This is one dish you will make and re-make for years to come. It is truly a yummy, comfort food to make. Let’s get started.
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 slices hearty sourdough bread, roughly torn
- 4 tbsp. chilled butter, divided
- 1 cup grated aged white cheddar
- 1 3/4 cup macaroni
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 2 cups whole milk (or 1 1/4 whole milk, 3/4 cup whipping cream)
- 1/2 cup Havarti cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup McLarens cheese
- 1 cup Monteray Jack cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- pinch of cayenne
- pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 5 oz. cooked lobster meat
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 individual baking dishes or a 2 qt. casserole dish and set aside. Lower oven to 350 degrees.
Toss 1 1/2 cups of the diced squash and oil together and spread out in an oven proof dish large enough to hold the cubes in a single layer. Bake for 18-22 minutes until tender but still firm.
Combine the torn bread with 2 tbsp. of diced butter in a processor and spin until coarse crumbs. Place in a bowl, stir in the aged cheddar and set aside.
Cook the macaroni until about halfway tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
Melt the remaining butter in a large saucepan, add the flour and whisk until well combined. slowly add the milk/cream whisking the whole time until it becomes thickened. Stir in the cheeses, mustard, cayenne and nutmeg. Fold in the macaroni, baked squash and gently heat through.
Spoon into the baking dishes and sprinkle the crumb mixture over and bake for about 20-30 minutes until golden and bubbling in a 350 degree oven.
Serve with a crisp salad and a glass of, perhaps, a Chardonnay. Ummm… better yet a Pinot Gris.
The Best Mac And Cheese
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.