Thursday, May 20, 2010

Kharabhath and Hominy, Cajun Crab Mac n Cheese


Today, at EMW, we're having a two for one special!

Two "recipes" in one blog.

Gawd, you people are so lucky, I can hardly stand it!

The unfortunate part of the is all the food came from a box or a can. Sigh... It's like when I got married the first time... I bought my dress my a dress shop that gave away a "free honeymoon" if you bought your dress with them. You got to pick three different locations from a list and they "surprised" you at the end. We got our first choice: Asheville, NC, but the hotel ended up being Motel 6. We switched to a nearby Ramada or something after two days. You get what you pay for, folks. Except... really... this stuff actually tastes good, so I guess that was a bad analogy. Oh well. Whatever. :p

So, anywho, my lunch came out of a box, but holy yum, it was amazing. Here's the box:



Ready to eat Indian food? Sign me up. Best of all, this was only like $1. Awesome!

Here's the description:


Basically, "savory" cream of wheat. I was a little scared at first.


I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to eat all of it, considering that added up to 450 cals, so I served it over some yellow hominy. Basically, I was cleaning out my cabinets of all the things my hubby wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. Indian food, check. Hominy, check check.





So, the box suggested serving my Kharabhath with "chutney."

Let's get real. Who has chutney on hand?!? Okay, actually, I'll be honest. I don't actually know what chutney is. In fact, the only thing I've heard of is mango chutney, which seems like it would be sweet. So, I improvised.

Another item my hubby won't touch because he thinks it might be remotely healthy and therefore tasteless.

Ta da!

I took this picture outside on our little work-in-progress.





We're getting there with our little yard. :)

So, after lunch, I wrote three freelance articles. By the time I was done, hubby was home. I had planned to make crab cakes and macaroni and cheese (Yes, I know. I'm such a gourmet.), but after I opened the first can, I realized I was out of eggs, thanks to my poached egg lunch yesterday.

I had an open can of pink crab and no eggs. Hm... And, a new recipe was born.

Cajun Crab Mac n Cheese

Start with crab (which I found at the 99 Cent Store). I only used one can.



and a box of mac n cheese



Boil your pasta yada yada. Drain.

Then, time for the fun. Start with some butta and the crab meat. Like so.


Next, you will need garlic powder, red pepper flakes, ground red pepper, cumin, and some other spices.

Or, you can just use this:


BAM!



Add the cheese stuff and milk. I don't measure. I just add enough milk so that it "looks right." Obviously, this isn't very scientific. In fact, it's more like magic. Yeah. That's it.



Add in your noodles, and voila!




Quite good. Quite good, my friends.

I hope you have taken away two things from these recipes: 
  1. It's possible to make a decent meal from a box or a can (because sometimes life requires such quickeries).
  2. I am obviously an awesome cook. Obviously.

Now, I'm about to write some more, and then I plan to make my way over to our miniscule gym to elliptical-ize this slightly chubby body o' mine. My sister-friend-soulmate, Charlene, may be coming to visit soon. Did I mention she's a model? Like, a real one? No pressure, or anything. :p

**Silly Survey**

Do you have any can/box dinners that taste pretty good to you?
What's your favorite short-cut tip for cooking?
Do you know what the heck chutney is?

Tootles,

7 comments:

  1. I love how you can turn KD into a gourmet meal!
    Your backyard looks great too, it's going to be so cute when you're finished!

    Do you have any can/box dinners that taste pretty good to you? Hamburger Helper Lasagna..shhh...
    What's your favorite short-cut tip for cooking? I don't know.
    Do you know what the heck chutney is? YES!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chutney is a mix of spices and veggies used in Indian cooking. It's the stuff you get as an appetizer when you go to a fancier Indian restaurant. Sometimes they are fresh, and sometimes they are pickled. Sometimes they are sweet and sometimes they are spicy.

    Mango chutney isn't all that sweet because usually it's made from bitter mangoes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have chutney in my fridge! But thats because my husband is indian lol. I made cajun mac and cheese last week but I added chicken breast to my mix. I bet crab would be tasty too.

    We are doing up our little back yard too. Right now your yard and mine look pretty much the same.

    Make sure you enter my give away. There are three chances to win and it ends tomorrow! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. i have always wanted to try hominy!

    i've found that anything Trader Joe's makes in a box or can is delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I want you to make me crab and cheese! Mmm...

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  6. My girlfriend's favorite dish that I make is my own recipe, consisting of blue box mac and cheese, and a package of hillshire farms sausages. Great food from boxes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are too cute :) Love this fun post!

    ReplyDelete

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