Avocado Mac-a-chee
I came across this Stovetop Avocado Mac and Cheese recipe a couple-three weeks ago and promptly determined that It Must Be Tried. But what with one thing and another, many days passed...
I finally got it together tonight. ZOMGWOWGOOD!!!
And now, here's what I actually did:
We boiled water and threw in a pound box of small shells (because I didn't have the traditional elbow macaroni).
I threw half a head of garlic (yes, I really did), half a seeded jalapeño, a few random pieces of leftover onion, a hefty handful of branches of cilantro (stems and all) lopped into shorter pieces, and three avocados into the food processor. I pulsed it a few times and then let it buzz for a bit.
Then I stirred down the chunks that got thrown up and stuck, added a handful or so of shredded cheese and about 3/4 cup of milk (guesstimate; I didn't actually measure it). A few more pulses to mix, and then buzzed until smooth. I would have added more cheese at this point, but somewhere in there the pasta had finished cooking already, so I dumped the avocado goo and about two cups more shredded cheese into the pasta and stirred it all together.
Next time I'll know not to start the pasta until I'm certain the avocado goo will be ready; if I'd had a little more time I wanted to have all the cheese already mixed into the goo before adding it to the pasta. (Admittedly if I'd been in my own kitchen, things would have gone a bit faster for me, since I don't have to ask where stuff is, so it might be ok.) Fortunately the pasta was still warm enough to melt the cheese, though, so that was all right.
I don't like pepper jack, so I used half sharp cheddar and half Mexican blend. I prefer to use the finer fancy shredded because it melts faster than the regular, which was A Good Thing this time.
I saw no good reason to dirty up another dish to wash just to have a white sauce to adulterate the cheese, and that was a decision I'll stand by. I see no need to make a white sauce at all. So I didn't use any butter at all.
I forgot to add the lime juice and the salt and pepper. I'm not certain there's any need for black pepper, especially since I used the jalapeño. I did miss the salt a little, and the lime juice (we squeezed some over it after the fact) does make a difference, so I need not to forget that again.
Crossposted from http://montuos.dreamwidth.org/919414.html ;
comments on original post. If you do not have a Dreamwidth ID and you want to read comments on protected posts there, you can log in with OpenID using your LJ ID. Also, I have 17 Dreamwidth invite codes if you want one.
I finally got it together tonight. ZOMGWOWGOOD!!!
And now, here's what I actually did:
We boiled water and threw in a pound box of small shells (because I didn't have the traditional elbow macaroni).
I threw half a head of garlic (yes, I really did), half a seeded jalapeño, a few random pieces of leftover onion, a hefty handful of branches of cilantro (stems and all) lopped into shorter pieces, and three avocados into the food processor. I pulsed it a few times and then let it buzz for a bit.
Then I stirred down the chunks that got thrown up and stuck, added a handful or so of shredded cheese and about 3/4 cup of milk (guesstimate; I didn't actually measure it). A few more pulses to mix, and then buzzed until smooth. I would have added more cheese at this point, but somewhere in there the pasta had finished cooking already, so I dumped the avocado goo and about two cups more shredded cheese into the pasta and stirred it all together.
Next time I'll know not to start the pasta until I'm certain the avocado goo will be ready; if I'd had a little more time I wanted to have all the cheese already mixed into the goo before adding it to the pasta. (Admittedly if I'd been in my own kitchen, things would have gone a bit faster for me, since I don't have to ask where stuff is, so it might be ok.) Fortunately the pasta was still warm enough to melt the cheese, though, so that was all right.
I don't like pepper jack, so I used half sharp cheddar and half Mexican blend. I prefer to use the finer fancy shredded because it melts faster than the regular, which was A Good Thing this time.
I saw no good reason to dirty up another dish to wash just to have a white sauce to adulterate the cheese, and that was a decision I'll stand by. I see no need to make a white sauce at all. So I didn't use any butter at all.
I forgot to add the lime juice and the salt and pepper. I'm not certain there's any need for black pepper, especially since I used the jalapeño. I did miss the salt a little, and the lime juice (we squeezed some over it after the fact) does make a difference, so I need not to forget that again.
Crossposted from http://montuos.dreamwidth.org/919414.html ;
comments on original post. If you do not have a Dreamwidth ID and you want to read comments on protected posts there, you can log in with OpenID using your LJ ID. Also, I have 17 Dreamwidth invite codes if you want one.