So I suppose we are going to need more to eat at my friend Heather’s (sort of) baby shower/ informal dinner…
Heather is a super-fan of all comfort foods, so we decided homemade mac & cheese would be perfect for the menu.
Yes, I know that I probably have endless mac&cheese recipes in this apartment, not too mention all the kick-ass recipes I am sure to find online, but I figured, I had this one covered. I would come up with a little batch of delish mac & cheese based on the cheeses that I bought for the occasion, and supplement with what I have in the refrigerator right now.
Here is how the recipe went down:
I put about half a stick of unsalted butter in a large pan and melted it. I added about a 1/4 cup of unbleashed flower to that and browned it a bit. I added about 3/4 of a cup of 2% milk to this and brough everything to a boil. I would have much rather used half & half, but didn’t have any…
To this concoction, I added what was left of a four cheese shredded blend from Trader Joe’s (about 1/4 of a 12 oz. bag), I shredded what was left of a mozz log (from our NYE pre-dinner snack), I added about 1/3 of a fontina cheese wedge (shredded of course and then I added about 1/3 of a bag of shredded sharp cheddar.
I tasted the blend and whilte it was tasty, I was totally wishing that I had a little stronger of a cheese in there, but it is WAY too cold to make a grocery store run right now. These four cheeses are going to have to make due.
While all this was happening, I cooked about a pound of bow-tie pasta and when that was finished, add the cheesy goodness to the pasta. I mixed it all up, resisted the urge to get out a fork and just dig in right then and there, and put the macaroni into the dutch over. I sprinkled a handful of seasoned bread crumbs to the top of the pot and stuck it into the 350 degree oven.