Not your Grandma's Macaroni and Cheese.

Or perhaps it is.  The inspiration for my version of Mac n’ Cheese does, in fact, originate with my grandmother.  Although she never actually made it for me, my dad improved upon her recipe and fed it to us over the years.  I have since made changes of my own, until getting to where it is now.  Perfection.  That’s right, I said perfection, and I’m standing by that.  This isn’t made with a cheese sauce or topped with bread crumbs, it’s not the mushy gloop you might find at the deli or on a buffet, and it certainly isn’t that neon orange Krap from a box.  It’s hot, bubbly, cheesy, bacony goodness, like you’ve never experienced before. 

What you’ll need:

1 ¼ cups each, of 3 different kinds of cheese*

½ pound bacon*

1 pound macaroni

4 or 5 green onions

1 ½ cups milk

Liberal amounts of salt and pepper

 

*Ingredient notes:  Use good quality cheese.  Don’t buy the pre-grated stuff.  Grate your own.  For a commercial brand, I like Tillamook, but I also like to buy local and imported cheese from the cheese monger.  You can get pretty good stuff from the cheese counter at most grocery stores these days.    

As for the bacon, use one that’s just a regular slice.  The thickly sliced stuff isn’t the best in this dish.  Also, I am very passionate about the treatment (or mistreatment) of pigs, so please buy bacon that comes from humanely raised pigs if you can.  Niman Ranch and Beelers are a couple of good examples. 

Onto the actual cooking.  I like to cook bacon in the oven.  It’s easy to make, and easy cleanup.  Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and lay out your bacon slices.  That way, when it’s all done, and the bacon grease solidifies, you can just take the foil off and throw the whole thing away.  Slide the pan into a cold oven and then turn it to 350°.  If your husband is around, you might want to make two pans so that you'll still have enough after he's finished snitching.   

Now is a good time to chop your green onions and grate the cheese.  The combination of cheeses I used was Colby Jack, Extra Sharp Cheddar, and an Apple Walnut Smoked Cheddar. 

Ok, back to the bacon.  The thickness of the slices can really affect the time it will take to cook.  After it’s been in for about 12 to 15 minutes, start to check on it.  You might even want to flip the slices over.  To me, bacon is not cooked until it’s crisp, so it should look about like this:

 

Move it to some paper towels to drain.  For the pasta, fill a pan with plenty of salted water, and bring it to a boil.  Follow the package directions, but make sure the pasta is al dente.  It’s going to cook some more in the oven, so you don’t want it too soft now.  Drain the macaroni and rinse it with cold water.  After allowing the excess water to drain off, pour the noodles into your casserole dish, drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and stir to coat.

Now, let’s chop our bacon.

 

If your oven is not already preheated to 350° from cooking the bacon, do so now.  On top of the macaroni, sprinkle salt and freshly cracked pepper.  Reserving about ¼ cup of each of the cheeses, spread the rest on top, mixing them together as you do so.  Set aside a couple tablespoons each of the bacon and green onions, and throw the rest into the pot. 

 

Now stir it all together until everything is evenly distributed.  Drizzle the milk over the top, covering as much area as you can. 

 

Top with the remaining cheese and press the mixture softly into the pan with your hand. 

At this point, you want to cover the pan, but some steam needs to escape as well.  My dish has a lid, so I like to fold up a piece of foil to place under it, which creates a bit of a crack. 

 

If you’re covering your dish with foil, just poke a few little holes in it after you’ve got it in place.  Bake for about 45 minutes, or until it looks like this:

 

When you put a spoon down the inside of the pan to the bottom, there should be very little or no liquid down there.  That’s how you’ll know it’s done.  If there is still liquid down there, simply remove the cover and bake for a few more minutes. 

Allow to rest for a good ten minutes before serving.  It’ll be the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, but it really is worth it. 

Garnish each portion with a sprinkling of the remaining bacon and green onions and serve with your favorite vegetable.  You’ve got to have something nutritious on the plate, right?  I went for roasted asparagus. 

 

If you have leftovers, freeze them in individual servings, and you’ll never have to feed your kids (or yourself) that artificially flavored and colored stuff again. 

