Mac and Cheese

Scanning back through some of the most recent posts we've done, I've noticed a bit of a theme. We've made a lot of baked goods/desserts/sweet temptations... with a focus on chocolate (Chewy Chocolate Chip Brownies, Mini Chocolate Cupcakes, and Red Wine Chocolate Mini Cakes to name a few)... So it's about time for something savoury, right? This brings us to the age old debate of chocolate or cheese: if you had to give up one of the two for the rest of your life, which would it be? 

Not an easy question to answer, that's for sure.

In my fourth year at Queen's, my roommate Kaili and I developed a bit of an addiction to macaroni and cheese. I know what you're thinking - "How stereotypical, university students eating Kraft Dinner." But we weren't eating Kraft Dinner. We were eating President's Choice Extra Cheesy Macaroni and Cheese. This is a frozen mac and cheese that takes about an hour to bake but with no other real prep work necessary, it is still a pretty typical student dinner. It is creamy and cheesy and has a very nice bread crumb topping... but admittedly, isn't the healthiest dinner option.

Now that those days are behind us, however, we only have PC Mac and Cheese on very special occasions. Kaili has discovered a recipe for a homemade baked mac and cheese - which, dare I say it, is even more delicious than the President's Choice frozen one. She was kind enough to share this recipe with me, and we made it the other day and reminisced on all the times we've eaten macaroni together in the past...

THE RECIPE:
1 lb elbow macaroni

For the topping:
1 cup panko
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp butter

For the sauce:
6 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
5 cups milk
3-5 cups shredded cheese (We used 1 cup parmesan and 4 cups old cheddar)
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Cook the pasta al dente, as it will continue to cook in the oven.
2. While pasta is cooking, prepare the topping. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and add the garlic glove, cut into medium sized pieces. (Spoiler alert: this will infuse the garlic flavour into the melted butter... delicious!)
3. Measure the panko into a medium sized bowl. Pour melted butter into the panko, while sifting out the garlic and discard garlic.
4. Mix in the 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese until incorporated. Set topping aside.

The topping

5. For the sauce: In a large pot on low, melt the 6 tbsp and then add the flour and whisk for approximately 3 minutes.
6. Add the milk 1 cup at a time, while continuously mixing. Once all the milk is added, turn heat to medium and whisk continuously for 10 minutes (this is the part where you get to really work your arm!) In this time, the sauce will thicken.
7. Bring the sauce to a boil and then immediately reduce to low heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk occasionally.

Can you see the bubbles? The sauce is boiling!

8. Remove saucepan from heat and slowly add in the cheese while stirring until completely melted. Do not keep the pot on the heat for adding the cheese, or the cheese will become stringy.
9. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper.
10. Add the cooked noodles to the sauce, and stir until completely covered.

11. Pour macaroni into baking pan and then completely cover the top with the panko mixture.
12. Bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Then turn oven to a broil for one minute, to crisp the topping. Make sure to keep an eye on the macaroni while the oven is on broil, as if you leave it for too long it may quickly start to burn.

13. Serve and enjoy!











Panko note: When Kaili first told me about this recipe, I had to ask her what panko was, since I'd never cooked with it before. Panko is a flakier bread crumb that is traditionally used in Japanese cuisine. It should be available in most large grocery stores and I recommend using it over regular bread crumbs, as it really makes for a lighter topping. This topping is amazing with the garlic butter and parmesan mixed in.

Cheese note: We used cheddar as our base cheese and parmesan as our accent cheese - but there are definitely lots of other combinations you can use to create a delicious cheese sauce for this macaroni recipe.

Seconds, anyone?

I'm not going to try and answer whether I'd choose chocolate or cheese, if I had to give one up - because my answer changes depending on my mood... although right now, cheese seems to be winning, just a little bit...

Happy Eating!

Caroline