Manly Meal: Macaroni and Cheese Beer-ger Soup

Two nights a week I find myself rather short on time given that I am taking Cardiovascular Technology classes. On those nights, I need something that either can be put into a slow cooker and forgotten about, or is quick and easy to make. Today, I was busy trying to develop new recipes for fall inspired baked goods; so I needed to make something rather quickly. I also want to make sure that even though the meal was thrown together quickly, it was hearty and filling enough for my boys.

My boys love "manly" meals. What our family considers manly meals are ones that are hearty and full of meat. You know, food that men love. Our son loves being able to bond with his dad over their love for meat and cheese. And I...while I enjoy both meat and cheese, I do not quite share their deep rooted love, but I do love making them meals they love.

That was my inspiration for tonight: Macaroni and Cheese Beer-ger Soup.

With just a handful of ingredients you get a flavorful and filling soup that the most manly of men and daintiest of women will both enjoy.

MACARONI AND CHEESE BEER-GER SOUP

(Makes 6 hearty servings)

• 1 (16oz) package of macaroni (I like to use rice macaroni)
• 2 lbs ground sirloin
  
• 1/2 cup carrot, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp flour
  
• 2 (12 oz) cans beer
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 12 oz American cheese
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese , shredded
• salt and pepper, to taste
• hot sauce, optional
  

1. Before you start on your soup base, get a big pot of salted water boiling. Once it has come to a rolling boil, add your macaroni. Cook your macaroni until al dente, or slightly chewy in the middle. Drain, rinse, and reserve for a little later on.
   
2. Saute carrots, onion, celery and garlic in vegetable oil until tender. Whisk flour into sauteed vegetables and allow to cook for 1 minute while whisking constantly. You do not want your soup tasting of raw flour.
3. Add beer to vegetable/flour mixture and whisk until all the flour has dissolved into beer. Add water, chicken broth and milk. Bring to a light simmer. Turn down burner and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
4. While the soup base is simmering, in a separate pan, brown and drain your ground sirloin.
   
5. Add sour cream and American cheese. Stir until well incorporated. Also add your macaroni and browned ground sirloin.
   
6. Add remaining cheese and stir until all the cheese has melted and been incorporated. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce (if using).

I hope you enjoy your manly meal. Happy cooking!

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pure Decadence

Yesterday my darling friend Izzy, had our family, along with a few other friends, over to her house for a barbecue. And of course, besides bringing a side dish, I had to make something sweet to end the meal.

I found this the perfect opportunity to make Smitten Kitchen's absolutely drool-worthy Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies that she most recently blogged about. If there is something that my family really loves, it is chocolate. And, if there is something that my husband and son really love, it is brownies. I quite enjoy cheesecake, but the boys in my house (ie: the hubby and little monkey) are not really fans. So having cheesecake is rather a rare occurrence. However, when I showed my husband the amazing pictures of the brownies, he agreed that they definitely looked to be worth trying.

That was all the indication I needed to make them. Enough said.

As I went into the kitchen, laptop in tow, to start preparing the brownies; I noticed that the recipe was only meant to yield an 8 x 8 pan worth. Normally, I would just double to recipe to accommodate our larger crowd. Unfortunately for me, I only had enough unsweetened chocolate and cream cheese on hand for one batch; a result of a busy week of baking experiments. I also did not have enough time to go to the store to restock, bake, and cool the brownies before the event. So I started thinking about what could be paired with the brownies to extend this recipe to fit in a 9 x 13 pan. After some thinking, I figured chocolate chip cookies would be a great accompaniment to these decadent looking brownies. Specifically, a brown sugar chocolate chip cookie dough (since, once again, this week's baking had left me extremely low on granulated white sugar). The recipe is at the end of this blog.

And behold, these chewy, chocolaty, rich bits of heaven were born.

Everyone raved about these cheesecake-marbled brownie chocolate chip cookies bars (I might have to come up with a shorter name) last night. And the left over brown sugar chocolate chip cookie dough makes lovely cakey, crispy on the edges, cookies. A perfect Sunday afternoon: some brown sugar chocolate chip cookies and an ice cold glass of milk. Decadence!

BROWN SUGAR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(Makes about 3-4 dozen. Recipe adapted from Baking Blonde.)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (I used shortening, it yields a cakier cookie)
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp Kosher salt (I used 1/2 tsp regular salt)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used semisweet mini chips)
• 2 tbsp water (omit this if using butter)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

1. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl; set aside.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar until thoroughly blended.
3. Add eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
4. Then add dry ingredients and mix just until all the flour is blended.
5. Gently fold in your chocolate pieces.
6. Scoop desired size of dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies and your oven) or until cookies are just turning golden brown.
8. Cool cookies on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack until cooled completly. Serve or store in airtight container.