We are busy planning an Irish night on March 17th to encompass the Irish, of course, and the French (husband and others), but one of the things my husband wanted me to make is this mac and cheese dish. We are going after a pub food theme and this is a beaut. If you have eaten at our home before and had this, you know what we mean.
- 2 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 4 tbsp. flour
- 2 cups half and half cream
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (freshly done)
- 1/3 cup Balderson 5 year aged cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/2 small wheel Brie cheese (velvety rind removed)
- 1/4 McLaren’s Cheese (round red bowl)
- 1/2 cup Monteray Jack Cheese
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- extra grated cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups panko crumbs
Cook and drain the macaroni and place in a buttered 2 1/2 qt. casserole.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Mix well and slowly add the cream, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and become smooth. Add the salt, sugar and the cheeses (one at a time to really melt and blend) and mix well. Add the sour cream and mix well.
Pour over the macaroni and mix it in. Sprinkle the cheese over and the panko crumbs. Dot with butter.
Place on a cookie cheese and bake in a 350 oven for 45-50 minutes. This will serve 6 hungary people or more if only a side dish.
Now, you can poach some lobster in butter, drain and add to the macaroni when putting in the oven. The stars will align when you do and you can pat yourself on the back and say damn I did this. This is an extra not a requirement. The sauce is perfect and I sometimes change the cheeses up but never the Velveeta, McLarens, Brie or Baldersons. Okay, so I only change 1 or 2 of them. Try it, taste it and adjust the different cheese amounts to suit your taste. You do not want a soupy sauce and you don’t want a custard texture….like the baby bear…just right!
This is breathtakingly sumptuous to devour.
Valentine’s Menu For Me
This was, by far, the most romantic Valentine’s I have ever experienced. See if you agree.
For breakfast, Don made Blueberry French Toast, dusted with powdered sugar, fresh coffee and the bestest card he could find. (We did exchange cards and 4 cooking classes taking place in the early Spring).
I took him out for lunch.- he says “we did the lunch thing” and ate probably the best pizza around.
Now, for dinner:
A glass of wine (Pinot Noir) to start with and a toast to each other.
Now we started with a Winter Salad -radish, avocado, carrots, celery, romaine lettuce, chick peas, sugar snap peas, red peppers and an incredible lemon, sour cream and garlic aoli dressing.
Get ready….here it comes – an absolutely delicious twice baked potato covered with cheese which has melted, asparagus and, without a word of a lie, a Filet of Beef that was a good 2 to 2- 1/2 inches high and barbecued with a balsamic/red wine reduction. I left not one speck of anything on my plate. Did I mention we put the dieting aside today?
We were so full, I had a glass of Burgundy Ice Wine and Don had a cheesecake ball with salted caramel for dessert. He wanted to make crepes but I don’t know where we would have put it.
All in all, it was a day made in heaven. I even asked him if he was leaving me and he responded “next year your turn and I’ll clean up”. Sounds fair to me except I can’t possibly dirty every dish we own. JUST KIDDING.
I loved every second of it and now I’ll spend the next 11 months pampering him to make up for it. Agree?
Grilled Cheese – A new One, Trust Me…..
Anyone who knows us, knows we watch every cooking show, competition, whatever….BUT they had a grilled sandwich that we could not believe. Now, any “diet watcher” I am giving you fair notice, go away….do not read…worse yet, do not make. HA! Gotcha!!
For each person, you need
2 slices of bread, buttered with garlic butter on both sides.
Grated Manchego Cheese, dip the bread in the cheese and fry one side. Turn them over and continue on.
Now: Here’s the kicker…
On one slice of bread (open faced, so far), place 1 slice of cheddar and 1 slice of mozzarella cheese.
On the other slice, place 1 slice of monteray jack cheese and 1 slice of swiss cheese. Put a lid on the pan and let the cheese start to melt.
With me so far?
Now put them together…..This will be the very best grilled cheese sandwich you will ever eat.
Okay, you can’t have one every day but in my defence, once in awhile is a good thing and they say chocolate is better than…..(wink-wink) . NOT……this IS the better thing.