OMG Mac & Cheese
Inspired by Jim at Diana's Grove (Hail the Mistress of the Kitchens, mighty are his works!), I set out today to make something like the Mac & Cheese made at the Grove. Here's what I did, if you want to play along at home:
Cooked one box of pasta (in my case, whole wheat penne, 'cuz I'm trying to watch my carbs, and apparently whole wheat pasta doesn't come in macaroni shape) according to package directions. While the water for that was boiling, I chopped an onion and sweated it in 2 tbsp of butter. I added 2 tbsp of flour once the onions just started to turn golden, and stirred that until the flour bonded properly with the butter. Then I added about 1.5 cups of half-and-half (you could use milk) and stirred until the liquid thickened. By this point, the pasta was cooked and drained, and I'd thrown it back into the pot with a tab of butter to keep it from sticking and some black pepper for a bit of flavor. I grabbed some vegetables (a can each of artichoke hearts, olives, and mushrooms -- Jim always uses sun-dried tomatoes as well, but I don't dig 'em. He also uses whatever the leftover vegetables are that he has on hand, like green beans.), chopped those and tossed them, and the onion-cream sauce, and about 3 oz of cream cheese, in with the pasta, as well as more pepper and some salt. I stirred this until it was well incorporated and the cream cheese bonded with the sauce. It looked a little too thick, so I thinned it out with another splash of half-and-half, because I knew the cheese would thicken things considerably. I buttered a casserole dish and layered pasta and fistfuls of shredded cheese (I had a large bag of "Mexican blend" cheese, which seemed fine for this. We'll see how it turns out.) in the casserole until I ran out of pasta-veg. I topped it with more cheese, and placed it in a preheated (350°F) oven, and I'm impatiently waiting for the cheese to melt and the top to start to bubble and brown.
I can't wait to try it! I'll post a review when it comes out, but damn, how could this possibly go wrong?
::EDIT:: YUM. Next time, I don't need to fear the salt -- the cheese and olives did not overbrine the sauce. Tasty, tasty goodness. And fresh locally-grown peaches for dessert! *bliss*
Cooked one box of pasta (in my case, whole wheat penne, 'cuz I'm trying to watch my carbs, and apparently whole wheat pasta doesn't come in macaroni shape) according to package directions. While the water for that was boiling, I chopped an onion and sweated it in 2 tbsp of butter. I added 2 tbsp of flour once the onions just started to turn golden, and stirred that until the flour bonded properly with the butter. Then I added about 1.5 cups of half-and-half (you could use milk) and stirred until the liquid thickened. By this point, the pasta was cooked and drained, and I'd thrown it back into the pot with a tab of butter to keep it from sticking and some black pepper for a bit of flavor. I grabbed some vegetables (a can each of artichoke hearts, olives, and mushrooms -- Jim always uses sun-dried tomatoes as well, but I don't dig 'em. He also uses whatever the leftover vegetables are that he has on hand, like green beans.), chopped those and tossed them, and the onion-cream sauce, and about 3 oz of cream cheese, in with the pasta, as well as more pepper and some salt. I stirred this until it was well incorporated and the cream cheese bonded with the sauce. It looked a little too thick, so I thinned it out with another splash of half-and-half, because I knew the cheese would thicken things considerably. I buttered a casserole dish and layered pasta and fistfuls of shredded cheese (I had a large bag of "Mexican blend" cheese, which seemed fine for this. We'll see how it turns out.) in the casserole until I ran out of pasta-veg. I topped it with more cheese, and placed it in a preheated (350°F) oven, and I'm impatiently waiting for the cheese to melt and the top to start to bubble and brown.
I can't wait to try it! I'll post a review when it comes out, but damn, how could this possibly go wrong?
::EDIT:: YUM. Next time, I don't need to fear the salt -- the cheese and olives did not overbrine the sauce. Tasty, tasty goodness. And fresh locally-grown peaches for dessert! *bliss*