posted
quidscribis, Simple, it tastes like it was cooked over a fire (which is a good flavor), even though it wasn't.
It's actually pretty good. Just use it sparingly.
I put it in spaghetti sauce and it was fanstastic (very small amount). Just try getting that smoke flavor in there the old-fashioned way! It's way too much work to keep pouring it from ladle to ladle over the charcoal. Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I'm a gonna make me some Liquid Smoke enhanced mac and cheese and tell myself that I'm special because I like things that not everyone likes. I'm also gonna leave the ketchup bottle lonely & cold in the fridge. Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Thanks for posting this dagonee. I made a baked macaroni and cheese for the first time tonight... kept it simple. Shallots and Sage in the butter before making the roux. It was excellent. More complex next time Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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I hadn't considered sage, but I should have. Sounds like an excellent combination.
I'm trying to think of a way to make a crunchy top that is resistant to a little bit of moisture. I'm thinking macaroni and cheese under thinly sliced chicken breast would be great, but I'd like something crunchy between them. I like the breadcrumb texture, but I'm not sure it would hold up well.
Any ideas? I was thinking using a little more melted butter (from which I've boiled out the water) would help, but this is already fattening enough. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
I would think not. Butter would just moisten it more, they soak up juices like crazy, so they would just get a BIT moistened with the chicken and mac juices on either side, still stay crunchy in the middle (hopefully.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Personally, I would butter it. That way, even if it moistens more than you want, it would still have a crispy sort of feel. And if the crumbs stay very dry, they would be far better with butter than without. Perhaps you could try half with and half without, and see which you like better?
posted
Mac and cheese. I had a killer mac and cheese in Northampton. It was baked in a large crock, and my daughter, my son, and I shared it. My daughter had ordered it with kielbasa baked in. I would have preferred it plain. It was...perfect. The cheese was really creamy, and had a sweetness too it. Would that be Gruyere?
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Last night I made cassava and potato gnocci. I made the gnocci using ~ 2 cups of grated cassava, an equal amount of mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup of ground rice, 1/3 cup of split pea flour and about 1/2 tsp of salt. While rolling the gnocci, I filled them with a bit of garlic paste and parmesan cheese, then boiled them is salted water.
I put about 3/4 of them in the freezer and then sauteed my serving in ghee and garlic before adding a tomato sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Delicious!
I would have preferred using riced potatoes but I left my ricer back in the states. As a result there were a few potato lumps in the gnocci.
I was wondering if the food grinder on my kitchen aid mixer could be used to rice potatoes. Has anyone tried it?
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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Today I finally had time and resources to make mac and cheese. I used creamy feta and wensleydale, as I planned, and sweated a bit of finely chopped leek in the marg before adding the flour. It tasted delicious, but was a bit clumpy. Might have been because I used margarine instead of butter, but I'm not sure since I don't have anything to compare it to. Any suggestions?
Anyway, it was quite tasty and I look forward to trying it again.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I've made béchamel sauce with margarine many times without a problem so I don't think that's it. If you don't stir properly when adding the milk, its very easy to get lumps whether you are using butter or margarine. I generally add the milk in a thin stream while stirring the mixture vigorously with a wire whisk. Once the milk is added, the sauce needs to be stirred continually until it thickens.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
Although I love M&C (except for the horrible "orange death" that is the boxed version), I've never had much luck in making it myself. This thread inspired me to try again, and it was disappointing, I'm sorry to say.
I'm probably using the wrong kind of cheese (this time I used colby-jack, with a little bit of bleu and some freshly grated parmesean). I was quite generous with it, but it just didn't fly, dang it.
I added worchestershire, but didn't have any dry mustard on hand. Even with generous amounts of fresh ground pepper, it was really rather bland.
It's discouraging. My peasant children probably wouldn't eat it anyway, or they'd just pour catsup all over it <shudder>.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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quote:I added worchestershire, but didn't have any dry mustard on hand. Even with generous amounts of fresh ground pepper, it was really rather bland.
The mustard makes a big, big difference. A little cayenne helps, too - not enough that you can identify it, but enough that the tiny bit of heat brings out the other flavors. Mustard does this, too. I find that Worcestershire sauce needs something like that to really shine.
You might also need more salt, depending on the cheese.
quote:It tasted delicious, but was a bit clumpy.
A couple of things in addition to Rabbit's advice about stirring:
1) Make sure you get all the water out of the margarine before adding the flour. The purpose of the fat in a roux is to coat individual flour granules to keep them from clumping. If the butter or margarine still has water, you can get clumps. To remove the water, melt the butter and heat on medium until it stops foaming. You can also slightly brown it if you want. Watch it closely - it can go from a nice nutty flavor to burnt very quickly.
2) You can strain the bechamel using a mesh strainer before adding the cheese. This will likely remove the leek bits, but their flavor should still be there.
3) Adding the cheese too fast can create lumps. I don't know enough about wensleydale to know if this is likely. Add it in single handfuls and let it melt completely before adding the next handful.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I made my first casserole mac'n'cheese yesterday, based on the John Thorne's recipe with evaporated milk, eggs, and tons of cheddar cheese (I saw breyerchic's article about this macaroni, and couldn't get it out of my head). I had some ritz crackers so I crushed them, stirred in some melted butter, and sprinkled them on top at the last bit of baking.
posted
Bumping not for mac n' cheese reporting, but because I made the potato leek soup from the link at the bottom of Claudia Therese's Mar. 28th "how to" post on page 3 (about cutting/cleaning leeks).
It is really yummy! It's very mild, but I think perhaps these leeks were not the most flavorful ever.
I'll probably make this soup again. Hatrack is so useful!
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Cafe Flora (the fantasic Seattle vegetarian restaurant to which you can take most carnivores and they'll find they don't miss much) makes their macaroni and cheese very, very simply. They simmer heavy cream until it thickens and reduces by one-quarter, slowly add sharp cheddar, and mix the sauce with pasta tossed with olive oil. (Salt and pepper to taste; their cookbook recommends serving it with warm tomato salsa.)
It's really, really decadent.
Regarding toppings: I've had good luck using almond meal as a breading (available, or used to be, at Trader Joe's), tossed with a little salt and some spices. Don't know how it would work as a topping, but for coating chicken, it's a marvel.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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