The Lady and one of her customers were chatting about mac n cheese recipes. He wanted to graduate from Colby-Jack (sold in the deli section of her store) into a more gourmet recipe. The Lady encouraged him to use 1/3 Beecher’s Flagship (which, according to Martha Stewart, makes the best mac n cheese in the world – better than what she got in the pokey, for sure) 1/3 Gruyere and 1/3 Colby Jack (because he had a two pound brick and didn’t want to “waste” it (like cheese ever goes to waste in most cheese hound homes…).
That discussion had positive consequences for The Man and The Cat (meaning me, of course). The Lady came home and decided to make mac n cheese for us using cheeses in the fridge. It was yummy; very creamy and very cheesy.
Here’s what she did.
She prepared the pasta, whole wheat, in a combination of chicken broth, water and salt. Then she poured it into a rectangular glass dish (after draining it – she did NOT rinse it).
She made a béchamel sauce using butter, whole wheat flour and no fat half n half. Into the béchamel sauce she added equal parts of cubed Gruyere – to be reviewed by me soon – (from the Cheese Kiosk), Tillamook Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar (from the regular cheese section of the store) and Singleton’s Mild White Cheddar (from the deli cheese kiosk). She added garlic, onions, nutmeg and black pepper.
When the cheese was melted and the sauce was creamy, she poured it over the pasta and mixed it all together. On top she added some whole wheat cracker crumbs and placed the dish under the broiler just until the bread crumbs turned dark brown. She then turned the broiler off and left the mac n cheese in the oven for 5 minutes to make sure it was warmed and bubbly.
Then she served The Man and The Cat.
Wow, the only thing better would have been to serve it with a rare fillet of Geomyidae.
I give The Lady’s mac n cheese 4 out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).
She served a Merlot with this dish.
Please note, The Lady rarely measures anything; she just wings it and hopes for the best. This time it worked; sometimes it doesn’t…
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