And the Oscar Goes To.....

........Alton Brown's macaroni and cheese recipe!

Our favorite Iron Chef commentator has a delicious M&C recipe on the Food Network.

Mom, little sister and I made it (ok, mom made it. little sister and I just ate it) for the Oscars last Sunday and it was divine.

We started by hiring an expert chef consultant named Chase.

Golden, bubbly and delicious. I LOVED the addition of the mustard and onion to the sauce.

It's definitely something I'll be trying again. Both ingredients added a delicious tang to the dish. Also, the panko bread crumbs were a yummy crisp and buttery topping.

 We enjoyed the macaroni and cheese with artichokes, yummy ribeyes and pinot noir.

Recipe:

1/2 pound elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced*
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

For Topping:

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

We used a different pasta, but other than that followed the recipe. 

Enjoy! 

Mobile eateries make a girl go wild!

Food trucks are all the craze in LA right now.  I have seen a kabob truck, ice cream truck, cup cake truck, sushi truck, Korean bbq truck, French fry truck; honestly, there is a truck for every food fetish these days. Including {drum roll please} mac and cheese. Yep, and not just mac and cheese but mac and cheese in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich.  Clearly this changes the entire dynamic.  For good reason, the Grilled Cheese Truck has earned itself quite a reputation around town.

Because New Years was just last week and I have not had enough time to forget about my new year’s resolutions, I decided to add sliced tomatoes to my Cheesy Mac and Rib which already consisted of macaroni and cheese with sharp cheddar, bbq pork, and caramelized onions.  Delicious AND healthy. 

If you look very closely, you can see the tomato slices

Anything with hot sauce is better

Look at those gorgeous delectable noodles!

In the powerful words of my lady love Brittany, “melted cheese and bread = the perfect marriage.  Today that marriage was conducted by the grilled cheese food truck.  Glorious.”

This sandwich was honestly divine.  It was so perfectly melted and gooey that I almost forgot about the hour long line I stood in just to order my chow and the 45 minutes I had to wait for the food to be prepared…

Oozing with cheese!

 

Because I am a pure glutinous, I didn’t stop at the Cheesy Mac and Rib + tomatoes (don’t forget the healthy part). I also indulged in a Plain and Simple Gruyere Melt with a parmesan crust.  I opted for the French bread instead of the wheat bread because after all, I already made the effort to eat my vegetables (yep, the tomatoes).

Dipped into a shot of tomato soup made each bite heavenly. Seriously, I could hear angels singing in the background.

 

Not done yet.

What would a meal of this grandeur be without tater tots? Dumb question. 

Not just plain tater tots, but tater tots dipped into a trilogy of sauces: bacon andouille (hmmmm bacon), nacho cheese (try mixing it with a tad of tapatio), and straight tapatio hot sauce.

And you thought my meal was over, didn’t you? Nope. Dessert is the most important part of any meal. My lunch concluded with a Dessert Melt - Roasted banana puree, Nutella and marshmallow.  

It was a party. In my mouth.

Verdict: Eating light is for sissies.