MACARONI AND CHEESE !!! !!!

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As for the subject at hand, mac and cheese = brilliant that night. When served as leftovers the following night, AWFUL.

kraftcanada.com tried putting a cookie on my computer when I loaded this thread. OH NO

I am currently having dinner as i post this.

If you are not used to making white sauces, here's how you do it. For every half-cup of milk, use one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour. Multiply as needed. Cook the butter with the flour over medium heat for a few moments (use a double boiler if you have one), whisk in the milk, keep whisking till thick, add your grated cheeses till it tastes cheesy enough for you, thin it out with more milk if you need to, and add whatever spices you want. Super quick and you don't have to worry about whether your cheese will melt.

I usually use 45g of butter and flour to a pint of milk and add dijon mustard before adding cheese(s) but basically that same process as described above.

And use a nice tall 9 litre pan so when I use the hand whisk it doesn't splash everywhere

I tend not to use blue cheeses in my mac and cheese because the sauce comes away with a green tinge.

A teaspoon of paprika, one of white pepper and a tablespoon of English mustard in the cheese sauce is my preferred combo - gives the sauce an orange cast which I like, being American and raised on Stouffer’s frozen macaroni and cheese. Breadcrumbs on top are a must, and that’s what a toasted bread heel is for. Let it dry out and then pulse it in a mini chopper (I have a Kenwood one) but always add a tablespoon of Parmesan and a piece of cheddar to the crumbs along with a pinch of paprika, salt and white pepper.

Oh, and the seasonings get mixed into the flour so when butter is added, the resulting roux is really orange. Then I begin adding milk and lob mustard in while building the sauce.

It will be like A HUNDRED DEGREES here today and you're making me crave mac'n'cheese, that's a miracle.

Melt all the cheeses, and DEFINITELY add kale, it holds up well to baking temps and is so good as a hint of bitterness. I take the center stems out bc of my own issues with texture and just use the leaf parts.

I've never understood bread crumbs on mac. I think it has to do with not liking to combine two starches? Same with potatoes on pizza or serving bread with a meal that already has a starch course like risotto or potatoes. (I do not get the "bread with everything" ppl at all even when I did eat bread.)

I can see kale working but I’ve not tried it. Peas are where it’s at though, as far as green stuff in macaroni cheese

The crumb crust is a texture and flavour thing - it just looks more appetising. Also seconding peas in cheese.

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I've never understood bread crumbs on mac. I think it has to do with not liking to combine two starches? Same with potatoes on pizza

I am being 100% serious when I say you should try macaroni and cheese pizza, it's amazing.

If you make a white sauce first, the cheddar melts into it fine.

Yeah I take it as a given that you're making a white sauce, people who make mac and cheese by just melting nude cheese into their macaroni are weird!

this isn't mac'n'cheese but it isn't isn't mac'n'cheese but it is fucking delicious

https://noteatingoutinny.com/2008/11/10/completely-elitist-orechiette-arugula-casserole/

also potatoes on pizza rule but require practice

A potato bake is just a spud pizza without a crust tbf!

YES!

That sounds amazing stevie

It's not a quick recipe and it has numerous methods involved, but it is DELICIOUS and if you squint you can pretend it is healthy.

I don't think I'm physically capable of squinting that hard but it sounds great

I'm anti-cooked peas because they're too sweet and I hate the texture (again), but I stan for bitter & peppery additions like arugula, kale, broccoli, etc. The kale just bakes really well and doesn't get overdone.

I usually mix broccoli with some bigger pasta varieties and some wholegrain mustard in that sauce. Am deffo up for some kale action now!

For some reason I think a dark green like kale, arugula, chard, spinach is amazing in a rich creamy/cheesy sauce but broccoli is just yuck, there's something sulfurous about the way it tastes when hot and creamy.

fab on a white pizza with fennel sausage, tho

Not mac and cheese but my housemate made arugula pesto the other day and it was insanely delicious.

arugula in place of basil, arugula and basil blended together?

thank you al for your descriptions of how to make white sauce for mac and cheese

Arugula in place of basil. I think I like it even better than basil pesto.

I have made kale pesto several times in an attempt to convince myself I like it and nope

arugula has a really good flavor, so I can imagine it would make a good pesto, I will try it

I saw some Thai basil pesto in the store. I should have bought it.

I find arugula incredibly bitter. I wonder if that's similar to some people's aversion to cilantro?

do some people have an aversion to corilantro ? bloody hell, to quote Meades, that sounds about as imaginable as the proposition of the repeat suicide bomber!

if I'm making any kind of curry/chilli/onion bhaji type food and I don't have no fresh coriander. I often cry myself to sleep at how much I've failed in the kitchen.

do some people have an aversion to corilantro?

A number of people genuinely think it tastes like soap! I think it's a genetic thing?

I love coriander but my genetic issue is I literally can never tell if I am buying a bunch of coriander or parsley from the corner shop and always have to ask the guy if I have the right kind.

they do look pretty much look the same. I didn't know that, there is something heavenly about the aroma of fresh coriander to me.

My issue isn't really genetic I am just shit at telling the difference between different smells it seems. But the "coriander=soap" thing is totally a real thing.

I had it for many years but either it's fading or I'm finding dishes where soap is an appropriate flavor.

I once bought parsley thinking it was cilantro/coriander. Now if I'm unsure, I sniff it and there's no mistaking one's scent for the other's.

Yeah, it's a source of constant hilarity to my partner that I cannoy successfully purchase coriander unaided

Let's get back to pesto, I came home from vacay and my basil has gone BONKERS and now I need to use a lot of it, really fast. I tried using an immersion blender last year and I hated the texture. Do I need a mortar to make this really work?

I make a lot of pesto and always cut the basil up with scissors, stalks and all, then use a hand blender when it and all other ingredients are in the bowl. Comes out fine. I also have a 350ml Kenwood blade mixer, and still cut up basil and parsley before putting them in to chop.

I use a food processor. I can see where using an immersion blender would be challenging.

Mortar and pestle is the way to go imo

there is something that scans like missed monetising in late period capitalism about how you can get a decent granite mortar and pestle for like 12 quid or whatever, it will last you a lifetime and looks and feels so great. When do they start charging a hundred quid for them!

when they make ones that will text you

have a marble mortar and pestle, I love it and it wasn’t expensive either, but it doesn't feel big enough to process a significant volume of pesto, so I use a food processor like quincie

I guess arugula can be a little bitter, but it is also nutty and peppery and I can imagine it would be good in pesto

https://food52.com/shop/products/724-natural-stone-mortar-pestle

I meannnnn

I'm here for the mortar and pestle talk (I don't like macaroni & cheese). I thought I read that marble wasn't a good material, but I dunno. What's a good material, and also, what size should I get? I'm cooking more South Asian these days and want to grind my own spice mixes & also make curries.

At present I make pesto in the food processor & it seems good to me.

i think the idea is that crushing bursts more of the plant cells than the shearing you get from a food processor, right? it's just a matter of degrees though, you end up with the same flavor, one's just a bit stronger

I *do* like mac and cheese and I want to make mac and cheese for work lunches next week. show me your best recipes!!

my 4-5" marble mortar and pestle was $25 at sur la table but I think you can get them cheaper. I use it for grinding small quantities of nuts and spices and it works great and is easily cleaned with soap and water.

Since I stopped grinding my own coffee beans I use my coffee grinder for larger quantities of spices, it saves a lot of time