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I had a cooking first last night. Though I've been cooking for decades, I had never made macaroni and cheese from scratch before. It was always too easy to just reach for that box with the radioactive orange cheese powder in it. Recently, though, I keep hearing people talk about the home made kind, and seeing some interesting variations on it, and decided I wanted to give it a shot. So I hunted up a recipe on FoodNetwork's website and got to work. First I had to halve it, because it made a huge amount. Then, I realized I didn't have any gruyere, or parmesan or heavy cream. I did have generic swiss, and romano, and half & half, though. I didn't have any elbo 'roni, but I had a big box of conchigliette. And I didn't have any bread crumbs, but I did have some commercial garlic & butter croutons I could pulse in the food processor to make some. Also, my kidunit always wants some sort of meat substance at dinner, so I decided to add a token amount of bacon. So this is the recipe I ended up with, which is bears only a familial resemblance to the original.
Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon
2 strips thick-cut American-style bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-1/2 cups dry macaroni, (your preference)
2 C half and half
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced (tops included)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Romano
1/2 cup grated Cheddar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula)
1/8 tsp freshly ground Tellicherry pepper (or whatever pepper you have handy)
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 2 quart baking dish.
Cook your macaroni in a large pot of well-salted water. Undercook the macaroni very slightly (say, 6-8 minutes instead of 8-10), as it will cook more when you bake it. Also, when you drain the macaroni, reserve half a cup of the cooking liquid to use below.
Mix the cheeses together in a large bowl.
In a large saucepan, bring the cream, garlic, scallions, and the reserved cooking liquid to a simmer. Stir in the mustard, then add the cheese mixture, a bit at a time, stirring between each addition until it is completely melted intot he sauce. Continue adding the cheese until it is all in the pan. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, Worcestershire & hot sauce, stir to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Add the macaroni to the sauce and stir gently to blend. Allow the macaroni to rest on the stove, 5 to 10 minutes. While it sits, stir the bread crumbs and bacon crumbles together in a separate dish.
Pour the macaroni and cheese into your baking dish, sprinkle the top with the bread crumb & bacon mixture, and bake 15 minutes or until bubbling, and browned on top. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Makes 4 servings.
I served it with a handful of fresh grape tomatoes and some asparagus sauteed in butter and garlic.
Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon
2 strips thick-cut American-style bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-1/2 cups dry macaroni, (your preference)
2 C half and half
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced (tops included)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Romano
1/2 cup grated Cheddar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula)
1/8 tsp freshly ground Tellicherry pepper (or whatever pepper you have handy)
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 2 quart baking dish.
Cook your macaroni in a large pot of well-salted water. Undercook the macaroni very slightly (say, 6-8 minutes instead of 8-10), as it will cook more when you bake it. Also, when you drain the macaroni, reserve half a cup of the cooking liquid to use below.
Mix the cheeses together in a large bowl.
In a large saucepan, bring the cream, garlic, scallions, and the reserved cooking liquid to a simmer. Stir in the mustard, then add the cheese mixture, a bit at a time, stirring between each addition until it is completely melted intot he sauce. Continue adding the cheese until it is all in the pan. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, Worcestershire & hot sauce, stir to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Add the macaroni to the sauce and stir gently to blend. Allow the macaroni to rest on the stove, 5 to 10 minutes. While it sits, stir the bread crumbs and bacon crumbles together in a separate dish.
Pour the macaroni and cheese into your baking dish, sprinkle the top with the bread crumb & bacon mixture, and bake 15 minutes or until bubbling, and browned on top. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Makes 4 servings.
I served it with a handful of fresh grape tomatoes and some asparagus sauteed in butter and garlic.
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