Barely making it in for a June entry, but I made it!
Today's adventures aren't as extreme as some of my others, so more just an update or two. I'll work backwards, starting with the most recent bit of cooking. I made Macaroni and Cheese. I found a general recipe that I liked, and of course, I modified the living daylights out of it. I don't have any photos of the making of it, but I do have a photo or two of the finished product. Here's the short list of what I did:
1. Grated 8oz each of extra sharp Cheddar and Colby cheeses, set aside.
2. Chopped up 1/2 of a medium yellow onion.
3. Portioned out some Smoked Paprika, Ground Onion, Ground Roasted Garlic, and Ground Cayenne Pepper.
4. Portioned out about 1 cup of heavy cream and 5 cups of 2% milk.
5. Boiled and drained 1 pound of elbow noodles, cooked to just before al dente, cold rinsed to stop the cooking.
6. Melted 1 stick of butter in a pot over medium heat, let the water bubble out and added about 5-6 tablespoons of flour to it and made a blonde roux. It took about 7 minutes or so to get the color I wanted and that there were no lumps.
7. Slowly added the milk to the roux, whisking to make sure no clumping occurred.
8. Added the spice mix, onions, and 2 bay leaves, and whisked until blended.
9. Cooked this mix for about 10-12 minutes over medium-low heat to thicken.
10. I then whipped up a single egg and used the mixture to temper the egg in, making a custard, and then returned the tempered egg mixture to the pot.
11. Added about 2/3 of the cheese, which had been mixed together to make sure of an even distribution, and stirred in until blended.
12. At this point, I seasoned the sauce with kosher salt and black pepper.
13. Final rinse on the noodles, which had remained hydrated without an issue, shook them good to drain the remaining water, and then added back into the pot and mixed well.
14. Scooped the mix into my favourite trio of ceramic baking dishes (seen below), coated each with the remaining cheese, and a topping made of panko breadcrumbs that had been tossed in about 6/8 of a stick of butter, which I'd melted in the microwave.
15. Uncovered, placed these on a sheet pan in case bubbling over occurred, and baked for 30 minutes.
16. I then pulled them from the oven and rested them for about 5 minutes before cutting it into portions.
I'd given my partner a taste of the sauce before I portioned the casseroles out, and she was ecstatic. I'm amazingly happy with how this came out! I've not made a Béchamel Sauce in ages, and I'm only so-so when making a Roux. But even so, this came out amazing. A photo of it follows below.
The other thing to note is my first attempt at a competition red chili. I'm not posting this recipe, though I will say that I started by writing a recipe based on my experience with making homestyle chili, and then went to town in the kitchen. I ended up modifying the heck out of the thing, making notes all throughout the process, and making my recipe sheet look like an insane grand unification equation gone berserk. But in the end, it came out amazingly good, but not at ALL red.
In fact, it came out brown. :(
*SIGH*
However, the people I served it to, at one of our annual meat festivals, bear hugged me. And these are grown men, who are professional heavy metal rockers. I think it was a taste success. But it isn't where I want it yet. A photo of it follows as well.
And now... the photos!
The Mac and Cheese right out of the oven.
Extreme closeup!
*sigh* Brown, but amazingly good chili.
Keep cooking, everyone, and I'll see you next time!
