Gourmet Mac 'n' Cheese. anyone?
@owlwings (43897)
Cambridge, England
July 9, 2016 6:59am CST
What can one say about Macaroni Cheese (or "Mac 'n' Cheese", as some call it)?
It's a true comfort food, easy and cheap to make from basic, fresh and wholesome ingredients and, like most comfort foods, very difficult to take an appetising photo of (the one I have chosen is not my own but is by 'cookbookman17' on Flickr and is licensed for reuse).
When I make macaroni cheese I usually add tomatoes or tomato purée to the cheese (which gives it a delicate and rather attractive pink or salmon colour) and I sometimes add other things, too - some chopped bacon or ham always works well.
The other day I came up with something which surprised even me by how good it was and I felt that I ought to share it with you guys.
'Gourmet' food for me describes food where some thought and artistry has gone into the choice of ingredients so as to lift it above the ordinary. It usually means fewer ingredients, rather than more, and ones which are carefully chosen so that the flavours blend and complement each other. Such was the way in which I prepared this dish.
It all began because I like green beans - the round, rather crunchy little pods which I believe are haricot verts, though I'm not entirely sure - and I had an idea that their crunchiness would not be lost in a baked macaroni pie and their flavour would be complemented by a rather sharper cheese than the usual cheddar.
I used a packet of these beans, steamed lightly first (they would get more cooking in the pie) and I added some bacon pieces fried with an onion until the bacon was crisp and the onion browned. For the sauce, I used a small piece of Stilton, some crumbled Feta and a piece of Caerphilly (a Welsh cheese which is sharp and tangy, quite like Feta). Basically, I used these because I had them left over! I also added some Greek yoghurt in place of some of the milk. Because I prefer my cheese sauce fairly solid, I also beat in a couple of eggs when the sauce had cooled a little and before adding the beans, bacon and macaroni.
All of that went into a pie dish and, with a sprinkling of Parmesan on the top, was put in the oven to bake for 40 minutes until the top was coloured.
The Internet seriously lacks a 'TasteTube'*, or I would have uploaded this dish so that you could all experience it. My household (even the cat) voted it a "Wow!" and I have promised to make it again.
*(On second thoughts, perhaps we are all better off without "TasteTube", if the quality of some of the videos on YouTube are anything to go by!)
18 people like this
16 responses
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
9 Jul 16
Gourmet annoys me in the same way as boutique does.
It has become way overused and now means next to nothing.
Loads of pretty standard small hotels add boutique and think it gives them the right to add £30 to their room price.
Just the same as some restaurants add gourmet to their cheeseburger and charge £12 for it

2 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
9 Jul 16
I do agree that the word "gourmet" is often abused merely to describe 'something our chef has cooked which may deviate from what you might expect' and so that the restaurant seems 'classy' and can charge higher prices. I did use the word with some irony in the title.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
9 Jul 16
@Mike197602 'Boutique' means a small shop. It comes from the Greek 'apoteke' meaning a storehouse (nothing special there) and the Spanish word 'bodega' comes from the same word. I don't really see how you can have a 'boutique hotel' but I suppose that they want to avoid calling it a boarding house or a B&B!
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
9 Jul 16
@owlwings I thought that
I just wish, in the hospitality/catering industry, there could be a more firm definition of the words.
Particularly with regard to boutique...just because your hotel is small doesn't make it boutique in my opinion
I think you've used gourmet how I'd expect it to be used.
Basically a home made dish with top class ingredients that are a little different to the norm.
I think you've used gourmet how I'd expect it to be used.
Basically a home made dish with top class ingredients that are a little different to the norm.1 person likes this

@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
9 Jul 16
I suppose that it's more complicated in the description than in the making - as are most recipes. I really just added what I had. It was the yoghurt in the cheese sauce which really made the difference, I think, though the Feta and Caerphilly helped. The crunch of the green beans also made a big difference to the texture.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (382104)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Jul 16
@owlwings That's what I worked out in the finish - it's just adding this instead of that really.
Our friends do coffee and cake at their winery. The cake is made with oil and yoghurt rather than butter and milk so that it stays moist for more than a day. Yoghurt to the rescue again. :)
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
9 Jul 16
Now this sounds something Hubby and I could go for! But I can't speak for the kids . . . my kids enjoy the boxed kind . . . they can like the homemade one but even then the best cheese for it in their eyes is the American processed one (I know, not "real" cheese). TasteTube
! But if it was put out by you, then we know it'd only be of the best quality 
.
! But if it was put out by you, then we know it'd only be of the best quality 
1 person likes this

