Homemade Mac N Cheese

Comfort Food At Its Best

 Warm up with homemade macaroni and cheese,

with just a hint of smoky flavor

and a little bite of chipotle peppers.

 

Well, now I've done it - I can never go back to the foil pouch of orange goo again!

As another kitchen challenge, I tried my hand at making homemade macaroni and cheese. Be warned; you won't want to eat it any other way. It's really fairly easy and doesn't require fancy ingredients (depending on just how fancy your mac and cheese will be) but it does take a little time, as do most things that are worth the extra effort.

 

Two things to remember to make great homemade macaroni and cheese: start with the best cheese you can get (obviously!) and slightly undercook the macaroni.

 

For the best cheese, grab a block and start shredding it by hand. No pre-packaged shredded cheese in a bag. It is coated in anti-caking agents and doesn't make the most optimal cheese sauce. Plus, shredding your own cheese is more cost-effective in the long run. For this recipe, I chose an apple and hardwood smoked Gouda cheese, and a sharp chipotle Cheddar cheese. I prefer strong, sharp flavors in macaroni and cheese but the choice of cheese is up to you.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups dry macaroni noodles

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1-1/2 cups milk (whole milk, or a very good 2% milk like Oberweis)

1 teaspoon dry mustard (Colman's)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

3/4 pound cheese, shredded

 

Directions:

First, cook the dry macaroni noodles. Most package cooking directions will suggest cooking for 8 to 10 minutes. To get the best results for macaroni and cheese, however, you'll want to cook the macaroni for a little less time, about 7 minutes. Otherwise, you will have mushy macaroni in the finished dish; it has to stand up to combining with the cheese sauce and baking in the oven for about half an hour. So, undercook slightly, drain and rinse with hot water. Set aside.

 

Beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside.

 

Next, make a simple roux to begin the cheese sauce. Melt butter in a large saucepan and quickly whisk in the flour until it is completely incorporated. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly over medium-low heat, until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the dry mustard.

 

Add the egg by first adding 3 tablespoons of sauce to the beaten egg in the small bowl. Whisk very quickly - this is called tempering the mixture. If you were to add the egg directly to the large pan of sauce, the egg would cook almost immediately and you would have little bits of scrambled egg in your sauce. Not quite the way it's supposed to work!

And why the egg, anyway? The egg mainly serves as a binding ingredient, allowing you to more neatly cut your mac and cheese into squares. If you don't mind your mac and cheese spilling out everywhere in freeform cheesy glory on your plate, you can omit the egg.

Above: tempering the egg.

 

When the tempered egg mixture is nice and smooth, add it to the sauce. Stir in salt and freshly ground pepper. And then... stir in all that glorious shredded cheese and keep stirring until smooth and totally incorporated in the sauce. Reserve about a half of a cup for sprinkling on top of the mac and cheese before it goes in the oven.

Butter a 2 to 2.2 quart baking dish. Pour the macaroni and cheese into the dish and top with the reserved shredded cheese. You can also use dried bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, but I really just like lots of extra cheese on top. It will become nicely browned after baking in the oven!

 

Bake the macaroni and cheese uncovered in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, then turn up the oven temperature to 375 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes to lightly brown the shredded cheese topping. It's finished when everything is bubbling hot!

Approximately 6 servings. 

 

Cheesy detail of "Better With Age" by Lonesome Road Gallery.



lent-ils!

Meatless Fridays ~
A great time to try something new!
Although the Lonesome Road doesn't observe Lenten practices, the customs and rituals of others always inspires me to try (and share) new recipes. This is one that really has become a tried-and-true favorite. Simple, inexpensive, healthy and so delicious, the Middle Eastern dish Mujadara is easily made with lentils, rice and lots and lots of caramelized onion slices. This is truly a great choice for meatless Fridays during Lent but don't be surprised if you incorporate this dish into your rotation.

Start out by sauteeing in a large, deep skillet:
2 medium onions, sliced
in 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
Cook onions until they are deeply brown and caramelized, even a bit "crunchy." Remove the onions to a paper towel-lined plate.

Add 1 cup of long-grain rice (I love to use jasmine rice) and 1 cup of lentils to the skillet. Quickly saute the rice and lentils in the caramelized onion oil, adding
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper

Add 3 cups of water to the rice-lentil mixture and bring to a boil. Cover the skillet very tightly then cook over low heat for at least 25 to 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender.

To serve, top with the crispy browned onions.
Serves 4.
(Although lentils typically do not require soaking in water, I've found that a 1 or 2 hour soaking before preparing this dish helps the lentils cook in exactly the same amount of time as the rice, without becoming mushy.)

Can't get enough bean recipes for meatless Lent Fridays?

Check out these Cuban Black Beans!

summertime, and the living is easy...

Couscous makes hot weather cooking a breeze...

It certainly would be nice to be able to pick up take-out every night during a hot spell, but who can afford that for long? Sure, you can roll out the grill again. And again. And again. But sometimes you just want something fast, simple and fresh. This is when I turn to couscous.

