Wednesday Dinner

Last night's dinner was just what we needed after leaving the table unsatisfied on Tuesday. I made homemade mac & cheese and homemade collards. I confess it was the first time I tried making collards from scratch - I always just get Margaret Holmes or Glory Foods brands in the can (which are darned tasty). But I made them from scratch this time because I had that lovely ham bone left over from Easter and I couldn't bear to just throw it out. I always use the one from Christmas to make split-pea soup, but that's really a cold-weather dish. I searched out ways to use my ham bone in (that sounds vaguely dirty, doesn't it? LOL), and collards were just about the only non-soup recipe suggested.

Now, as to why I'd never made collards before. Well, it's largely because my cooking experience is far more high-end than low-end. That's partly because those are the recipes that always interested me most. And it's also due to having a Midwestern mother. I just didn't grow up with Southern foods like collards at the table. Now The Kid pointed out that my collards weren't "really homemade" because I took a shortcut and started with frozen, bagged collards instead of fresh. I said that was hair-splitting, like saying that homemade mac & cheese isn't homemade unless you make the pasta from scratch, too.

I cut as much of the leftover ham off the bone as I could and set it aside. (This is long after we removed the sliced ham and cut away the big chunks. This is just what was clinging close to the bone.) I placed the bone in a large stock pot, covered with water, and simmered over medium heat for about 3 hours, or until the bone was clean and made a rich broth. I removed the bone, strained out all the little solid bits, then added 2 bags of frozen collards to the pot. I brought to a boil for 3 minutes, then reduced heat and simmered for another 45. To season, I added lots of salt, about 1/4 cup sugar, several dashes liquid smoke, and several dashes hot sauce. At the very end, I added all the reserved ham, which I had chopped (about 1 cup). We passed vinegar and more hot sauce at the table. These came out AWESOME. Now I won't say I'll never go back to canned because I just can't see going to all this time and trouble on a regular basis. But I'll definitely be doing this again...and again...and again.

My mac & cheese is as basic as you can get, but I think it's about as good as you can get, too. I just melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan or skillet, then add 1/4 cup flour. I cook the roux for about 4 - 5 minutes, or until it's fragrant and lightly golden, then add about 4 cups of milk. (I use 2% because that's what we buy.) I season with plenty of salt (although The Kid always says I don't use enough), pepper, dried mustard, paprika, and a little nutmeg, then bring the sauce to a simmer to thicken. I remove from the heat for about 10 minutes to cool a little, then stir in one 8oz bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I fold the sauce in to my cooked macaroni (1 lb. box) in a large casserole dish. I top with Panko breadcrumbs - about 1/2 cup, mixed with 1 T. melted butter. Then I bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Totals:

$3 - collards (2 bags, frozen)
.40 - macaroni (B2G3 free sale at HT)
$1.50 - cheddar cheese (BOGO sale at HT)
free - milk (free coupon from Kelloggs for buying cereal)
.25 - butter, breadcrumbs

$5.15 for dinner for 3, with leftover mac & cheese for at least 3 more servings, and leftover collards to feed an army