Richy Rich Lobster Mac

I love lobster. And, I love mac. Together, this can be a magical experience. While in Palm Desert this past weekend, I visited Ristorante Mamma Gina. I don't even know if they have anything else on their menu because as soon as I saw the lobby mac, my mind was made up. Done and done.

 The noodles were cooked perfectly and the sauce was rich and creamy.  I called and asked for the types of cheese used because I wasn't certain but the less than kind person who answered the tele refused to "give recipes over the phone."  Interesting.  Velveeta perhaps?  Kidding. Overall, this mac was pretty good.  It was not to die for and lets be honest, life is short so lets try to only eat those meals that reach the level of perfection.

Oh So Tasty Mac and Cheese Balls

 

I heart Trader Joe's. I really do. When I lived in Hawaii, I would come back to Cali to visit family and friends and would always go grocery shopping at TJ's before returning. You heard me. I would literally pack a bunch of TJ's food in my luggage for a tasty indulgence while on the rock.

TJ's rarely fails me. This is simply another example. As I am sure you can imagine, much to my savory delight, I stumbled across TJ's version of fried mac and cheese balls.  As we have already established, I love fried food and also love mac - if you are doubting my loyalty to the mac, you really haven't read enough of this blog.

Sorry, I don't have a pic of the box. Hubbs thought it would be a brilliant idea to delete half of my photos... So busted.

After a failed attempt to enjoy the balls at Fred62 (remember that blog entry?), I have to admit my standards were not very high when hubbs decided to make this treat. 

Four words sum up this experience:

THESE

LOVE that there are really macaronis stuffed inside the fried goodness. No false advertising here.

BALLS

My mouth is watering. Seriously.

ARE

Obviously we added some hot sauce to spice it up. Try a nice Louisiana style hot sauce. Yum.

DELIGHTFUL.

Five Crowns' mac is Suitable for a Goddess... or Two

Hooray for Oh So Cheesy's first guest blogger!! My darling friend Gorgeous Goldie, GG for short, sent in this entry over the weekend.  GG and her fiance visited Side Door, which is a fun gastropub located in the the Corona Del Mar landmark Five Crowns.  If you haven't made it to Corona Del Mar, you are honestly missing out. It is the quaintest little beach town in Orange County; in my opinion, it is Southern California's version of Carmel.

I received this text from GG at approximately 7:58 on Saturday night:
"Curley que Mac and cheese @ five crown's side door. I'll give u the review in 10."  The text was accompanied with this photo.

Please note the delicious dirty martini - my fav drink of choice.

This mac looks fabulous: a vibrant orange color, nice and baked, and it looks pretty oozy and rich.

At approximately 8:02 I received the following text with accompanying photo: "Freaking amazing!!!!"

Looks like the Side Door provides a wonderfully cheesy treat.

Hearty Grub Has a Special Place in My Heart

Any place named Grub must be great.  The name itself screams CLASSY ESTABLISHMENT. {Yes, that was my attempt to scream.} The restaurant is in a house transformed to a restaurant complete with quirky signs, photos, and little twinkle lights. If you are looking for a place in LA with character, Grub is your spot.

On a pleasantly rainy day, I had a lunch date with my fav barrister bud Brittany.  

We started out with some Homemade Ginger Ale and Blueberry Lemonade. Apparently you can get your daily antioxidants in a glass of this delicious lemonade.  Oddly enough, it didn't taste like blueberries or lemonade. Tasty all the same. The nice staff even provided us with some munchies while we looked through the menu.

munchies

After much deliberation, we decided on the Famous Mac & Cheese which was served with a nice light salad to help balance the hearty and zesty chorizo filled, panko topped, oozy cheesy goodness.
 

 We also ordered the tuna melt, descriptively entitled "Hooked!*"  The melt was served with black pepper potato chips. The chips were so delicious that I may be back ... just for more chips!

my fav barrister bud Brittany

LOVE the effort someone took to personalize this label

I highly recommend squishing some delicious black pepper potato chips, topped with some Tapatio, or "Taylortio" sauce, inside the tuna melt for complete savory satisfaction.

      








I also recommend finishing off your meal with some potato chip chocolate chip cookies. Yes, you heard me.  The potato chips did not overpower the cookie but added an extra special crunch. Not sure what type of chocolate chip was used but it was really decadent. Loving the sweet and salty taste in this cookie.

Baby Mac is the Perfect Treat

Let's be honest, anything bite sized just tastes better. Bite sized cheesecake, cookies, donuts, cupcakes, appetizers, sliders, crab cakes, candy, and mochi ice cream all taste better when they are bite sized.

I was asked to bring some m&c to my cousin Dave's birthday party.  Knowing that he enjoys the finer things in life, I thought that bite sized m&c would be the perfect choice.  I found this recipe on Food&Wine's website.  It is really simple to make, calls for ingredients that you probably already have and is classic enough that it will earn everyone's approval.

