"the gourmet club", february edition
One rainy Mardi Gras night, my friend Amy said that it would be great if her husband Don and I had a home-Iron Chef competition. Bring it on, I said. We never did but the whole concept turned into something that she called "The Gourmet Club".
So now, my wife and I, Amy and Don and three other couples get together on a monthly basis and we cook to a specific theme. It's great fun actually and we hosted the February 2003 edition with the theme "Comfort Food".
Several days before this event, I realized that lots of comfort food (well, at least with this group) was made up of starch and cheese. So, I wouldn't call this the most balanced of dinners. We made an extra dish (chicken pot pie) to give some sanity...the dish we did plan to make was good old fashioned (sort of) macaroni and cheese.
Before last weekend, I had never made this from scratch. I didn't eat much of the boxed kind either except when I was camping. So, it was an education or sorts.
Tom clued me into what turned out to be the key to really tasty mac and cheese: don't pre-cook the macaroni. Yes, I know it sounds insane but it really works. Here's what'cha do:
- 9-10 oz of your favorite macaroni or pasta
- 2 cups white sauce (2 TBSP flour, 3 TBSP butter, make a white roux with the flour and butter, add 2 cups of heated milk to pan offheat, return to heat to just simmering)
a bunch of your favorite cheeses (fresh asiago, cotswold, cheddar, gruyere are a few I use) about 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups depending on your cheese needs
- butter
- white pepper, salt for seasoning
- some sort of topping that will crisp up (optional), I used fresh bread crumbs whizzed up with a bit of butter to make (duh) buttered bread crumbs
0. Heat oven to 375°.
1. Buttter a baking dish (I use a ceramic high-sided oval casserole dish)
2. Grate/crumble the cheese
3. Make the white sauce.
4. Stir in cheese into the white sauce (save some for the top at the end) until sauce is smooth and cheese is melted. Then add about 1/2 cup of milk to thin the sauce slightly. Taste and season as necessary.
5. Pour pasta/macaroni into baking dish.
6. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and stir until pasta is coated.
7. Smooth the top and evenly spread the remaining grated cheese over the top.
8. If you made a crispy topping, put that on now.
Bake for 20-45 minutes, depending on if the dish looks cooked or not. How can you tell? Dig in a grab some and taste it. If the pasta appears to be "cooked", it's probably done. Don't want to ruin your masterpiece? Look for a thin dark brown ring around the top of the baking dish where the cheese sauce has shrunk away--it you see that then it's probably done.