Have a macaroni and cheese recipe you think can outdo mine?  Without posting the whole recipe, tell me what's special about yours and why I should try it.  The one that interests me most, I'll make and feature here on our blog.      

When a box of chocolates just won't cut it...

I give you cookies.  Not just any cookies, mind you.  Barely crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle, filled with gooey dark and milk chocolate… no wait… studded with chunks of white chocolate and dried cranberries… no wait… speckled with flakes of shaved chocolate and loaded with melted peanut butter chips… no wait… rolled simply in organic cane sugar for the perfect sugar cookie.  Can’t decide?  Let’s make them all, from just one basic dough, and serve them with three different flavors of warm chocolate ganache, for dipping.  You read that right.  We’re going to be dipping these fabulous cookies into white, milk, and dark, chocolate ganache, while we’re eating them.  Sorry See’s and Russell Stover, I’m afraid you’re out of your league this time. 

Let’s get started, shall we?  Here’s what you’ll need for the basic cookie dough:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1 ⅓ cups sugar
• 1 Egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon distilled vinegar (don’t worry, it doesn’t flavor the cookies)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ¼ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Your butter should be room temperature before you begin.  If you’re like me, however, you probably forgot to pull it out of the fridge ahead of time.  No problem.  You can simply place it, with the wrapper still in place, into a bowl of warm (not hot) water, and leave it for 10 minutes.  That should soften it sufficiently.  Throw the butter into your mixing bowl and cream it until it looks like this:

 

Add the sugar and continue to mix until they are well combined, and the butter is a nice light color.  Add the egg, vanilla, and vinegar, and mix until completely incorporated.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle attachment, and mix again.  In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flours, salt, powder, and soda, and add to the wet mixture.  Stir until just combined, scraping the bowl again, if necessary.  At this point, your dough should be soft enough to stir or knead in goodies, but not sticky to the touch.  If it is still somewhat tacky, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix until the dough loses its stickiness, but don’t let it get too stiff to work with.  Remove ¾ of the dough from the mixing bowl, and set aside. 

Pull out your box grater and a piece of whatever chocolate you like. 

 

Grate about ½ of an ounce (if you’re using one like mine, 2 squares would have been plenty) on the fine part of the grater.  It should look something like this:

 

Add the grated chocolate to the dough you left in the mixing bowl and stir until incorporated. 

 

At this point, you have some decisions to make.  What I’m giving you here, is just a roadmap.  You can mix in anything that might strike your fancy.  My husband has a nut allergy, so you won’t find them in my recipe, but feel free to add nuts, dried fruit, or any flavor of chips you like.  Here is the group of add-ins I used:

 

This is probably a good time to preheat your oven to 375°.  Divide the dough into 4 separate bowls.  To the dough with the chocolate flakes in it, I added peanut butter chips, and I didn’t skimp.

 

To the first plain dough I added white chocolate chunks and dried cranberries.

 

To the second, a combination of milk and dark chocolate chips.  (and white chocolate to some, as well)

 

The last bit of dough I rolled into balls and dropped into a little bowl of sugar. 

 

Just shake it around a little until it looks like this:

 

Since we’re going to be dipping these cookies, smaller is better.  I rolled balls about the size of nickel.  Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (it doesn’t have to be lined, but I like the easy cleanup), leaving a good two inches between them. 

 

The ones in the picture are not spaced far enough, but they looked silly all spread out, so I moved them for the picture, and then spaced them back out.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. 

 

I pressed a piece of white chocolate into the double chocolate cookie right when they came out of the oven.  Why not, right?  Now, while those cool down and set up a bit, let’s start on the ganache.  The ratio I’m using is ¼ cup of chocolate to 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream.  A glass measuring cup makes this easy. 

 

Microwave the mixture for 20-30 seconds and then stir until smooth.  Repeat the process with milk chocolate and dark chocolate, pouring each into its own bowl for dipping.  Surround the bowls with cookies, and serve with an ice cold glass of milk. 

 

Plenty for sharing with your Valentine, but good enough for one to enjoy, just wrapped in a warm blanket (or snuggie, if that’s your thing), while reading your favorite romance novel. 

CAUTION:  Chocolate ganache and books (of either the paperback or electronic variety), may not always get along.    

       

What will you be eating this Valentine's Day?