Mac and Cheese!

[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.