To all of you who took me to task for slighting the 50-year-old, Georgia-based Waffle House as a place to find grits, I stand appropriately chastised. Now to redeem myself:
Nationwide, the chain has sold 1,108,574,633 orders since 1955, according to company records. There are 13 Waffle Houses in Colorado. The one in Denver is at 3805 Peoria St. Addresses and telephone numbers for the others in Aurora, Boulder, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Littleton, Longmont, Loveland, Thornton, and Parker are listed in local phone directories or at wafflehouse.com.
In other food news, home cooks south of the Denver city boundary now can shop at Savory Spice Shop at 2650 W. Main St., Littleton, 720-283-2232. If you don’t want to drive anywhere, you can visit savoryspiceshop.com.
Meanwhile, the search is on as reader Susan seeks good muffin recipes. If you have some to share, let’s have ’em. She’s especially interested in recipes that include buttermilk or sour cream and orange or apricot flavors.
Lana is looking for a fruit cobbler recipe from the late Harvest restaurant at South Colorado Boulevard and East Alameda Avenue. She says it had a daily, minimally sweetened fruit cobbler, covered by a minimally sweetened whole wheat cake- type bread on top.
Anyone have a family favorite that meets her specifications?
For those of you wondering how the national Tillamook macaroni and cheese competition turned out, the winning recipe appears below.
I’m sharing it because, well, you just can’t have too many recipes for mac ‘n’ cheese.
If you’re searching for something special, let me know.
Until then, bon appetit.
Tillamook Crab and Macaroni Bake
This recipe won the $5,000 grand prize for Elizabeth Guise of Portland, Ore. For more recipes, go to tillamookcontest.com. Serves 8.
Ingredients
10 ounces rotini pasta
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups 2 percent milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
3/4 teaspoon garlic and herb Old Bay seasoning
4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces Tillamook Medium Cheddar cheese, grated
6 ounces Tillamook Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
8 ounces fresh crabmeat
3 slices white bread
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Old Bay garlic and herb seasoning
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Boil pasta in salted water until tender, drain and set aside.
Place slices of bread on baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with seasoning and bake 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and bake an additional 5 minutes until golden on both sides. Remove from oven and cool.
Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Continue stirring butter and flour mixture over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until it has a slightly nutty aroma. Pour in milk while whisking and whisk until smooth. Cook while stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes until mixture thickens. Add salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and Old Bay seasonings.
Add cream cheese and whisk until smooth.
Remove from heat and add grated cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in peppers, onions, shallots and cilantro. Stir in pasta and gently fold in crab meat. Spray a large shallow (12-by-1 1/2-inch
ceramic casserole dish with pan spray. Pour in filling and spread out evenly.
Grate toasted bread slices and sprinkle over filling. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Let casserole rest for 5 minutes. Serve with a sliced tomatoes and green salad.
Staff writer Ellen Sweets can be reached at 303-954-1284 or esweets@denverpost.com.
