Not Yo Mama's Mac 'n' Cheese.

 

I’m taking a childhood favorite and putting a Rosie-spin on it.  I’m making an adult version of macaroni and cheese with grown-up flavors.  The bold umami enhancement of mushrooms, the earthiness of truffle oil, and a liberal splash of sherry all elevate this dish to another level of richness and complexity.  To bind it all together, I have the bold and pungent flavors of a sharp Wisconsin cheddar cheese and the creamy nuttiness of a Gruyère cheese which are combined in a basic Béchamel white sauce.  A bread crumb, garlic, and parsley topping crowns the dish.

  The pasta I’m using is cavatappi which means corkscrew in Italian.  The noodles are spiral-shaped and ridged so the sauce clings to the pasta.  The twisting shape catches all the sauce so you get more flavor for the bite.  Other shapes you might consider using for this dish would be rigatoni, penne, or fusilli.  In selecting pastas, I prefer to go with “bronze-cut” pasta. Bronze-cut refers to the die that cuts and extrudes the pasta.  Bronze-cut produced pasta (as opposed to Teflon-cut) gives you a rougher, more porous texture than a Teflon-cut, allowing the sauce to better adhere to the pasta because the surface is filled with tiny imperfections which capture the sauce, aroma, and flavor.  

  Not Yo’ Mama’s Mac ‘n’ Cheese

2 TB butter

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (I used a combination of cremini, portabello, oyster, and shiitake.)

3 TB sherry (I used a cream sherry which is sweeter than dry sherry.)

½ lb. cavatappi pasta

2 TB unsalted butter

2 tsp white truffle oil

3 TB flour

1 ½ cups skim milk

½ cup cream

2 cups grated Gruyère cheese

1 ½ cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

1 cup diced white bread

1 garlic clove 

 2 TB chopped fresh parsley

 Melt 2 TB butter in large sauté pan over medium heat until bubbly.  Let the shiitake hit the pan! (Along with the cremini, portabello, and oyster mushrooms.)  Cook about 3 minutes.  Pour in the sherry and cook another 2 minutes over low, until sherry is dissolved.  Set aside.

 Cook the pasta.  Add a TB of salt to a large pot of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to directions, until al dente.  Drain.

 Scald the milk and cream.  Now you could use 2 cups whole milk, but I never have whole milk on hand.  I always have skim and cream, so I substituted going heavy on the cream side. 

 Rosie Note:  To approximate 1 cup whole milk using skim and cream, combine 1 oz. heavy cream with 7 oz. skim.  As I said, I tend to go heavy on the cream, so I probably used ¼ cup cream to ¾ cup skim for a cup measure for my mac ‘n’ cheese.

 Next, make a roux.  A roux is simply flour and fat (in this case, butter and truffle oil) blended and cooked together and used to thicken sauces.  Combine 2 TB butter and 2 tsp truffle oil over low heat until butter is melted, then whisk in the 3 TB flour, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.  You want to cook the raw taste out of the flour but you don’t want to brown it.  Slowly add the scalded milk and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring, until thick, smooth, and creamy.  This white sauce is officially a Béchamel sauce now, one of the “mother sauces” of French cuisine. Remove from heat and stir in Gruyère and Cheddar until melted.  Add in freshly grated nutmeg.  Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

 In a large bowl, combine the pasta, the cheese sauce, and 2/3 of the mushrooms, stirring to combine.  Pour into buttered 1 ½ quart baking dish.

Place bread cubes, garlic, and parsley in bowl of small processor and pulse to make crumbs.  Sprinkle parsleyed crumbs evenly over top of pasta and spoon remaining mushrooms down the middle.

 Bake at 375° for about 30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and crumbs are golden brown.  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

For the step-by-steps: 

I like to have everything ready to go.

My mise-en-place.

Melt butter.

Add mushrooms.

Sauté.

Add in the sherry.

Let it simmer a few minutes, then turn off heat.

Let the mushrooms soak up the sherry.

Cook pasta in salted water according to directions.

You want it al dente, since it's going to be baked even more.

Scald the milk and cream combo.  

Just bring it to a boil and remove from heat.

Make the crumb topping mixture:  white bread, parsley, and garlic.

Melt butter and add truffle oil.

Add flour.

Cook over medium heat, whisking, for a minute.

Cook the roux.

Slowly stir in milk/cream, letting it thicken.

This is a béchamel sauce now.

Season to taste.

Grated nutmeg.

Add the cheese to your white sauce.

Stir to combine.

Add in the cooked pasta.

Stir in 2/3 mushrooms.

Pour mixture into casserole dish.  

Arrange remaining 1/3 mushrooms on top and sprinkle on crumb mixture.

Ready for the oven.

Ooey gooey goodness.

Enjoy.

Time For Brussels Sprouts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Don't tell me you don't like Brussels sprouts.  And do not malign this cruciferous vegetable.

I happen to like Brussels sprouts and I make them all sorts of ways.  This is the latest.  These sprouts are sliced, then sautéed in some bacon grease, and combined with apple, shallots, and bacon, and lastly tossed in a mustard based vinaigrette.  Be brave and try it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosie's Brussels Sprouts

 a dozen or so Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced

4-6 pieces bacon

1 medium shallot, sliced

1 crisp, sweet apple, cored, peeled, and diced

Dressing:

3 TB cider vinegar

2 TB neutral flavored oil (I use Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil)

2 tsps whole-grain mustard (Dijon)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine vinegar and mustard.  Slowly whisk in oil.  Season to taste.  

