So to be valid for the competition, the recipe had to serve 6. No Lone Macaroni for that one. However, I'm working on it. My brother-in-law, a mac&cheese rockist if there ever was one, wouldn't approve of my contest recipe, as his preferred is cooked pasta, a glop of milk, and some chopped up Velveeta, either nuked or heated on the stovetop.
Here's what I entered:
4 c - uncooked campanelle (bellflower) pasta
6 Tbsp - Tillamook creamery butter, salted or unsalted
1/3 c - flour
2 1/2 c - milk, hot
1/8 tsp - cayenne pepper
4 oz - chopped/shredded/grated Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese
2 oz - chopped/shredded/grated hard blue cheese (i.e. gorgonzola)
to taste - salt
1 Tbsp - Tillamook creamery butter, salted or unsalted
1 medium - sweet onion, finely sliced
3 Tbsp - Tillamook creamery butter, salted or unsalted
1 c - potato bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Butter a 3 or 4 quart uncovered casserole (enamal-lined cast iron preferred). Cook and drain the pasta per the package directions, to just al dente.
Have the hot milk ready, either microwaved in a glass container or heated in a saucepan on the stovetop. Do not scald or allow it to boil. Melt 6 Tbsp butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir, cooking over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. Incorporate the cayenne pepper, then stir in the hot milk. continue stirring over medium-low heat until thickened and smooth. Use a whisk if necessary to smooth out any lumps. Add the Tillamook sharp cheddar and blue cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Salt to taste.
Mix the cheese sauce with the cooked pasta and place in the buttered casserole levelly.
In a heavy skillet, melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the finely sliced sweet onion. Cook slowly over low heat until the onion is limp and brown. Layer the browned onion evenly on top of the cheese/pasta mixture.
Again in a heavy skillet, melt 3 Tbsp butter over medium heat. When butter begins to foam, add the bread crumbs and stir to evenly coat with butter. Continue to stir over medium heat until browned. Layer the browned bread crumbs evenly on top of the browned onion in the casserole.
Bake uncovered in 375 deg F oven for 30 minutes. Serves 6.
― Jaq (Jaq), Sunday, 19 March 2006 21:42 (nineteen years ago)
four weeks pass...
Well, I didn't qualify for the semi-finals, so I'll give up my dreams of free cheese. The guy from Looka! had a
March Macaroni Madness party though with 8 or 9 different kinds of mac&cheese.
― Jaq (Jaq), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 18:37 (nineteen years ago)
I put hardboiled egg in my mornay bakes :) I wouldnt call them mac n cheese though, theyre really tuna bakes/mornays as I also chuck in peas or corn, hardboiled egg bits, and tuna.
― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 20 April 2006 06:12 (nineteen years ago)
one month passes...
two weeks pass...