Monday, July 20, 2015

My Danica's Request: Mac n' Cheese


"Yey! Finally, mommy!"
That was what my daughter shouted when she heard the news form her sisters that we'll have Mac N' Cheese for dinner.

After a foodie meet up hosted by Zomato at Shang Palace, in Shangri La Makati I made sure to drop by Landmark to get some cheese for Ina Garten's recipe that I got from Foodnetwork.com.  The recipe called for sharp cheddar cheese and Gruyere.  But since I'm a personally imposed cheapskate, I just bought 250 gms. of Gruyere and thought of using Eden cheese which I have at home, you know frugal matters.

How I slightly tweaked the recipe somehow was successful and our meal turned out okay.  Yet to me it kinda needed more sharpness from the cheese.  Eden as we moms know it is very mild and less salty, which btw is perfect for sandwiches, however, I realized our Mac n cheese could be better if I have followed the said recipe stringently.


Posting here the real recipe, and as I have said, I replaced the need for extra-sharp cheddar with the commercial Eden cheddar bar.  I also omitted the tomatoes, as my kids might find it weird with red colored stuff on the cheesy based pasta.  You can follow what I did or use the actual ingredients.

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)



To do:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

3. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

4. Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.


1 comment:

  1. Hey Joy! It's been a while. I can't wait to try out this recipe with all it's cheesy goodness. It must be both sinful and expensive with all the cheese! :)

    Cheers,
    Jay

    ReplyDelete

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