My friend Phill came into town for the week this week, and I had told him a few weeks ago that I would make him anything he wanted for dinner while he was here. His request was Crab Cakes, Macaroni and Cheese, and some sort of pie.
Since all of that is far too much for one blog post, I'll be breaking it down over the next few entries. Today we'll start with the Mac and Cheese.
This isn't just any mac and cheese. This is serious mac and cheese. No joke. I'm a Kraft kind of girl...I've never really loved homemade macaroni and cheese. Real cheese doesn't taste as cheesy as fake cheese. Which is weird, I know, but it's true.
So, Phill sent me the recipe for macaroni and cheese that he wanted, and I dusted off my metaphoric apron, and got to work.
This really isn't that complicated of a recipe, it just seems like it is. There are a lot of steps, but overall, it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.
Ingredients Needed:
1/2 lb pasta(the recipe called for elbow, but I used shells instead)
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup finely diced onion(i only used 1/4 cup, and that was plenty)
1 stem rosemary, bruised
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 large egg
6 oz gouda
6 oz gruyere
Topping(Optional, I left it off per Phill's instructions)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 tbsp butter
To Make:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain, and set aside. Grate cheeses.
In a medium to large saucepan, melt the butter and then add flour to make a roux. Cook until flour taste is gone...usually about 2 minutes or so. Make sure there are no lumps, then add ground mustard and paprika. Whisk in and cook for 1 minute. Add the onion, and rosemary stem, cook another 1-2 minutes. Pour in cream and milk, whisking constantly. Simmer this mixture for about 8-12 minutes, making sure it never boils. Temper and egg(add about 1 tbsp of the sauce to the egg in a separate bowl, stir it around) then add to the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove rosemary stem. Slowly add 3/4 of the cheese into the mix, and continue simmering until cheese is melted. Fold the pasta and cheese mixture together and pour into 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, and put in oven for about 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. If you want to add the breadcrumbs(and why wouldn't you, honestly) Melt the butter, then stir in breadcrumbs, then sprinkle over the cheese.
Okay, so here's the thing. When you get to the point where you have to add the pasta back in, you're going to think that you did something wrong. It's going to look like way too much sauce and not nearly enough pasta. Have faith. It will turn out fine. Better than fine, actually.
This was incredible. The taste, the texture, everything about it was great. This is probably the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had. It's not something I'll make often, because it turns out that fancy cheeses are really expensive, but it will definitely be a special occasion dish. Also, the next time I make it, it will have breadcrumb topping.
2 comments:
this was pretty great, and that's coming from a guy who spent the last thirty years telling everyone who would listen that macaroni and cheese is gross.
OK -- I've told you how proud I am of the fact that you've turned into such an inventive, adventurous cook.
Now let me tell you how wonderful I find it, in this day of ill spoken, illiterates, that my daughter can come up with the phrase "dust off my metaphoric apron." Bless you.
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