Pages

March 22, 2008

Snow Day Mac & Cheese (UPDATED)

All of my classes at both colleges were canceled on the 4th due to the weather. It had been snowing all day; we were supposed to get 6-8 inches total.

It was a nice surprise to have the day off, especially a Tuesday which is normally my non-stop 12-hour day. I wanted to cook something comforting & warming, so I decided to try another version of mac & cheese.

I wanted to try one of Paula Deen's recipes, but most of them call for sour cream and I didn't have any of that in my fridge. Instead, I created my own "ultimate" mac & cheese with what I had on hand. Luckily, I like cheese and had several options to choose from...including brie, shredded cheddar jack, swiss, muenster, Parmesan, and American.

Here's the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, I-am-not-digging-my-car-out-of-the-snow recipe:

1 pound pasta shells
1/2 cup shredded cheddar jack
1/2 cup muenster, cubed
1/2 cup brie, rind removed & cubed
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
garlic powder
salt & pepper
  • Cook pasta according to package, just to al dente, then drain & return to pot.
  • Add butter to hot pasta & stir until melted. Add cheeses & cream. Season with salt & pepper.
  • Pour into a buttered casserole dish.
  • Mix together the bread crumbs, parmesan, & a dash of garlic powder. Sprinkle over pasta.
  • Bake at 350 until cheese is melted & top is browned. 15-20 minutes or so.
The chunks of brie got melted so that every once in a while I'd get a tangy bite of brie. It was...interesting. Overall, it was a stringy-cheesy mac. Not my best, but satisfying on that blustery snow day.

So, I am STILL looking for that perfect mac & cheese recipe. I want it to be creamy, but retain a bit of cheesy-stringiness.

What's your favorite mac & cheese?

1 comment:

  1. Was this what you made last night, Kelly? THAT was good!

    So great to meet you at last, thanks for making the trek all the way to Webster. Good luck with the new job today!

    ReplyDelete