Couscous is basically a North African semolina pasta rolled into small grains. There are many quick-cooking varieties to be found, most taking only five minutes to prepare. You can purchase couscous mixes already seasoned or flavored, but these tend to be a bit pricey. It's just as easy, less expensive, and healthier to create a delicious hot or cold couscous dish with simple ingredients found in your own pantry.

For this Mediterranean-inspired couscous salad that I created, I started out with beautiful RiceSelect tri-color couscous made with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. Bonus: RiceSelect products are packaged in BPA-free jars.

Following package directions, prepare couscous to equal two cups when finished. RiceSelect directions are: bring one cup of water to boil (you can also use broth) and add one cup of dry couscous. Remove from heat, cover with lid and wait for five minutes. Fluff with a fork.

For my Mediterranean-Inspired Couscous, add the following ingredients to your two cups of prepared couscous:

• One 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• One 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (or fresh if your garden is overflowing with tomato goodness!)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano (we grew Greek oregano this year and it's what I used for this recipe)
• Juice of one large lemon
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (olive or safflower are good)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

And that's all folks! Combine all ingredients thoroughly and allow time to chill in the refrigerator. This makes a terrific vegetarian/vegan dish, but if you like, a bit of chicken, grilled tuna or feta cheese could be added; add lemon zest if you like even more lemony flavor; or try with green onions instead of the sweeter red onions.

'shroom power!

Pasta with Shiitake

Mushroom Sauce

Rich-tasting yet healthy, this pasta dish is perfect for a light lunch, or as a special first course. The intense flavors of the shiitake mushrooms is perfectly complemented by the aromatic garlic and the tanginess of the yogurt. I enjoy this sauce on a broad noodle like pappardelle (as shown in the photograph) or on festive tri-color or spinach fettuccine.

Shiitake mushrooms are among my favorites. Their meaty chewiness is so satisfying and they are incredibly good for you as well. Shiitake mushrooms contain twice the protein of other mushrooms, making them a great choice for vegans and vegetarians, and researchers have found that a raw shiitake eaten daily for a week lowered serum cholesterol by 12%. Other health claims attributed to shiitakes include anti-cancer properties, and boosts to the immune system.

But really, I eat them because... I simply like them.

(I made a few changes to the original recipe as published in the book "Simply In Season" by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. Despite my love of the toothsome texture of shiitake mushrooms, I wasn't fond of the appearance of the finished sauce as written in this recipe. I chose to puree everything into a sauce in the blender, and I think the choice was a good one. It's up to you to decide what kind of texture and look that you prefer; the flavor is the same no matter what, but I think the dish looks more appealing when the sauce is blended.)

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2-1/2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons sherry or broth (I like to make a quick shiitake broth from the mushrooms' stems and a garlic clove in one cup of water while the mushrooms and onions are sauteeing. This really brings out the shiitake flavor in the finished sauce.)
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2/3 cup water or broth
• 1 cup plain yogurt at room temperature

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute mushrooms, onion and salt for about 10 minutes or until onions are transparent and soft.

Stir in sherry or broth. Turn heat to low and slowly sprinkle in flour, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes until all flour is incorporated.

Add garlic and black pepper and continue to cook and stir over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn.

Stir water or broth, and room temperature yogurt, whisk until completely incorporated and heated throughout. Serve over hot cooked pasta and top with grated Parmesan cheese.
** See above - I made some changes to this recipe; I prefer the sauce to be smooth and blended.
Serves 4 to 6.

soup of the evening, beautiful soup!

Beautiful Soup, so rich and green,

Waiting in a hot tureen!

Who for such dainties would not stoop?

Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

- Lewis Carroll

Bright green in color and smooth as silk, this Spring Velvet Soup is rich, lush, packed with vitamins and minerals, and is very low-fat. The flavor is very similar to split pea soup, and its thick, creamy texture is achieved with potatoes, not with traditional thickeners or dairy products.

I've adapted this recipe from a terrific cookbook purchased at a farmers' market: "Simply in Season" by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. The book encourages all of us to eat fruits and vegetables in season for freshness, taste, nutrition, variety, environment and local health.

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large leek, diced - white part and 1 inch of green
• 1 large stalk celery, diced
• 2 teaspoons dried tarragon (or 2 tablespoons fresh)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 5 or 6 medium potatoes (about 3 cups), peeled and diced
• 1 bunch spinach, torn (about 2 or 3 handfuls)

In a large saucepan, saute onion, leeks and celery in olive oil over medium-low heat until wilted and not browned, about 15 minutes. Add tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper and combine well. Add broth and potatoes. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Add spinach and simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove soup from heat. Puree soup in small batches in a blender or food processor. Return soup to pan and place over low heat to continue heating.

If you like, 1/2 cup of milk can be added to the soup. Also, taste for seasonings. Garnish with a swirl of plain yogurt, sprigs of fresh herbs, or pretty chive blossoms.

Serves 4 to 6.