Mac and Cheese!

[mattl]

What's better on a cool rainy night? Plus we are celebrating my dad's first "real" meal in 2 weeks. He was in the hospital for two weeks and during that time the Dr. discovered my dad had a swallowing disorder and twisted my arm to have a PEG tube inserted. I resisted, but he won out. It's been 2+ weeks of Jevidy and water through the tube only. Long story...

Today, the speech therapist made his one and only visit and cleared him to eat soft foods again, on his way to regular food in a couple of weeks. So Mac and Cheese it was...

 

[mattl]

He has CHF and Kidney failure so no boxed mac and cheese for him, too much salt.

Here it is plated up.

 

[tuthill]

Not gonna lie

Mac and cheese is my favorite food ever! Looks like a very delicious home recipe, can you really go wrong?!?

 

[mattl]

Just a side note, this has got to be the most expensive Mac and Cheese I ever had. 18 oz. Sharp White Cheddar and 8 oz Gruyere, plus mac and milk, ~$14.00. But it tastes soooo smooth and good!

 

[tlee618]

Looks dellicious Matt, love the Friendly Village dishes as well. I have my mom's set and love them for this time of the year.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Nothing like home-made!!!

For the regular m & c, I like to buy the various "ends" that the deli packages up, then vac freeze them until I have enough of what I want. I end up with cheddar, swiss, muenster... I don't buy much of the American cheeze ends, though. Or, I buy the extra-sharp bricks when they're 2 for 1 and vac freeze those. John "Coldspott66" will attest that the vac-sealer is a great tool for helping to save $$!!

Chuck

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Can you...

Post the receipe? It looks yummy!

 

[panthera]

Oh, yes, please

The recipe would be wonderful. Sure looks good.
Here's to your dad's continued recovery.

 

[appnut]

Matt, yes the recipe please. Congratulations on your dad's advancement. And there's nothing like home-made, BAKED, M&C. Just stovetop doesn't compare. Looks wonderful!!

 

[soapnsuds]

What's on top?

It that bacon?? Looks yummy!

Glad your dad is feeling better. (I hope he's still feeling good after eating all that oil from the cheese!) And I LOVE your little salt-n-pepper shakers. Very cute.

 

[joeinfl]

That's making me hungry. I'd love that recipe also. I'll make it for Thanksgiving dinner!

 

[brisnat81]

That looks good for an all cheese Mac and Cheese, I make it with the following recipie to help absorb some of the potential greasyness.

All measurements are metric or UK Imperial.

 

[petek]

Are the boiling and baking times in metric or Imperial minutes?

 

[brisnat81]

Metric Pete, but add, 5% extra time for Imperial

Was making the diferentiation as I've had issues before with US recipies forgetting that our spoons and cups are different between countries.

My apologies if I offended.

 

[petek]

BTW glad to hear your dads on the mend Matt. I've been going thru a bit of the same with my mom and sister over the last two months, both have been in hospital as well. Mom just got out a few days ago after stomach surgery and so I'm trying to get her to eat and drink more.

 

[panthera]

Silly question, pete...

The real question is, how many hours do I add , or is it subtract, to make the baking time right for here?

(and thanks for the recipe, I am going to try it. How about a whole slew of mac and cheese recipes here?)

 

[toggleswitch2]

Well of course your tools are bigger! *WINK*

*LOL* Now there is a comfort food I never saw or had in ANY relative's home while growing up. I'm guessing the first time I ever had it was in KFC.

But then again how many of you can say you've ever had hamburgers or meatballs made of lamb?

I'd love to make that MacCheese!

 

[mattl]

Thanks for the support!

It's been a rough 4 weeks here. Early on my 93 yo dad was having difficulty walking, weak. Fell a number of times, neighbor almost carried him in when he fell in the driveway getting the paper on Monday. Got worse as the week wore on, refused to go to the hospital, I couldn't leave him alone. Finally on Thrus he said Ok, and ended up in CCU for a few days, then the rest of the time on a med floor. Went in at 127 lbs, got out at 112lbs two weeks later.

Had to deal with hospital dementia, for most of a week he wouldn't talk, just make gestures. Couldn't feed himself, his Dr. fed him breakfast a few times and found the swallowing problem. From experience I knew it was transitory, as was the dementia, but he's a very protective Dr. and twisted my arm into doing the tube. This time I was right. So, now he has to get used to eating again, but it shouldn't be too hard, he's already getting up to speed. He's back to normal, walking without cane/walker, getting into things he shouldn't.

Thanks for the support, sometimes it's pretty difficult dealing with all the various problems.

 

[mattl]

Recipe.

Wish I could claim it but it's pure Martha...

Mac and Cheese

(you can easily divide this recipe in half; use a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish if you do.)

Serves 12
6 slices good-quality white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyere or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated pecorino Romano
1 pound elbow macaroni

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread pieces in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

2. Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup pecorino Romano. Set cheese sauce aside.

4. Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer's directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup pecorino Romano; scatter breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.

 

[dalangdon]

Not to take things in the opposite direction....

But here's a "classy" treatment of the standard Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that does nicely in a pinch. (I substitute the Ritz with buttered bread crumbs, and put everything in individual casseroles)

* 1 package Kraft macaroni and cheese dinner
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper or black pepper
* 6 butter flavored crackers, crushed (like Ritz)
* 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Prepare Kraft dinner as directed on package.

Stir in 1/2 cup of the Cheddar cheese, the sour cream and pepper.

Spoon into greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese.

Combine the melted butter and cracker crumbs and sprinkle over the top.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

 

[toggleswitch2]

DVPL= Double visible panty lines.

LOL

Not realizing how ethnic my diet is (until lately), I must say the propensity for this culture (in "real" America) to consume huge quantities of dairy products* may explain the huge @$$e$ I see on the women in central Connecticut.

Lawd have mussy.

Then shove all of that (with lube, I guess) into a pair of polyester stretchy pants ("trousers"). I'm not entirely deaf but my lip-reading talents have skyrocked (against my will, of course).


* I mean if cow's milk can bring a calf to 200 lbs(figure 91kg +/-) in a year, imagine what it does for/to humans.

 

[sudsmaster]

Toggs,

Sumo wrestlers don't eat any dairy products... but they manage to get huge anyway...

Moral: calories are calories no matter what the source. Fats pack the most calories per gram... but you can get fat on carbs (and develop diabetes as an added bonus).

Moi, I just got slightly too high blood pressure in a test. Rather than go on the meds, I've revamped my diet to reduce greatly the amount of salt I consume (I'm a salt-o-holic), and increase the veggies/salads. Exercise is next. Weight loss it a good goal. Hey, to get all this done I gotta get off the damn computer. Ta for now!

 

[bajaespuma]

For anyone near NYC

There's a Belgian restaurant in my old neighborhood, on the Northeast corner of 20th and 1st Avenue called "La Petite Abeille"(the little honeycomb) that serves, among other goodies, the best damn macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten in a restaurant. All I can say is they used monster rigatoni, pieces of country ham, and a creamy cheese sauce flecked with nutmeg. Uncommonly good!!! That they serve the stuff in a big "cafe au lait" bowl just puts lustre on the lily. Great place.

For home cooking, I've found that using real cheese is great for taste but not for texture, unfortunately nothing beats Velveeta for that, heresy though it may be. My Mother-surrogate, Ola Mae Gravett used to make the best mac and cheese; her's was oven baked and had eggs in the mix so it came out a little like a cheesy custard.

I've been researching mac and cheese for a long time and it appears that this most American of dishes was probably brought over here by Thomas Jefferson who loved Italian food and served it to guests at Monticello. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if our Mac 'n' Cheese wasn't a decendant of my other favorite pasta dish, Spaghetti Carbonara(an incredibly simple dish that is incredibly difficult to prepare correctly; I've had it badly prepared even in Rome{where I've also had stellar versions of it}).

Ken's Carbonara:
(Serves One)

1 lb. Plain Old Spaghetti(don't mess with this)
Big pot of salted water for boiling
4 of the freshest eggs you can procure
8 rashers of the best bacon you can afford(or guanciale,if you're a fancy-pants)
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper(I'm not kidding)
1 medium sized yellow onion, minced(optional)
4 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
Small bunch fresh parsley, chopped fine(optional)

1. Cook the bacon until slightly crisp. Remove from pan with slotted spoon leaving most of the fat in pan. Reserve bacon.
2. Cook onion in pan over slow heat until translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Start pasta water NOW and lower heat on onion to allow them to "melt" into fat.
3. Have all ingredients prepared and ready while water heats. Crack eggs and beat them slightly.
4. When water boils, add spaghetti and stir to make sure strands don't stick together. Expect pasta to be done in 9 minutes.
5. While pasta cooks, "temper" eggs with hot onion and/or fat : beat eggs lightly while slowly pouring onions and/or fat into them. Add pepper; set aside.
6. When pasta is done, drain quickly and immediately throw back into pot so a little of the cooking water goes with it. Stir pasta for about 30 seconds so egg/onion mixture doesn't "seize" as soon as it hits the hot pasta. Add eggs/onion mixture and stir like crazy for a couple of seconds so pasta is coated evenly and egg mixture just barely "par" cooks to create a loose custard sauce around the strands (in my opinion it's better to err on the undercooked side than overcooked--if you're eating Carbonara you are not concerned with salmonella).
7.Throw in bacon, parsley and 1/2 of the cheese and toss.
8.Serve IMMEDIATELY in heated pasta dishes with the rest of the cheese.If you're a hedonist like me, you can use 1/2 Pecornio and 1/2 Parmiggiano or Grana Padano.