Semi-Fancy Mac and Cheese

 Obviously, my picture taking skills are horrible!  I promise that the mac and cheese looks much better in person than in pictures.  The pictures do add those dreaded 10 pounds.  Poor mac and cheese!

 Anyway, this give me another opportunity to tell a Picky story.  This one occurred during the creation of this dish.  The mac and cheese was browning in the oven, and I had just finished checking on it.  The following exchange occurred:

Me:  "What are you doing?"
Picky:  *looking at me with the same expression I have seen my cat give me a million times.  It's the one where my cat is about to knock something over, but I catch him before he can commit his mischief, yet he looks at me and then knocks the thing over super fast and runs away.  So yeah, Picky had a piece of cheese in his hand, and looked at me the same way that my cat looks at me*
Me:  "Don't eat that!"
Picky: *he greedily shoves the piece of cheese into his mouth before I can take it away*

Yes, my boyfriend has now turned into my cat.  Now, I am not some cruel cheese mistress, who only lets Picky look at cheese without eating it.  He had already had some cheese on his egg sandwich this morning, plus, I had added 2 cups of shredded cheese to the mac and cheese sauce.  But no, I guess that isn't enough for Picky.  He acts like he has been cheese deprived!

 Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this recipe.  I have to admit, this is probably one of the most delicious mac and cheese recipes I have ever made.  And the way Picky was attacking not only his serving, but also the entire vessel containing the rest of the mac and cheese, I would have to say he agrees.  But stay tuned for his review.

Semi-Fancy Mac and Cheese

Inspired by various mac and cheese recipes online

I looked at many mac and cheese recipes online.  Unfortunately, I didn’t keep track of all the ones that interested me, so I’m just going from the things I saw that seemed like a good idea and combining them in one recipe.  As far as cheese goes, I had Picky select three different cheeses and combined them.  Because of the wine, the sauce will be wine colored, unless you go with a white wine.  Or you could add beer instead, but then it would be only a quarter-fancy.

Ingredients:
4 slices of applewood smoked bacon, or more if you really love bacon (reserve the fat for this recipe)

2 very large shallots or 5 smaller ones, sliced thinly

1 package of macaroni, or any tube-like pasta that you prefer

Sauce:

3 tablespoons of a combination of unsalted butter and/or bacon fat

3 tablespoons flour

½ cup red wine

1 cup low fat milk

1 cup half and half

½ cup of fontina cheese

¾ cup of aged cheddar

¾ cup of gruyere

Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:
2 cups unseasoned panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil(optional)
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter or oil a 9 by 7 inch baking dish.
Place the bacon in a skillet on medium high heat until the bacon is crispy, but not burned.  Make sure to turn it halfway through cooking (after 2 or 3 minutes).  Remove to a plate with a paper towel and allow to drain.  Chop when it is cool into quarter inch pieces.
After placing the bacon on paper towels, remove most of the bacon fat except for 1 tablespoon.  Lower the heat to medium, or medium low.  Add the sliced shallots to the pan, and stir occasionally until it is light brown in color, about 8 minutes.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat (the water will boil faster if you cover the pot).  When it is boiling, make sure to salt the water, then add the macaroni, and boil for the 1 minute less than the package calls for.  The pasta should be a little more than al dente, just slightly.  Since you will put the mac and cheese in the oven, you don’t want the pasta to be too done.  Strain in a colander, but don’t rinse!
After you have started to boil the water, place your butter or bacon fat in a sauce pan over medium heat.  If you are using butter, wait until the butter stops bubbling, add the flour and whisk together.  Cook for a minute or two until the roux (flour and butter) starts to brown.  If you are using bacon fat, let it heat for a minute and then add the flour letting it cook for a minute or two.  Whisk in the wine until combined.  Let this cook for a 2 -3 minutes before you add the low fat milk.  Add a little at a time, alternating between the milk and the half and half, whisking after each addition. Your sauce should be the consistency of alfredo sauce.  If it is a bit thicker than that, add a half a ladle of pasta water to your sauce and wisk.  Add more until it coats a spoon, but isn’t the consistency of gravy.  After all the liquids have been added, add your grated cheeses, one at a time, making sure to whisk after each addition until melted.  Taste your sauce at this point.  You might not need to add salt because of the cheese and the salt contained in the cooked pasta.  Add pepper to taste.  Take the sauce off the heat.  Add the chopped bacon and the shallots.
At this point, combine the sauce and the macaroni in a large bowl and mix together until well combined.  Pour this in your greased baking pan.
Finally, combine the panko, the melted butter and your oil in a small bowl, along with the remaining herbs.  Mix with a fork until well combined.  Spread the combined topping evenly over the mac and cheese and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is browned.  Take out and enjoy with a loved one!

No, I haven't made anything yet...

...but I thought a story would help those who are anxious for an update.  Before I go on with my story, I swear, tomorrow, I will have a real recipe for a very rich mac and cheese.  I might even throw in some truffle oil (don't tell Picky).

So, for our second date, I decided to cook for Picky.  During our first date, he ate some fried clams and he didn't mention anything about the many things he will not eat.  So, I thought, "It shouldn't be a problem if I make a rack of lamb, a potato blue cheese tart, and some creme brulee."   Well, I was right about two out of the three items.  It isn't like the menu was a complete surprise to him.  I told him what I was planning to make and he didn't say anything!  So, here I am, all proud of my delicious rack of lamb, which were cooked medium rare, so that he could taste their full flavor.  And he seemed lukewarm about them.  I encouraged him to feel free to pick them up and eat them off the bone so he could get every delicious morsel.  But, he didn't.  Instead, he nibbled at them like a frightened rabbit!  He did seem to really enjoy the potato tart and the creme brulee though.  I thought maybe he was full since there was so much meat left on the bones!  And he didn't want leftovers!  I think I ended up eating more lamb than he did. 

Finally, after we had dated for a few weeks, he finally confessed to me, after much prying, that it was the first time that he had lamb.  And then he listed the food rules I had violated in serving it to him:
            1.  It tasted game-y.
            2.  It was not well done (he has this fear that he will get sick from meat if it isn't cooked well done).
            3.  The most horrible of all, IT WAS STILL ON THE BONE! -  He does not want to eat anything, not even chicken, if the bone is still attached to it.  He will eat ribs, but he will leave the meat that is right next to the bone.

I was horrified that I basically had starved him that night.  And a bit worried that I ended up with someone who is overall, a wonderful human being, but seemed to have the opposite tastes in food.  I mean, this is someone who will never split a roll of sushi with me.  But through trial and error (and possibly blending up veggies and hiding them in his food), I have managed to broaden his food horizons a little at a time.  I mean, it truly is an accomplishment that he now loves asparagus!

I hope this story appeases the masses (heavy sarcasm).