For the sprouts:

Cook the bacon until browned and crisp.  Drain on paper towels.  Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of the grease.  Over medium heat, add the sliced sprouts, stirring.  Cook about 4 minutes.  Add sliced apples and shallots and cook another 2-3 minutes.  Sprouts should be crisp-tender.  Remove from heat and stir in dressing and bacon.  Taste test and season with salt and pepper as needed.

 

Now, for the step-by-steps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make the dressing. Trim and slice the sprouts.  Slice the shallots. And I wait till the last minute to peel and chop the apple so it doesn't brown on me.

I've already cooked the bacon and poured out all but a couple tablespoons of the grease.

Heat the pan over medium and add in the sliced sprouts.  Cook about 4 minutes.

Add the shallots.

And the apples.

Cook another

2-3 minutes.

Stir in dressing.

Toss to combine.

Add bacon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  And serve.

Enjoy!

Rosie Makes A Mushroom Soup.

 

  It's May on the Outer Banks.  That means it May be in the high 70s or 80s today.  Or it May be in the 40s with a Nor'easter ablowin'.  Or it May be thunder bolts and lightning.  Very very frightening.  One just never knows down here.  (And by the way, if you're ever on a road trip and Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio, I AM THE ONE you want in the car with you singing that song.  Trust me.) 

 Oh, now where was I?  Oh yeah.  It's May.  And it was cold and windy the other week.  A Nor'easter blew for like 5-6 days.

And I wanted SOUP!  So we're having Mushroom Soup today.  I'm making this up as I go along and I pulled it all together in under 30 minutes from start to finish.  Didn't measure anything, but I can give you thereabouts and you can have a fine time making this and enjoying it.

Rosie's Mushroom Soup

2 - 3 TB unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

assorted mushrooms, chopped  (Probably 6-8 ounces of shiitake, portabello, cremini, and oyster mushrooms)

1 garlic clove, minced

fresh thyme

3 TB flour

2+ cups beef broth 

about 1/2 cup cream

liberal splash cream sherry (maybe 3 TB)

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

small cubes Brie cheese 

torn focaccia or croutons

truffle oil

freshly cracked pepper

Melt butter in medium (2 quart) stock pot over medium heat.  When foamy, toss in onions and mushrooms.  Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes.  Add in minced garlic, about a teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, and flour.  Cook, stirring, another minute.  Slowly, pour in beef broth, stirring constantly, allowing mixture to thicken.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour in cream and sherry.  Heat through.  Check seasoning.  Ladle into small bowls.  Drop in a few small cubes of Brie and serve with focaccia wedges on the side or croutons on top.  Sprinkle with more thyme leaves and drizzle some truffle oil over top.  Just a few drops.  A little goes a loooong way.  More pepper, if desired. 

 

Now for the how-to's:

We want about this much onion and mushrooms.

Mel the butter and let the shiitake hit the pan!

I cooked the mushrooms about 2 minutes, then added in the garlic.

You don't want garlic to burn - it gets bitter.

Add in another tablespoon of butter and let it melt.

Sprinkle in the flour and cook another minute to get the raw taste out.

You're making a "roux" here - fat and flour.  It's your thickening agent.

You just don't see it because of all the onions and mushrooms.

Slowly stir in the beef broth.

If you like, you could use vegetable broth.

Probably two cups of broth.  Let it thicken.  Not too thick.  Not too thin.

Taste test and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Now here's a little trick for you.

If it's still not thick enough for your tastes (and this is all personal),try a beurre manié, AKA "kneaded butter."  

Now, you've already made the roux when you added the flour to the butter in the pan.  A roux is basically equal parts flour and fat and, in this case, it's cooked just long enough to eliminate the raw taste of the flour. FYI, there are different categories of roux, ranging from light and blonde to dark and brown.  A light roux is used to thicken sauces (like a béchamel, cheese sauce, gravy, and soups).  A dark roux is cooked longer and is commonly used in Cajun or Creole cooking to  flavor the dish, like a gumbo or jambalaya.

Back to the beurre manié.  Say you've already made your roux and added your liquid, but you might have added too much liquid and you want your soup thicker.  If you just add in flour at this point, it will clump and you'll get doughy lumps.  What you do is make a beurre manié.  Take equal parts butter and flour and knead them together by hand until evenly incorporated.  Add a small chunk of the beurre manié to your soup and stir it in.  The butter coats the flour and as it melts, it distributes the flour evenly, thickening your soup without clumping.

Next add in the cream.

And the sherry.

Taste test again and seasoning accordingly.

Ladle soup into bowls and add small diced Brie cheese.

I had some homemade focaccia which I tore up, but lacking that, toss in some croutons.

Top with fresh thyme leaves and enhance your taste experience with a drizzling of truffle oil.

Not too much!  A little truffle oil goes a LONG way.  Just give a few drops and taste test.

I like a

few extra

grinds of pepper.

Truffle oil!