Day: 1
Recipe: Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese
Ingredients:
- Kosher salt
- Vegetable oil
- 1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
- 1 quart milk
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
- 8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar, grated (2 cups)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)
Twists: I skipped the tomatoes. Don't love those suckers. But who knows, maybe I will by the end of this. Also I switched the quantities of Gruyere and cheddar -- I'm not rich enough to buy what Ina does just yet (bummer). Finally, I used gemelli because they didn't have cavatappi in stock on my block. I'm no pasta connoisseur, but they look pretty similar to me so I went with it.
Lessons Learned: Buy grated cheese for goodness sake! I had a small panic attack when I realized the pasta was done cooking, and I was barely into grating cheese block two of three. Second, read the recipe beforehand and take note of how many pans you'll need and in what sizes. I had to do some rearranging towards the end of the prep work to make sure I didn't spill cheesy goodness all over the kitchen (well, I did that anyways, but I chalk that up to being an amateur).
{eat this, kraft! pun intended.} |
Verdict: Delish. It's like grown up Velveeta. But 500% better. Not sure I could eat it every day for a week, but that's something I'm working on. And luckily for me, I have two roomies and a lot of freezer space. Move over, lean cuisines, there's a new dinner in town!
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