feeding the tender tummy Part 4

One of our 'comfort foods' before this began was macaroni and cheese. NOT Krap dinner but real macaroni and cheese. Here's my simple recipe:

2 cups dry elbow macaroni

3 tablespoons flour
3 Tablespoons butter
1 table spoon Dijon mustard
2 cup milk, heated in microwave

2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar (or more if you love cheese) divided into two portions.

Put a large pot of water on to boil.

in a saucepan melt the butter gently and add the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until the two are combined and bubbling. Mix in the mustard.

Pour in the hot milk slowly, wisking as you pour. Keep wisking as you heat the sauce until it bpils. turn the heat down and simmer the milk mixture. It will thicken and will burn easliy on a hot element. You have just made a Sauce Bechamel. One of the important 'mother sauces' of French cuisine. Cooking the sauce for fifteen to twenty minutes gets rid of the 'raw flour' taste.

The pot of water should be boiling by now. Put the two cups of macaroni into the water and simmer until cooked. (Ten to thirteen minutes for most brands.) When cooked drain the macaroni in a collander.

Take the Sauce Bechamel off the heat, add one cup of cheddar and mix until it has melted and is mixed evenly. (If you boil the sauce with the Cheese in it, it may make the cheese separate and become stringy and unattractive.) Add the cooked macaroni and mix well. Put the macaroni mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and put into a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with a salad.

Enhancing Macaroni and Cheese (From the Globe and Mail, Sat. March 22, 2008)

Put the two cups of milk into a saucepan with two cloves of crushed. garlic. Bring to a simmer and let stand for ten or fifteen minutes. Strain the milk into the Bechamel.

Substitute the cup of cheddar in the Bechamel with 1/2 cup Gruyere and 1/2 cup blue cheese. A full cup of Blue cheese is a bit strong for most people. Stilton or Gorgonzola will work equally well.

Dice six slices of bacon and gently saute in a saute pan. Add one finely diced medium onion and cook until translucent and the bacon is cooked. Divide the bacon mixture into two portions and mix one into the macaroni and the other with the topping. The smoky flavour of the bacon adds an interesting flavour to the macaroni. Makes me think that hot smoked salmon would also make a good additive.

Add the diced meat from a one pound lobster. Yum!!

Wendy's Sister, Joyce, assisted me in testing these enhancements this weekend and approved of them. We both had seconds. I won't try these on Wendy until her taste buds return to normal.

Harvey