Macaroni & Cheese Carbonara

 



Hi Friends! Happy Saturday - hope you have some fun stuff planned for one of the last weekends of summer. :) We are heading out hiking this morning on a 10 km adventure which I am looking forward to a lot. I hadn't planned on blogging this recipe - I made it for my sister's BF's birthday dinner last night, but a number of people are asking for the recipe - so here ya go! I've changed the recipe quite a bit from the original recipe, but we loved it. Hope you enjoy it too!

 

Macaroni & Cheese Carbonara
Adapted from Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Ingredients:

• unsalted butter, for the baking dish
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8-10 strips of bacon, cut into bite size pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 5 cups milk, hot (the recipe called for whole milk, but this is such a rich sauce recipe, skim or anything in between would also work here without impacting the taste)
• 4 large egg yolks, lightly whisked
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you don't like heat)
• 3/4 cup grated asiago cheese + 1/3 cup for the top
• 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, + 1/4 cup for the top
• 1 * 250g tub of McLaren's Sharp Cold Pack Cheddar Cheese
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked just under al dente

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x 13 inch baking dish and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan (remember you need to be able to fit 5 cups of milk plus all that cheese in here later) over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.
3. Add the garlic to the remaining fat in the pan and cook until light golden brown, 1 minute. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk, raise the heat to high, and cook, whisking constantly until thickened, about 5-6 minutes. Whisk in the eggs until incorporated (be careful here or you will end up with scrambled eggs!). Let cook 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the thyme, cayenne and all three cheeses until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If mixture is too thick, add additional warm milk, 1/4 cup at a time.
4. Put the cooked macaroni in a large bowl, add the cheese sauce, reserved bacon and stir until combined. Transfer to prepared baking dish.
5. Combine additional 1/3 cup asiago and 1/4 cup parmesan and sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake in preheated oven until heated through - about 15 minutes. Then broil for 3-5 minutes until top is browned and crisp. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe is a little involved for mac and cheese - Bobby Flay's recipes tend to be a little on the heavy side (think dirtying every dish in your kitchen) but well worth the effort and the cleanup later. I've tried a lot of mac and cheese recipes (check out my archives for this blog and you'll see what I'm talking about), but I think this is one of the best one's I've made to date. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Cooking my Friends! Enjoy your weekend. :)

More Mac & Cheese... and peas & bacon!

All I have to say about this recipe is YUM!!!! It was sooooo good. I know the photos aren't great and there aren't very many of them, but thats because I was far to excited to just eat this mac & cheese. Its nothing fancy and mine is really low class because I ran out of macaroni and just substituted broken up spaghetti instead... oh well, its the taste that matters right? And cheesy goodness can cover up a multitude of sins!

I am in the middle of prepping for my Superbowl party which as most of you are aware (or should be aware in hubby's opinion) is happening tomorrow - like ALL DAY! I am definitely not a football fan, nor will I ever be, but I am always game for having people over and cooking and baking for them! Its so fun and it gives me an excuse to try out new recipes and spend exhorbitant sums of money on food without hubby getting after me! Entertaining is the one time its acceptable to go all out in the kitchen! WAHOO!!! I will be tired on Monday, but it will be worth it.

Last year while prepping for the Superbowl party I burned myself really badly by stupidly picking up a hot pan... I had to hold ice packs on my hands for the next two days and my hands blistered. :( It was not fun, but the food was still delish!! So far, this year's prep work is going far better than last year... will keep you posted because I still have a lot to do!

On to the mac & cheese though...

The Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese with Peas & Bacon

Recipe from Tyler's Ultimate

Ingredients:

• kosher salt
• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 4 cups warm milk
• 5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat,leaf parsley
• extra virgin olive oil
• 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• leaves from 1/4 bunch of fresh thyme
• 2 cups froze peas, thawed in a colander under cool water

Method:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add macaroni and cook 8-9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
2. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Melt the butter in large, deep skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Gradually whisk in the milk and, whisking vigorously, cook until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add cooked macaroni and the parsley and folt that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3 quart baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
4. While thats going on, heat a 2 count of olive oil in a saute pan. Add the bacon, onion, garlic, and thyme and cook for 5 minutes to soften the onion. Fold in the peas and season with salt and pepper (I cooked mine longer to make sure the bacon was a little crisp).

Enjoy!!!

Happy Cooking my Friends! Hope you get a chance to take in some Superbowl festivities and maybe do some cooking and baking! :D

Happy New Year & some Simple Comfort Food

Happy New Year to all of my awesome readers! Thanks for checking out my blog this year - I hope you've enjoyed the recipes and tips that I've posted for you. I have certainly enjoyed writing them! As I mentioned in my previous post, my goal this year is to blog more frequently and post recipes that my readers want to see! So if you have any suggestions for something you would like to see more of, please post a comment or send me an email. I will do my best to incorporate your suggestions into my writing, cooking and baking!

Now, if you're anything like me you've spent the holiday season eating rich food that you don't normally eat. All that food leaves me craving comfort food. So I thought I would post a simple mac & cheese recipe to satisfy that craving for comfort food. I've tried a lot of mac & cheese recipes and this one is by far the best. Kudos to Chef Michael Smith for the delicious recipe.

Macaroni & Cheese

Recipe from The Best of Chef at Home by Michael Smith

Ingredients:

• 1 one lb box of penne (454g)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• big splash of white wine
• 4 cups of milk
• one 354 ml can of unsweetened evaporated milk
• 1 lb of medium aged cheddar cheese, shredded (454 g)
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• sprinkle or two of sea salt
• 1/2 loaf of italian bread, torn into large pieces
• a generous splash of olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in lots of boiling salted water.
2. To make the sauce, met the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for several minutes until it softens and flavours the butter. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth paste forms. Combining the butter and flour in a roux first helps evenly distribute the flour throughout the sauce and prevents lumps.
3. Continue cooking a few more minutes as the roux toasts and develops a bit of flavour. Slowly stir in the wine and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth again. Add both milks and switch to a whisk, mixing until the sauce is smooth again. Continue whisking until the mixture is very thick, a few minutes longer.
4. Stir in the cheese, dijon mustard, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir the cooked pasta into the cheese mixture. Pour everything into a 9x13 inch ovenproof casserole or baking dish.
5. Toss the bread with a splash or two of olive oil, then sprinkle it evenly over the top of the cheese mixture. Bake until it is heated through and the bread topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
   

Michael notes that you can substitute other semisoft cheeses such as Swiss, Jack or Emmenthal. He also says you can add any fresh herb you like, some ideas include dill, tarragon or thyme.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family did! My hubby loooovvvvveeeesss mac & cheese and tastes every recipe I make and he raved about this one. This recipe will definitely satisfy your comfort food craving and its great to eat on a cold evening because it feels like it warms you all the way through.

Best wishes in 2011 to all of my wonderful readers! Happy Cookingmy Friends!