Harvest Time Mac n Cheese

You all know how much I love a good mac n cheese (not that I've ever come across a bad mac n cheese) and that I could pretty much eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few snacks in between.  I've met the odd person over the past few years who can't stand the stuff...but for the most part I think that people just love mac n cheese.  I don't know what it is about a warm bowl of cheese covered pasta but it just warms my heart, like a big comforting hug.  Mac n Cheese just does it for me.  

This week my MIL and SIL were up visiting and on Monday while I was at work (sob sob) the wonderful David treated them to an afternoon on the beach at North Berwick. Keeping in mind that this is Scotland and it is October I planned our meal wisely...what better to come home to after a day of walking in the wind and rain than a steaming dish of mac n cheese.  

I wanted to make this mac hearty, filling, rich, creamy and above all different.  Ages ago I made a mac n cheese with chunks of roasted butternut squash, which was a big hit...so I thought I would tweak that a bit.  Added veggies must negate the calories in the cheese...right? The chunks of squash in the mac I made before were great, but I wanted something silkier...I wanted a really smooth and creamy dish.  

I cut a butternut squash in half length wise, scooped out the seeds and put it cut side down into a baking dish and then into the oven (180f ish) for about 40 mins.  I wanted the squash to be soft enough to just scrape it out of the skin.  While the squash was roasting I put a huge pan of water onto boil and then cooked and drained 500g of elbow macaroni (I feel very strongly about only using elbow macaroni for my mac).  

I like to make my cheese sauce right in my shallow Le Creuset casserole because it can be used on the stove top, plus it saves on washing yet another pot and I can generally tell if there is enough sauce for all the pasta.  My basic cheese sauce is 50g of butter melted until bubbling and then 2 tbsp of flour whisked in for a couple of minutes.  I then add 300ml of milk and stir until nice and thick.  I usually add a pinch of cayenne and mustard powder and a good crank of pepper and salt.  For this mac I used a extra mature cheddar, but sometimes I use a mixture of cheddar, edam, gouda, mozzarella...whatever is on hand.  About 200g grated (a handful reserved for the topping) goes into the white sauce.  To make the sauce creamy I added 150ml of creme fraiche (full fat), and then scraped out the squash (once it was  really soft) using a fork and added it to the cheesy mixture.  

Then in with the pasta and mixed it all up.  If the pasta wasn't really covered I would have added a bit more creme fraiche or some more milk...but luckily this time I had made just the right amount of cheese sauce.  I topped the dish with the cheese I had saved, a naughty sprinkle of store bought breadcrumbs (I just happened to have in the cupboard) and a quick drizzle of olive oil to help the bread crumbs brown.  Into the oven it went (180f ish) for about 20 mins until it was crisp and golden on top.  Between 4 greedy adults there was barely a scoop left.  

I have to say this was hands down the best mac n cheese I've had for a long time.  I christened it my Harvest Mac since pumpkins and squash are in abundance at the moment, but seeing as I can get butternut squash all year round at the supermarket I think it might just become my not-so-boring  standard.  

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mac n cheese...with a twist...and a crumb!

I don't have to tell you how much I love mac n cheese...in fact I think that I have told you all more than enough how a meal or snack of mac n cheese just does it for me.  I am not a huge fan of messing around with a classic like mac n cheese...i mean...if it ain't broke and all that...but when I saw this recipe for a funked up (no you didn't just read that...read it again...slowly...)version of my all time favourite I just knew that it was time to get off my mac n cheese snobby high horse and try something totally different (butternut squash AND a crust!!!). 

This mac and cheese is fantastic! It is jammed packed with roasted butternut squash that just seems to flake apart when mixed with the cooked pasta...and then topped with a crunchy green crust.  When I bought the ingredients to make this Mac I was prepared to follow the recipe to the T...but one thing lead to another, cheese got eaten, basil totally wilted and well...you know.  So when it came down to actually making the Mac I had to get a little bit creative, actually a lot creative.  

The crust was made by finely chopping a handful of broccoli tops and an end piece of seeded bread and mixing that with a fair shake of chilli flakes and some olive oil.  The pasta was no problem, but seeing as I halved the recipe I decided that half the pasta wasn't going to be enough for my greedy guts and upped it to 200g.  The cheesy mixture was 100g grated cheddar and then about 3/4 of a cup of sour cream (2 Tbsp just didn't seem enough). Everything else was followed more or less to the letter.

I will definitely be making this again and urge you to too!


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Mac n Cheese

Anybody who really knows me knows that I love mac n cheese.  For me it is the quintessential comfort food...it can be gourmet or...not...it can be made from scratch...or come from a box...it is just perfect.  If I were to even write a cookbook there would be a whole chapter dedicated to mac n cheese (I'd even include my gourmet recipe for KD)...I just love love love it.  

Monday night, as the wind was whipping against our windows I whipped up Stephane Reynauld's mac n cheese from his 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down and Eat.  The method was slightly different from what I've  done in the past...but it was easy.  The recipe serves 6 (children...which seemed to escape my mind) so I halved it, and it did us...barely...but once I looked at the recipe again and saw the key word...children...oopsie...I registered my mistake and lamented the fact that there would be no leftovers for lunch...weep weep.  

The method...I've got two tried and tested mac n cheese methods.  The first....the family recipe...is layers of cooked macaroni and grated cheddar cheese, covered with some milk and baked in the oven.  The second...making a cheese sauce to mix the macaroni into and then baked.  

This one is a sort of combination...you cook up the macaroni...and while that is cooking you combine double cream (150ml for 3 children) with  grated Gruyere (or 150g of whatever cheese)...2/3 of that is mixed into the cooked/drained pasta...that is then layered with slices of thick ham and topped with the last 1/3 of the creamy grated cheese mixture.  

The combination of Gruyere and cream alone was enough to break my budget...imagine if I had made the whole recipe...and...in all honesty, while I love the taste of Gruyere, it made the mac a bit too greasy for my liking (and normally I do not mind a little grease)...but I did like the method and the layers of ham.