Dunkley's Famous Macaroni Salad

Sorry this is a day late! When I was searching for a recipe with Swiss Cheese in it I found this recipe. I thought it looked really yummy.


Dunkley's Famous Macaroni Salad
From RecipeZaar

1 (16 oz) package salad macaroni (or ditali pasta)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup red onion, diced
1 cup yellow onion or white onion, diced
1 cup medium cheddar, diced
1 cup Swiss cheese, diced
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup dill pickles, sliced
1 cup salami, diced
1 cup black olives, drained and sliced or diced
1/2 teaspoon horseradish
1-2 tablespoon garlic salt
1-2 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1-2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 (3 oz) jar pimentos, rinsed and drained
1-1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil.

2. Add macaroni and cook until it is al dente, approximately 7 to 9 minutes.

3. DO NOT OVERCOOK the pasta or it will fall apart when the salad is tossed together

4. Rinse macaroni until cool.

5. Drain well and let it dry out slightly.

6. Place pasta in a large bowl.

7. Carefully fold in celery, red onion, white onion, Cheddar, Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, dill pickles, salami, and black olives.

8. Refrigerate the mixture, covered, overnight (or refrigerate for at least 2 hours).

9. Mix the garlic salt, minced garlic, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, and celery salt together. Add to the salad.

10. Fold in pimentos.

11. Mix 1 cup of mayonnaise and horseradish; fold into the salad (You may use up to another 1/2 cup mayonnaise, if needed).

12. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.

Makes 25 servings

******First of all I cut the recipe in half. I didn't want to have leftovers of this for the rest of our lives. I didn't use horseradish or pimentos (I couldn't find the pimentos at the store). I didn't use the full amount of cayenne pepper and added the lower amount of the black pepper because I didn't want it to be too spicy. I mixed the spices with the mayo instead of the pasta/veggie mixture because I thought the spices would be more evenly spread out that way.

I would rate this at 4 stars. It would a great potluck dish. We loved it! I think it would be perfect for a Summer picnic.

Apple Cheese Melt

APPLE CHEESE MELT
1 tbsp. softened butter
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 slice ham
1 round slice apple, cored
1 slice Swiss cheese

Spread butter on 1 side of each bread slice. Make sandwich (buttered sides out) with ham, apple and cheese slices. Cook covered in skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides.
(from All Easy Cooking Recipe Kitchen)


This sandwich was AWESOME! I felt like Remy in "Ratatouille" when he is describing how tastes can work together to his brother, Emilie. A grilled ham & cheese- good. An apple- good. Together- FIREWORKS! I never would have thought about putting apple on a sandwich, but it was SO good. Really tasty, and easy to whip up in a couple of minutes.

Alterations: When making this, I used a Granny Smith apple, and the extra tartness worked really well with the ham and Swiss cheese. Instead of using slices of Swiss cheese I grated the cheese. I read on another blog that grated cheese works better when making a grilled cheese, because it melts more evenly and gets down into the nooks & crannies of the bread. Also, I'm not sure if the recipe was intended to be made with a slice of 'normal' ham, or lunchmeat ham. I used lunchmeat, because that's what I had on hand. I can tell it would be yummy with "real" ham, too.

I would give it 4 stars, except I don't think I'd take it to a potluck. :)

P.S.-- I took that picture. Are you proud of me?!

Seven-layer Gratin

Ok, when you first read through the ingredients, this sounds...iffy, at best, unless you LOVE zucchini and summer squash. My family does NOT. But I was shocked at how good this casserole turned out. Everyone ate it, and we had very little leftovers, which I fed to my twins the next day. At least try it, especially if you have a zucchini-hater in the family. I'd bet they'd even eat this tasty dish. Swiss cheese overpowers the veggies. This recipe comes from Family Circle.

Seven-layer Gratin

3 medium zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/4" thick slices
1 yellow squash, cut diagonally into 1/4" thick slices
1/4 c plus 2 Tb dried bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dried sage (I substituted poultry seasoning, which is very similar)
1 Tb flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can (8.5 oz) artichoke hearts, drained (I kept the oil and threw it in the blender too)
1 scallion, trimmed and minced (I substituted green onions)
1 1/2 c shredded Swiss cheese
3/4 c light cream
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 Tb grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix zucchini, squash, 1/4 c bread crumbs, sage, flour, 1 tsp salt, and pepper. In blender, puree artichoke hearts, scallion, 1/2 c swiss cheese, 1/4 c cream, the remaining salt, and a pinch of pepper.

2. Spread 1/3 of the squash mixture over bottom of a shallow 2-qt baking dish. Spread half of the artichoke puree over squash. Top with half of the turkey. Repeat layering; top with remaining squash mixture. Toss together the remaining 1 c swiss cheese, remaining bread crumbs and the parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over gratin. Drizzle with the remaining 1/2 c cream.

4. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or til squash is tender and top is golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Challenge Ingredient: Swiss Cheese

Although we are discussing changing the day we start new challenges, I figured I'd go ahead and post our challenge ingredient for this week today, and we can adjust things as needed later.


Our ingredient this week is SWISS CHEESE. I found out some interesting things about Swiss on About.com. It said,

"The two most famous original Swiss cheeses are Emmental and Gruyére, both of which are highly prized in fondues. There are some excellent American cheesemakers who closely follow Swiss traditons and make very tasty facsimiles of Emmentaler and Gruyére cheeses."

In the article she also listed some great cooking tips.

• When melting Swiss cheese, avoid high heat which can cause the cheese to become rubbery. This is a special concern for low-fat versions.
• If necessary, shredded Monterey Jack cheese may be substituted for shredded Swiss cheese in equal measures. The taste won't be the same, but it should be quite palatable.
• Gruyére, Emmentaler, Swiss cheese, and raclette may be used interchangably in recipes.
• 4 ounces Swiss cheese = 1 cup shredded.
• Avoid any Swiss cheese with a gray rind. It's an indication of age and/or poor packaging.
• When serving block Swiss cheese as an appetizer or dessert, give it about 30 minutes at room temperature to get the full benefit of the flavor.
• On the other hand, if you need to grate Swiss cheese, be sure it is cold.
(By Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, About.com)

It was nice to learn a little bit more about Swiss cheese. One of my favorite things to make using Swiss is Chicken Parmesan. And, it is a recipe which can be made very easily if you are strapped for time.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:
Breaded chicken breasts
Spaghetti Sauce
Swiss Cheese
Spaghetti

Directions:
1. Bake chicken breasts according to package directions.
2. Cook spaghetti
3. After the chicken is done, cover the top of each piece with spaghetti sauce, then place a piece of Swiss cheese on top.
4. Broil for 1-2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
5. Serve with spaghetti and a nice veggie, like green beans or corn.

If you want to be more fancy about it, you can bread the chicken breasts yourself, as well as make the spaghetti sauce from scratch. But, if you're looking for a nice looking and tasting meal on the fly, this way to prepare it is a winner.