5 minutes or so. (when they float, they are ready). Eat right away, or sauté them in a pan, and then cover with melted butter, fried onions and sour cream. Yum.

Enjoy!

What are some of the foods you've missed most, or were the happiest about when you found a way to have them gluten free?

Rolled and cut out, about the thickness you want your dough.

Filled and closed up, lined up ready to either freeze or cook and eat.

Gluten Free Perogies

Gluten Free Yam Perogies

Yield: 18 – 3 ½ inch perogy rounds

Preparation time: 30-45min

Cook time: 5min

Ingredients:

• 140 grams gluten free flour blend
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if this is included in your flour mix)
• 40 grams tapioca flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup cold mashed potato (I used mashed yam)
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Filling: I used a 450 gram yam, boiled then mashed it, saved ¼ cup for the dough and used the rest, seasoned with salt and pepper, as my filling

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour mixture, tapioca flour, salt and xanthan if using.

2. Add mashed potato and combine. Add egg, sour cream and olive oil and mix together until it comes together as a ball.

3. Roll out on a non-stick surface (baking mat, parchment paper) using tapioca flour lightly so your rolling pin doesn’t stick. Cut out rounds and gather scraps to re-roll for more rounds. Roll quite thin.

4. Put about a tablespoon of your favorite filling into the middle of your round. Use egg white around one half of your round and fold dough in half around the filling. Pinch seam together. Repeat for all rounds.

5. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add about 7-8 pierogi to the boiling water at a time, and boil about 3-4 minutes. They are done when they float.

6. Sauté in butter for a minute or two per side to crisp up, if desired. Yummy served with extra sour cream.