Saturday - February 19, 2011

Easy Cheesy Goodness

Pretty much a direct steal from The Joy of Cooking, with just a few small enhancements. But unlike most Drew recipes, this one is NOT over the top. You can even leave out the onions if they don’t agree with you.

There is this side dish in America called “Mac ‘n Cheese”. It comes out of a thin blue box. It’s easy to prepare, and it doesn’t cost much. The result is a sticky orange substance on your plate. Children will eat it, and with a couple hot dogs it makes a meal, sans veg. But it’s a sin against real food. It’s barely macaroni. It certainly isn’t cheese. I had a hankering for the real stuff this afternoon, so I made this recipe. Just like mother used to make, only better.

2 cups of elbow macaroni - half of a 1lb box
Fill a big pot of water, throw in a small handful of salt, and set it to boiling. You want the pasta to come out just past al dente, but not watery, gooshy, limp, and overcooked.

Take a large skillet and make a roux. By which I mean, take a heaping tablespoon of flour and spread it on the uphill side of the cold pan. Take a quarter stick of butter - 2 tablespoons - and put it in the downhill corner of the pan. Turn the heat on low. Melt the butter. Take a whisk and work the warmed flour into the melted butter a little at a time until it’s all in. Keep whisking away as the mixture cooks for another 3 to 5 minutes. You want a white roux, not a brown one, so don’t cook it too long or too hot. Easy does it. [ yeah, I actually wrote that. ]

Warm 2 cups of milk in the microwave. 60-90 seconds should get it nice and toasty. Not boiling. Not hot enough for the fat to skim on top. Just not ice cold or barely lukewarm.

Mince half a medium yellow onion. Or 1/3 of a big yellow onion. Whatever. Just chop it up until the bits are less than 1/2”. You want a decent but not heaping handful. That’s plenty. You can start them simmering in a little pan if you want; softened onions have a little softer taste than raw ones.

Add the milk to the roux a half cup at a time, whisking gently. Turn the heat up a little and get the liquid close to boiling. Add 1/2 teaspoon of regular paprika and toss in a couple bay leaves. Add the onions. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, but stir it once or twice a minute.

Pull the pasta off when it’s right and drain it. Shake the colander around to get as much water out as you can. Set it aside.

Take a 2lb block of sharp cheddar cheese and cut it in half. Now cut off about another thumb’s thickness. Cut the cheese into 1/4” cubes. Take a palm’s width of Velveeta from the big block - about half a pound - and chunk it up a bit. That’s hard to do, but try.

Butter up the inside of a 9x9 baking dish. Or a round casserole dish. Don’t be cheap with the butter. Turn the oven on to 350.

Turn off the simmering milk mixture. Take out the bay leaves. Toss in all the Velveeta and half the cheddar cubes. Stir them around and they’ll melt. Now add all the macaroni, and stir it about for a couple minutes. You want to mixture to coat everything and get inside the noodles.

Pour about a third of the coated noodles into the baking dish. Give this layer a good grinding of black pepper. Then sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of seasoned breadcrumbs on it, and toss on a handful of cheddar.

Pour another third of the coated noodles in the baking dish. Give this layer a good grinding of black pepper. Then sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of seasoned breadcrumbs on it. Now cover the whole layer with 4 - 6 slices of Swiss cheese. I like the sharp kind myself, and the slices I get from the deli are about twice the usual thickness. Don’t overdo the Swiss, just don’t be cheap.

Pour in the last of the coated noodles. Again with the breadcrumbs. Toss on the last of the cheddar chunks, and if you don’t have enough to fully cover the top then slice up some more. Push the cubes down with a fork. You don’t need to bury them, just get them into the top of the noodles.

Into the oven. Come back in half an hour. Is it bubbling up around the edges yet? If not, give it another 10 minutes. Then crank the oven up to 425 to brown up the top cheese. This takes another 5 to 10 minutes, but you’ve got to check it every minute or two. Turn off the oven. Pull the baking dish out if the top cheese is looking a little too crispy. If not, leave it in while you make the rest of dinner. Better yet, make the dish at least a couple hours before dinner time, so you can pull it out and let it cool some. Then you can cut chunks off of it just like brownies. No, not the racist kind, the chocolate kind! Then you give them another shot of pepper, and a little salt, and heat your portion up for 45 seconds in the microwave.

Damn, this is good eating. It’s a $9 side dish. Eat your heart out Kra**. You can’t hold a candle to this with your silly little blue box product.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/19/2011 at 07:44 PM   
Filed Under: • Fine-Dining •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner