Hubby's 5 Star Blue Ribbon Mac & Cheese

How many ways can you make macaroni and cheese? Well... When I put my mind to it, if you count everything from the slightest variations, to your major transformations, my guess would be somewhere in the millions. Yup. I said millions. It's only human nature to want to put your own little stamp on something that you're creating via (or as you'll often see used around the food blog world "adapted from") someone else's formula. Especially something that you're serving to your beloved family and friends.

I have a tried and true "go-to" macaroni and cheese recipe that I've used for many years, but I've also tried at least 30 different versions of the dish at one time or another. It's not that we haven't enjoyed most of the versions that I've made, or that my old standby recipe isn't a pretty decent one. I blame it on a lifetime of going to potlucks, friend's dinner parties or family cook-outs and trying someone else's mac & cheese and thinking in that particular moment, that it might just be better than mine. You know how it goes, you eat something that someone else has made, you love it, you ask them for the recipe and then can't wait to go home and make it yourself. The problem, however, is that in most cases (at least in my experience, anyway) it rarely ever comes out tasting quite the same way that you remembered it.

Now, I have a theory about that and I'm not pointing an accusatory finger at anyone in particular, but I often wonder if the person giving you their "secret" recipe, might just be deliberately leaving one important little ingredient out. Maybe even two. And no... I don't do that. EVER. If I have a recipe that someone really wants, I just give it to them in its entirety. That being said, depending on the person asking, I do sometimes add just a teeny little disclaimer when I write it down for them. I simply state that I won't be held responsible for any kind of substitutions or changes that they choose to make. (you know who you are...) I think that's only fair, don't you?

So, as I mentioned earlier, the Hubbers has always been pretty happy with most of the variations that I've tried, with a few exceptions here and there. But this particular version was like no other mac & cheese that either of us had ever tasted before. And I mean that in a totally "knock your socks off" kinda way. The most incredible thing about it is that it doesn't have any bacon, or lobster, or white truffle oil in it. It was truly a happy accident. And, I simply can't take full credit for "recipe development" on this one, either. I have to share that distinction with, um, my refrigerator. Yeah... I guess I should explain that one, eh?

It happened on one of those nights where 1) you just know that you're not even thinking about entertaining the idea of going out to the store to buy a certain ingredient and 2) your brain kicks into gear and you start thinking, "Hmmm.... I wonder just how many different leftover bricks/bags of cheese I have in that meat & cheese drawer today?" You know the kind of concoctions I'm talking about. They're what I fondly refer to as "cleaning out the fridge recipes". And boy, oh boy... did this one ever work! The Hubster gave it 5 stars and a blue ribbon! And let me assure you my friends, that double distinction has happened only a handful of times in the last 32+ years. And that is why I call this recipe "Hubby's 5 Star Blue Ribbon Mac & Cheese".

Now don't be alarmed by the number of photos in this post. If you've been here before, you know you can just use the "Print Friendly" button in the footer of this post and remove any unwanted photos (or my rambling) before you hit that print button. And besides that, I can assure you that this Mac & Cheese recipe is easy peasy. (maybe I should have said easy cheesy. Hmm? What's tha... Uh, yeah.... right. No) Just remember: as always, make sure to get your mise en place done first and then in just a few short steps, you're about 30 minutes away from a big pan of hot, bubbly, creamy, gooey, cheesy, heaven on a plate!

Hubby's 5 Star Blue Ribbon Mac & Cheese
(serves approx 4 to 8, depending on serving size)

• 16oz Elbow Macaroni, cooked according to pkg directions
• 1 Small Onion, minced
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Tbls Light Olive Oil
• 2 Tbls AP Flour
• 1Tsp Dry Mustard Powder
• 1&1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
• 2 Cups Whole or 2% Milk
• 1 Lg Egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 Cup Shredded Smoked Gouda
• 1 Cup Shredded Fontina Cheese
• 8oz Fresh Goat Cheese (Chevre)
• 2 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder

(Set aside about 1/2 cup of the mixture of shredded cheeses (not the goat cheese) for topping the Mac & Cheese before baking.)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F. Saute the finely minced onion in a small skillet with the light olive oil over medium to medium-high heat until it just starts to become translucent. Add in the finely minced garlic and continue to cook, stirring often. Add in the 2 Tbls of flour and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to turn a light golden color and the oil is mostly dissipated.

2. Add in the dry mustard powder and continue to cook for about one minute, making sure that all of the onion and garlic pieces are coated and any oil that was still in the pan is mostly absorbed. Turn off the heat and spoon the mixture out into a large mixing bowl. Add the cup and 1/2 of heavy cream and stir to combine.

3. Next, slowly add the milk while stirring until everything is mixed well.

4. Shred your Mozzarella, Fontina and Smoked Gouda cheeses, if you haven't already done so. Also, crack the egg into a small bowl and beat it lightly with a fork. Pour the beaten egg into the cream and milk mixture and stir it well, to mix all of those ingredients thoroughly.

5. Cook your macaroni in a large pot of liberally salted, boiling water until it's al dente. (just barely tender) Empty the cooked macaroni into a colander, give it a couple of shakes and set it in the sink or over the empty pot to drain thoroughly.

**Kitchen Tip: If you overcook your pasta, it won't absorb as much of the cream and milk mixture while baking and your finished Mac & Cheese could turn out a bit soupy or runny.

6. Fold your softened goat cheese and the shredded cheeses into your creamy mixture. (making sure to keep out about 1/4 to 1/3 Cup of the shredded cheese to layer on the top before baking)

7. Add your onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and stir well. Then pour the drained macaroni into the bowl and stir gently to combine everything thoroughly. The mixture will be runny or soupy at this point.

8. Once the cream mixture, cheeses, seasonings and macaroni are well combined, pour the entire mixture into a lightly buttered baking dish and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheeses over the top. Place the dish into your pre-heated 350°F oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until heated all the way through and the top is light golden brown and bubbly.

**Kitchen Tip: Sticking a butter knife into the very center of the dish and carefully touching it to your lip or your fingertip, is a good way to see if a casserole is fully heated all the way through.

9. Allow the macaroni and cheese to sit for about 5 minutes before serving. If it's going to be a bit longer than that before you're ready to eat, you can cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil and place it in your turned off oven, with the door open just a bit, to keep it warm.

10. Serve with a big tossed green salad or another vegetable of your choice and some crusty bread and you've got a delicious, comforting weeknight meal.

Or, you can always serve this as a side dish, accompanying a lovely baked ham, a juicy roast turkey or braised pork shoulder, or some crispy fried chicken as part of an awesome Sunday Lunch or Supper!

Enjoy!

Mary

Don't Forget To Follow Me On Social Media! I Post Blog Updates, Ideas For Kitchen "How To's", Restaurant Recommendations And Reviews... And Always Lots Of Photos!

You Can Have New Posts From Go Ahead Take A Bite Delivered Right To Your Inbox! Just Enter Your Email Address Here:


Delivered by FeedBurner
We will never send any advertising or provide your email address to any other blogs or businesses.

Don't forget that you can print this (or any) recipe using the "Print Friendly" button at the foot of each post. It's a great little feature that allows you to remove any pictures (or any text that isn't relevant to the recipe) before printing. That can save on ink and paper & in today's economy, who doesn't want to save a little cash when you can?!

Easy "Box Mix" Solutions

This is not a promotion or review of any one brand of cookie or brownie mix. These are the brands that I use and I am in no way stating that they are better or worse than any other product(s) of their nature.

This is definitely not a difficult recipe but it is one of the most requested desserts or sweet treats that I make. It's incarnation is actually the result of a "happy accident".  We were invited to a cookout at a friend's house a few summer's ago, and I was asked to bring a dessert.  Since it was a casual occasion, I figured that something yummy, yet simple was in order. Sounds easy-peasy, right?  

THE PLAN

I got to thinking about the more popular desserts that I've served at our own barbecues or casual parties, and my first thought was to make a big pan of brownies, grab some vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce at the store and provide the fixings for hot fudge brownie sundaes. Brownies have always gone over quite well with both adults and children and they sure weren't going to take up half of my day making them. Add a little scoop of ice cream and some thick gooey hot fudge and you have a real party pleaser!  Et Voila! That was the plan.  Or was it??   Hmmmm.....

THE DILEMMA

We'd had a pretty busy morning and as usual, I had waited til later in the day to start my preparations. As I  grabbed the brownie mix from the pantry shelf, I realized that there was only one box. One box? How in the world was I going to feed what I was told would be at least 30 people with one box of brownies? Those little needles of panic started to take hold. I didn't have time to run to the store and buy another box!  Yikes! I hadn't even showered yet! I was barely going to have enough time to stop at the store to get the ice cream and fudge sauce on my way to the party! I was beginning to feel a bit faint. What on earth could I do?

THE SOLUTION

As I was momentarily teetering on the edge of sanity, the pantry shelves flashed by in my head. There wasn't a second box of brownie mix, but wasn't there something else that I saw out of the corner of my eye?? OK... I think so.... But, what was it?  I flew back into the pantry and as my eyes scanned the rows of condiments and canned goods, it appeared!  One lone box of chocolate chip cookie mix! But.... Wait a minute!  Surely one box of cookie mix was not going to feed that many people either!  Maybe I could make cookies and brownies?  Would that be enough?  Well, maybe..... BUT!  What if..... What if I could somehow combine the two mixes and make one dessert go far enough?  Then, it hit me.  Like a miracle from Heaven above, I saw in my mind's eye a pan full of wonderful chocolate chip cookie/brownie bars!  Could it work?  I mean, really work?

Well, it did work.  I set about making the cookie dough and before it was fully mixed, I thought to myself, "Wait!"  So I set the half combined dough aside and grabbed a second mixing bowl and began to make the brownies.  When I finished mixing the brownies, I decided to leave the cookie mix in the crumbly state that it was and sprinkle it over the brownie batter like you would a "crumble" over a cobbler.  So, I followed my somewhat doubtful plan and in about 30 minutes, I had what looked like a pan of cookie bars, but not just any old cookie bars....  No, these bars had a decadent secret underneath their chewy goodness.  A rich dark chocolate secret.

THE RESULTS

I took a deep breath and jumped into the shower, knowing that these new confections would be cool enough for me to cut into several small-ish squares and arrange on a pretty platter.  Surely, the combination of the two goodies would be rich enough that one would only need a small piece to satisfy their sweet tooth.  Much to my luck by the time I was dressed and ready to head out to the party, I had a lovely platter of small, but yummy goodies to offer my hostess for her guests to enjoy.  And enjoy them they did!  So much so, that at least 10 people asked me for the recipe before the end of the party!  And new party goers galore ever since then have done just the same.  I proudly pass my happy little accidental recipe along to all who ask.  And now, I have the pleasure of sharing it with all of you too!

THE RECIPE

• 1 Box Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, follow package directions (see note below**)
• 1 Box Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix, follow package directions

(Of course, you don't have to use Ghirardelli mixes, but they're the only ones I've ever tried this with.  My theory?  If it ain't broke.....   If you do use other brands, I'd love to hear your thoughts.)

Once you have mixed the dough and the batter, pour the brownie batter into ungreased 9x13x2 glass baking dish.  Sprinkle the "chunks" of cookie dough over the top of the brownie batter as close together as you can get them.  Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 28-30 minutes, or until top looks set and is a light golden brown. Allow to cool for 30 minutes (or a bit longer if you can) running a butter knife around the edge of the pan two or three times during cooling, and then cut into approx 2 inch squares. Serve and Enjoy!

**  Do not mix the cookie dough thoroughly. Try to leave it in "chunks" the same size as you might use for a fruit cobbler or crumble. It's virtually impossible to "spread" the cookie dough on top of the thinner brownie batter. I suppose if you made a boo-boo and mixed it too much, you could rotate the cookie dough to the bottom and pour the brownie batter on top. I also wouldn't worry if the brownie batter seeps down in between the cookie dough chunks.  No matter which way you have to do it, they'll still be delish!