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Jan 09I hope Rachel Ray hasn’t made this before.
I really have meant to write about food more, but I haven’t been going out to new places that much lately or making anything really inspired. But during my Chicago visit, I ended up going to…I think it was called the Handlebar. Googling…yes, the Handlebar. Anyway, they do hipster-friendly pescetarian food, complete with Chicago scene-required PBR. I was a fan of my sandwich, although I admit that $9 is a little spendy for goat cheese, sprouts, tomato and avocado. They also do some tasty smoked Gouda mac and cheese, which everyone liked and seemed easy enough to make at home, so tonight I did some basic macaroni research and came up with the following recipe. It’s really easy, takes less than a half-hour including the time it takes to boil water, and cheap–assuming you keep your kitchen stocked with the basics, $8 buys enough supplies for about 4-6 servings. Note: Most measurements are approximate, and some are based on tweaks I decided on for next time. No picture, because it would just look like normal mac and cheese captioned “Not pictured: waves of delicious Gouda-scent.”
Smoked Gouda mac and cheese
Serves two if you’re hungry, takes maybe 20-25min total
Boil up some water and cook whatever pasta you like (I used about half a 16oz box of shells). I assume you don’t need detailed instructions for this. While you’re waiting, grate about 6-7oz smoked gouda, or a little more if you snack on it like I did.
Melt about 1.5 tablespoons butter over low-medium heat. Whisk in 1 tablespoon flour. When combined, add about 1/2 cup milk and keep whisking away. Throw in some salt and pepper–I think I ended up with a little over 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and maybe 1/8 teaspoon pepper, but you can always season to taste later. Add the cheese bit by bit while stirring, then mix with the pasta when fully combined.
Also, if anyone has suggestions for other ways to improve the recipe, I want to hear them.
Tagged: cooking, food, restaurants
January 14th, 2009 at 10:01 am
gouda is amazing. did you use regular or smoked?
oh i have an idea. grate some more cheese. combine some bread crumbs with whatever spices float your boat (basil comes to mind, because it is delicious. or parsley, which mostly looks nice), put those in a thin layer on top of the mac and cheese, and then add a layer of grated cheese on top. put it in the oven.
i generally support the oven-browned slightly crunchy top.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:23 am
smoked. i’m also a big fan of crunchiness. i thought about bread crumbs, but there was a time issue. same for roasted garlic.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:54 am
smoked gouda is aaAAAWESOME, they have smoked gouda mac and cheese at some restaurant near work. the problem is, it’s all made with milk so i can’t eat it. but i could make it myself.
the time issue being that you are lazy?
you can also crunch up crackers and use them the same way.