Cold, damp, snowy winter. And unless you ski (we don't) or snowboard (we tried) or snowshoe (not yet) - the cold days tend to lend themselves to making good, home-cooked comfort foods.
I'm surprised I'm not 700 pounds. Good genes, I suppose.
And on the make this time was a nice, creamy mac n cheese that sticks to your ribs and has left-over qualities that go beyond just finishing off what's in the fridge to save from tossing them!
So, grab some noodles, grab some cheese. And if you're like me - grab some friends to share this wonderful meal with!
Makes: lots.
Plan on a few extra foil pans so you can freeze it for later
900g elbow macaroni
5 slices bacon, diced
2 small onions, diced
3 stalks green onion, diced
6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp flour
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
1 tsp crushed chilies (optional)
1 Tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 c grated cheese - I used a combination
4 Tbsp cream cheese
4-5 c milk
Salt & pepper to taste (be careful with the salt, as cheese can tend to be salty)
Start by frying the bacon over medium heat, until crisp. For some reason, comfort food these days usually involves bacon. Remove from pan and reserve, drained for later use.
Drain most of the fat from the bacon out of the pan and add a little dash of vegetable oil. Over the same medium heat, saute the diced onion, stirring often. These onions are actually going to be caramelized slightly - this makes them sweet and delicious!! Take about 8-10 minutes, keeping a watchful eye on them.
Just before you remove them from the pan, sprinkle them with your spices and stir well. Those onions are going to be a GREAT addition to the mac n cheese! Don't stress if you don't have all the spices - they are an addition that heightens the flavour of the sauce, but you can certainly do without. And next time you're at the grocery store - stock up on some new flavours!
Next comes making your cheese sauce.
Oh. This makes a lot of cheesy sauce!!
The first step is making the roux. This is the stuff that's going to make your cheese sauce nice and thick.
Over medium heat, melt your butter. When it just starts to bubble, add the flour.
Don't panic. That ugly clump in the bottom of the pan will get better, I promise! Just keep stirring. Lots. The butter is going to help brown the flour, and create this really great nutty smell. Mmmmmm! And, it's going to cook that flour taste out of the flour. Cool, hey?
This step can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Be sure not to burn the roux - it happens fast and you will have to start over. So - best advice.....do this step while doing nothing else.
The longer you cook the roux, the darker it will become. The nuttier it will become. The better it will become. So - up to you at this point!
When the roux is the colour you want, it's time to add the milk. And don't go adding ALL the milk at once - save some in case you want a thicker sauce, or need to add more to make a thinner sauce. Again - up to you at this point! Just remember - the cheese is also going to thicken the sauce so err on the side of thinner than thicker.
So - ready to add the milk?? WAIT!! Make sure you got a good whisk, and start whisking!! It's going to bubble and fart at first - then keep stirring over medium heat until the sauce has come to a boil. See how thick it is? That's as thick as it's going to get - once it comes to a boil. Add more milk if you think it's thick. Remember - the cheese is going to make it thicker.
(A tip here I like, is to heat the milk before adding it to the roux. There is not right or wrong, just my preference).
Add the reserved bacon and spiced onions. Stir well and remove the sauce from the heat. It's now time to add the cheese!!
This is a bit of a slow process, adding the grated cheese. I had help. Do it a bit at a time, or else your sauce will get gritty. Same for keeping it off the heat - it will get gritty if you try to do too much too fast.
If you think the sauce has cooled too much to add more cheese in an effective manner, feel free to reheat, stirring often.
When you have all the cheese well incorporated, go ahead and add the final touches - the cream cheese and the diced greet onions.
Taste, taste again and (I won't tell) grab a few pieces of bread to taste even more. Mmmmm. Yummy?? You bet!
Keeping your cheese sauce off the heat, go ahead and make your noodles. And drain them. Don't be scared to leave them a bit more al dente than you usually would, as this is a baked mac n cheese, so the noodles will cook a bit more when it the oven.
Now, pick your weapon! I mean pan. A baking pan, casserole dish - anything that's got some nice, high side!
Measure noodles into the pan, enough noodles to fill it nearly to the top. Transfer noodles to a large mixing brown and start spooning that glorious cheese sauce on!
Then, transfer your cheesed noodles back into your baking pan! Then, for good measure - go ahead and spoon some more cheese on the top for good measure.
From 900g of noodles, I managed to get one large pan and 2 smaller pans (for freezing) and used all of the cheese sauce. For freezing, let cook, cover well with plastic wrap and pop into the freezer. You can add the crumb topping (follows) when thawed and ready to bake.
So - ready for the topping? Easy. Grab 1 cup of crumbs. Any kind of crumbs. This time around, I used crushed Goldfish. But I've also been known to use ripple chips, corn chips, chopped/dried bread - anything!
Melt 3-4 Tbsp butter in a small pot, add the crumbs and layer them on top of your mac n cheese heaven.
Bake in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top has become a wonderful golden brown.
Let cool for about 15 minutes before digging in.
Enjoy this comfort meal with.....anything! Or as a meal on it's own (I won't tell).
--The Cook
Now I WANT Mac n' Cheese! Really enjoyed this blog! :)
ReplyDeleteWell my dear - grab yourself a block of cheese and some noodles and we'll whip up a batch together! More people just means more kinds of cheese!!
ReplyDelete