@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
10 Jul 16
@much2say Yes, I guess you'd call it tomato paste. The passata or chopped tinned tomatoes have too much water and affect the consistency of the sauce (though you can reduce the milk, of course). Here it comes in either small tins or tubes. I find the tubes easier to keep in the fridge.
You could call it "Pizza Mac & Cheese" to make it sound different & special!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
9 Jul 16
We don't have the boxed kind here though we do have 'just add water' pouches of pasta. I am very suspicious of powdered ingredients like cheese and don't at all trust all the extra chemicals they put in those 'quick meals'. How long does it take, for heavens sake, to boil a pan of macaroni and to make a cheese sauce from butter, flour, milk and cheese (not forgetting the mustard and salt and pepper, of course)? I mean, you do the two things at the same time and it doesn't absolutely HAVE to be cooked in the oven, so 20 minutes at the outside!
You might try adding a tablespoon of tomato concentrate to your cheese sauce. I guarantee that the kids will be back for more of that!
1 person likes this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
10 Jul 16
@owlwings What?! No boxed kind there?
Wow, I would move there solely for that reason
(but the kids would not move there solely for that reason
). I have a problem with powdered ingredients as well - but I know, I know, I do still buy them occasionally . . . the healthier versions but still it's not exactly "healthy".
You're right - it really shouldn't be a big deal to actually cook your own mac 'n cheese. But honestly I have some friends who can't even make toast. I remember in college my friend made boxed mac 'n cheese for the first time . . . she was fixated on the instructions and spent a lot of time measuring out the water exactly to boil the macaroni
. Making real cheese sauce would be a stretch for someone like her (she wouldn't even have all the ingredients).
Convenience and saving time is BIG here unfortunately, and even more unfortunate, people actually do like the taste of salty, processed cheese powder sauce.
Ok, I'll try the tomato (is this in our terms "tomato paste"?). That does sound good! 
Wow, I would move there solely for that reason
(but the kids would not move there solely for that reason
). I have a problem with powdered ingredients as well - but I know, I know, I do still buy them occasionally . . . the healthier versions but still it's not exactly "healthy".
You're right - it really shouldn't be a big deal to actually cook your own mac 'n cheese. But honestly I have some friends who can't even make toast. I remember in college my friend made boxed mac 'n cheese for the first time . . . she was fixated on the instructions and spent a lot of time measuring out the water exactly to boil the macaroni
. Making real cheese sauce would be a stretch for someone like her (she wouldn't even have all the ingredients).
Convenience and saving time is BIG here unfortunately, and even more unfortunate, people actually do like the taste of salty, processed cheese powder sauce.
Ok, I'll try the tomato (is this in our terms "tomato paste"?). That does sound good! 

@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
12 Jul 16
Macaroni Cheese is always a good fall-back when you can't think of anything else to have.
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
12 Jul 16
That sounds yummy. Macaroni Cheese is one of my favourite foods and what is pleasantly surprising is the amount of pubs which now offer it as part of their menu. Scrumptious!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
12 Jul 16
One of our local pubs serves Macaroni Cheese. It comes in an individual dish with a sprinkling of crispy bacon on the top and a couple of slices of garlic bread. I had it the other day and it wasn't bad, though the sauce was a little runnier than I prefer. The point was that they also serve it as a side dish at half the price. My wife had the cauliflower cheese as a side and it came in exactly the same dish as the macaroni cheese! The next time I go there, I shall order the side of macaroni cheese to see if its substantially the same (though without the pinch of bacon and the garlic bread).
@sunilparthan (6302)
• India
9 Jul 16
I like to have it. But now I am in a place where it is very difficult to get proper food itself.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91116)
• United States
9 Jul 16
Your spin on traditional mac & cheese sounds delicious
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
12 Jul 16
Most boarding school food, I agree, would put one off for life! There are a few things, however, which I loved and the memory of which has stayed with me all my life. One was 'Cheese pie' which was simply cheesy mashed potato with a crispy cheese topping. Another was fried bread spread with Marmite (or possibly Bovril) You can't fry bread in that particular way unless you have a large fat frier (and the dripping or lard to fry with).
1 person likes this
@Elizaby (6902)
• Pensacola, Florida
11 Jul 16
It is always fun to experiment with adding ingredients to a basic recipe and exciting when it is well liked and received




















