macaroni and cheese

mmm... mac n cheese. creamy, cheesey, gooey and salty, macaroni and cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods. what better than to combat the cold damp fog than this recipe comes from a saveur magazine special edition issue, "classic american: comfort foods we crave." i follow the recipe exactly and here i'll illustrate it step by step.

a roux is created melting 6 T unsalted butter and stirring 6 T flour into it.

the roux is constantly stirred for 4 minutes over low heat until the flour is cooked.

3 3/4 cups hot milk is blended into the roux a 1/2 cup a time until the sauce thickens.

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese are stirred into the sauce until incorporated. i also seasoned it with some salt and pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper for a little heat.

here's the finished sauce that i held on the stove while i prepped the macaroni.

once the macaroni has been cooked al dente, it's drained well but not rinsed. it's then combined with the cheese sauce and checked for seasoning.

i then start layering the casserole in a buttered dish beginning with a 1/2 cup grated cheddar, a 1/3 of the macaroni, cheese, macaroni, and so on.

a 1/2 cup of heavy cream is poured over the top.

2 T of butter are melted and combined with a 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and sprinkled over the top of the casserole. this then went into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes to brown the top.

while that was going, i prepared a side dish of greens to help offset the richness of the mac n cheese. 3 cloves of chopped garlic went into olive oil to brown.

a bag of tj's rainbow chard is tossed into the pan and sauteed until wilted.

a cup of water is added to the pan and the lid goes on to steam and soften the chard for 10 mintues.

after 30 minutes, i noticed the crust still hadn't browned, so i cranked up the thermostat to 500 degrees for another 10 minutes. that definitely helped, as evidenced here.

time to plate. the mac n cheese is creamy and gooey inside with a nice browned crust on top.

the chard gets plated along with some mixed greens and grape tomatoes tossed in some balsamic vinaigrette.

wow. talk about cheesey. this version is extremely rich and gooey. great flavor. addicting quality. fortunately the acidity of the balsamic salad and the vegginess of the chard helped cut the richness nicely.

a bottle of beringer's white zinfandel also helped cut the richness of the cheese with its palate cleansing and almost effervescent quality.

as the mac n cheese cools, the cheese does start to curdle slightly and wasn't as creamy as i'd expected. i'd also probably switch from breadcrumbs to panko breadcrumbs to get a crispier topping. otherwise, this recipe makes for a pretty darn good classic mac n cheese, and definitely cured my craving for comfort food tonite.