Spicy Garlic & Pancetta Mac 'n' TENANT-cheese AT WILL & Montreal Steak

Okay, okay. I hope you are as excited for this as I am. It's DELICIOUS! Every single part of it. EVERY. SINGLE. PART. But there are two things you need to know first: 1. If you have never tasted montreal steak seasoning before, then get ready to have your mind blown. and 2. Seriously, prepare yourself -- your mind WILL BE BLOWN! Oh...and the Mac 'n' Cheese is pretty darn awesome too.

There is nothing worse than mac 'n' cheese with too much pasta, too little cheese, or lack of any flavor. You don't have to worry about that here though. This might be the best mac 'n' cheese that I have ever had...I might have to sneak in to the kitchen after this post and have a second helping (oh yes, it is definitely happening). The mac 'n' cheese has the PERFECT ratio of pasta, to pancetta, to cheese. It's ooey gooey and absolutely delicious (and left overs the next day are just as good). YUM!

Please enjoy :)

What you'll need for...

the Mac 'n' Cheese:
- 1/2 box of ziti pasta
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/3 lb pancetta, thick cut
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 12 oz of cheese (I used equal parts Pepper Jack, Swiss, and Sharp Cheddar)
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (or more depending on taste)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed

the Steaks:
- 1 inch Steaks
- McCormick Montreal Seasoning (possibly the best thing on earth)
- olive oil

How you make it...

the Mac 'n' Cheese:

  I made a special trip to the market and got the pancetta sliced very thick. The lady at the counter said it was size 8. Two slices equaled about a 1/3 of a lb and it was the perfect amount once chopped up. Nothing beats getting a surprise piece of yummy pancetta in each bite of pasta! Mmmmm.... I'm drooling just thinking about it again.  

    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the pasta, but under cook it just a little (it will finish cooking in the oven later), drain, and set aside.

    Next dice the pancetta. In a small pot, fry up the pancetta pieces until nice and crispy but not over cooked! Remove the pancetta, and in the same pot, melt the butter. Once melted, add in the flour and whisk until all of the lumps are gone. After a minute or two, add in the milk. Make sure to continue whisking the mixture so that it doesn't burn on the bottom. I'm Jewish. After 3-4 minutes, the mixture will thicken. Continue whisking and add in the crushed garlic, pepper, pepper flakes, salt, and cheese (minus a handful). Cook on medium heat until completely melted.

   Place the pasta back into the large pot and pour in the cheese mixture, pancetta pieces, and extra chunks of cheese. Mix well and then pour it into a 9'' pie dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it rest before eating so that all of the cheese becomes yummy and gooey! Then NOM away!!! (OMG IT'S SO GOOD!!)

the Steak:

   It's so simple! Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat both sides of the steaks with montreal seasoning. Don't be scared to use a lot of seasoning! Next, in an iron skillet heat some olive oil (be liberal with it). When the skillet is nice and hot, place the steaks in and hear the sizzle. After a minute, flip and admire the beauty. After another minute, place the entire skillet in the oven and let it finish cooking for about 10 minutes. Take it out of the oven, let it rest before cutting for 5 mins, and then enjoy with delicious A1 steak sauce. DIG IN!

Legal Pun Links: Tenancy at Will

TRIAL Mix Cookies

Happy finals season! It's that time of year again (you know, the part that actually matters). Time to put pen to paper (or in our generation's case, fingers to computer keys) and spill out everything we know. This urge to throw anything and everything at our exam page got me thinking....TRAIL MIX -- a mix of odds and ends that somehow come together to make the most delicious of snacks. But let's be honest, trail mix is way too healthy to be my snack of choice during finals. That's what I came up with the TRAIL Mix Cookie! Unhealthy, delicious, and an awesome legal pun -- aka, perfection! Bake away my fellow procrastinators, BAKE AWAYYYYY!!!

What you'll need:
- 1 1/5 cups oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups trail mix*

*the trail mix can be whatever you want it to be! I used dark chocolate M&Ms, chopped dried apricots, dried unsweetened coconut flakes and chopped almonds.


How you make it:

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Next, in a stand mixer, cream the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together. When this is all well mixed, add in the egg and vanilla extract. continue mixing until fluffy. Then slowly add in the rest of the ingredients and continue to mix until it is all incorporated.

The mixture will be sticky so either risk getting your fingers a little sticky, or use a spoon to form 1inch dough balls. Place them on a baking sheet and bake these bad boys in for 9-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely before trying to take them off of the cookie sheet. And enjoy :)