#7 Macaroni Salads!

Shownotes for #7 Macaroni Salad!

The music for the opening and ending of the show is Fast Food Rampage by the The Touch Ups, courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network.

Stuff you need to know for this show's recipe:

All the recipes here are an hour or less. Active time for preparing the macaroni salad is less than 30 minutes. You then need to let the salad sit in the refrigerator for an hour to let the flavors blend. Total preparation time (refrigerator to mouth) is 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The podsafe music used in the show:

I'm happy to feature Sail Away by Now is Now from Portland, Maine on today's podcast. This song has been around. It think C. C. Chapman first played it early last Spring. But has recently become available on the Podsafe Music Network, so here it is.

Here is the recipe I describe in the show:

Classic Macaroni Salad

Juice of one or two fresh lemons

2 to 5 tbs sugar or Spenda, according to taste

8 oz mayonnaise

1 tsp. celery seed

12 oz elbow macaroni

1 red bell pepper, finely diced

3 stalks of celery, finely diced

3 tbs flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Cook the macaroni for the longest time given on the box. Drain and dump immediately into ice water. After 5 minutes, drain again.

In a very large bowl, mix the sugar with lemon juice until the sweet and sour flavors are evenly balanced. Whisk in the mayonnaise and the celery seed. Taste and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in the macaroni for several minutes until most of the dressing is absorbed. Allow to marinate for a hour in the refrigerator.

Just before serving, stir in the chopped vegetables.

Here are some additional recipes from the show:

The Curry Macaroni Salad

1 cup of yogurt,

½ c of mayonnaise

2 tbs of vinegar

1 tbs of curry powder that you’ve warmed up in a small frying pan.

12 oz elbow macaroni

1/2 c. bottle Mango Chutney, chopped

1/4 c raisins, chopped

three scallions, finely chopped, white and green parts

Cook and chill the pasta as in the classic recipe. Mix the yogurt, mayonnaise vinegar and curry powder together in a large bowl. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir the elbow pasta into the sauce as you did with the classic salad, then marinate for an hour. Just before eating, mix in the chopped mango chutney from a bottle, the raisins and the finely chopped scallions. If you have any leftover chicken or turkey, or even tuna salad, shred it and throw that in to.

The Margarita Macaroni Salad

Juice of one or two fresh lemons

2 to 5 tbs sugar or Spenda, according to taste

8 oz mayonnaise

12 oz elbow macaroni

½ c of sour cream.

1 c Cherry tomatoes, halved, or quartered if large

1/4 c basil leaves, packed, shredded

1 ball fresh mozzarella, finely diced

Cook and chill the pasta as in the classic recipe. Mix the sauce in a very large bowl. Stir in the pasta. Let this marinate with the pasta for an hour. Just before serving fold in halved or quartered cherry tomatoes, shredded basil leaves, and tiny cubes of fresh mozzarella.

The Scandinavian Macaroni Salad

Juice of one or two fresh lemons

2 to 5 tbs sugar or Spenda, according to taste

8 oz mayonnaise

12 oz elbow macaroni

½ c Dijon mustard

¼ c sour cream

2 smoked chubs or whitefish

1/4 c fresh dill, packed

1/4 c dried cherries or cranberries, or both, chopped

Cook and chill the pasta as in the classic recipe. Mix the dressing in a very large bowl. Stir in the pasta Let marinate for an hour. In the meantime, take the meat off one or two smoked chubs or whitefish, discarding the skin and bones, and break-up the meat with a fork. Chop the dill and the dried cherries or cranberries (or both). Mix everything together just before serving, making sure the fish is even stirred into the macaroni. The fish is salty enough, but do check to see if some extra black pepper might not be needed.

Here is the shopping list for next week:

Next week I'm going to tell you about making raman noodle soups. You'll need a couple of packages of raman noodles. It doesn't matter what kind because you are going to throw the flavor packet away any way. So buy the cheapest you can find.
A head of garlic
A knob of fresh ginger
Some scallions
Some dried or fresh shitake mushrooms
Assorted vegetables, such as a carrot, a few stalks of celery, bok choy, spinach, whatever you have lying around the vegetable bin of the refrigerator.
A few cups of either vegetable or chicken broth, depending on your preference. A recipe for an Asian style vegetable broth will be available in the show notes for the show.

Here is a list equipment you will need for next week:

A couple of pots. One to cook the noodles and one to simmer the broth.