Life Just Got a Little Cheesier: Zingerman's Shared Their Mac & Cheese Recipe!

ROADHOUSE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients:
Coarse sea salt
1 pound macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup diced onion
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 pound grated raw milk cheddar cheese
2 Tsp Olive Oil

Method:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta and stir well. Cook for about 13 minutes (if using Martelli) or until the pasta is done. Drain it and set it aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter for the sauce in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat (be careful not to scorch the butter). Add the onion and bay leaf and sauté until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf. Add the flour, and cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly.

Slowly add the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumping. When the flour and milk have been completely combined, stir in the cream. Keep the mixture at a gentle simmer (not at a high boil) until it thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the mustard, cheddar cheese and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes and set aside.

In a heavy bottom skillet over med-high heat get the pan very hot. Add olive oil and when it begins to smoke add the cheese sauce and the drained cooked noodles. Toss thoroughly and continue to cook, stirring occassionally until you have approximately 15 % of the mixture golden brown.

Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Remove from heat.

Serve each bowl of macaroni. Dig in!

A Baking Mishap

Jack and I made a chocolate cake on Saturday. Jack added ingredients and turned the mixer on to blend everything together. This time, he turned the mixer on a little too high.

C4 (Chocolate Coffee Cream Cheese) Frosting

Yesterday, Jack and I baked a chocolate cake to use up some of the buttermilk I bought for the chicken we made. But the sour cream was expired, so we couldn't make our usual chocolate sour cream frosting and I'm not crazy about the overly-sugary taste of buttercream, so I looked for a new recipe and found this: Chocolate Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting. Yum!

Ingredients
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (I only had 3 ounces, so I supplemented by adding 1 ounce of bittersweet chocolate)
1/4 cup extra-strong coffee (I didn't cool the coffee, but stirred it into the chocolate to help it melt faster)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar (the recipe called for 3 c., but I liked the taste with just 2 c.)

Directions
Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Drizzle the melted chocolate (I microwaved it for 30 seconds, stirred, microwaved another 30 seconds, stirred, and then stirred the hot coffee in to it, a couple tablespoons at a time) and coffee over the butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla. Mix well. Mix in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. You can do up to 3 c., but taste it to see how sweet you want it.

Jack and I loved licking the beaters, and neither he nor Brian seemed to be bothered by the faint coffee taste, which I felt added an extra richness to the frosting. Delicious!