First, cook the noodles until almost tender, but not quite. Nobody likes overcooked noodles.

After heating up the butter, add flour, milk, cheddar and American cheeses, egg yolk, and paprika (for a tasty kick)...

Ingredients. Kitty cat salt and pepper shakers courtesy of my dear pal Zoe

Looks tasty already

Mix in the cooked noodles ...

Stir well ...

Can you taste it already??

And spoon into baby muffin cups prepared with butter and parmigiano-reggiano cheese mix.

before ....

After!

Sprinkle with some freshly grated Parm/Reg cheese...

Bake at 425 degrees and voila, you have a masterpiece!

My fav thing about this recipe is the use of American cheese. I haven't eaten this stuff in years. In fact, when I was a kid I would have to sneak it because my mom wouldn't let me eat it. It has been so long that I wasn't even sure where to buy it. But, rest assured, your local Trader Joe's carries it.  Do you have any fond memories of American cheese?

Sacramento In The House!!

What is true happiness? Is it money? Is it a big house or a fancy car? Or is it visiting friends and eating a fine mac and cheese dinner? For me, it is definitely the latter.

Pretty, pretty princess Jenai lives in Kauai.  Obviously she is a papaya farmer.  Anyway, it is a whole lot easier for me to visit her when she visits her family in Sacramento than making the trek to Kauai. Although I certainly don't mind visits to Kauai!  During her last trip to Cali, I flew on up to visit.  Because she is the most fantastical friend, she had mac and cheese waiting for me upon my arrival from the airport.

Obviously by the time I arrived, most of m&c had been eaten by pretty, pretty princess' family.  I honestly can't blame them because I wouldn't have been able to resist the cheesy goodness either.

In making this delightful dinner, pretty, pretty princess used Paula Deene's Creamy Macaroni and Cheese recipe but she doubled it (she knew how hungry we were) and added some pepper jack cheese.  It was an especially nice addition to pork loin, asparagus and caprese salad.

Even cute little babies love this recipe!

Cute little baby Leighton

This was the perfect way to start my vaca in Sac-town!  And in fact I ate it as a late night snack after dinner and again for breakfast. Equally amazing each time. Try it with your fav hot sauce.  Pretty, pretty princess recommends Tabasco^® Chipotle Pepper Sauce.

What is true happiness for you? I would love to hear!

Not All Mac and Cheese is Ono

 Today we take a trip to paradise and try some Hawaiian mac and cheese!

I visited No ka Oi in Huntington Beach with some good friends. Like I do in every restaurant, I breezed past the salads and straight for any sign of mac and cheese. Bingo. Mac and cheese WITH crab. Ah, I certainly cannot refuse a well balanced meal, complete with protein. 

The presentation was nice. But, the flavor was, well, not fantastical.  I think our first clue should have been that the type of cheese used in this plate was not specified. Powdered perhaps?  Srichacha hot sauce definitely did this dish wonders.  Don't get me wrong, I ate it, all of it, but it won't make my top 5 list.


My delightful friend Goldie recalls that the "Creamy yellow with small chunks of real crab meat fell short of my expectation. This mac and cheese felt like it was made with imitation cheese. Had to add some spice to it to make it more flavorful. I give it 3 out of 5 stars."

The morning after ...

After a few too many days in Vegas, and a few too many indulgences while in Vegas, a buffet is the only cure.  After a lot of research, i.e., asking cab drivers, Bistro Buffet at the Palms won as the best buffet Vegas had to offer.

Like any skilled American gluttonous, I really do love a good buffet. There is something about waffles, pasta, a ramen bar, cheeseburgers, sushi, an omelet bar, random unidentifiable meat, seafood, and deserts galore that make my mouth water.   

Because I am so skilled at indulging at such fine establishments, I arrived a few minutes before breakfast concluded… and conveniently a few minutes before lunch was served.  After trying their omelet; traditional eggs benedict; corned beef hash; Mexican omelet burrito complete with rice, beans, salsa, guacamole, potatoes, chorizo and tortilla; fruit – only because I am healthy; a couple of very tasty bloody marys, on special of course; and some chow mein and dumplings; I thought the meal would not be complete without macaroni and cheese. 

From first glance, it looked, well, pretty awful. It was on display in a soup bowl complete with a ladle.  That was the first red flag to RUN straight toward the taco bar.  The noodles were gigantic; I learned later that this was because it had probably been cooking since the Middle Ages.  The noodles were overcooked and the cheese tasted like a cross between imitation butter spread, nonfat milk and powdered cheese.  Three thumbs down on this one.

In a nutshell, spoken so eloquently by my self-indulging pretty pretty princess Jenai Yoshii “it was soupy, bland & the pasta was WAAAAAY overcooked.”

Vegas Baby

What would a trip to Vegas be without some delightful macaroni and cheese? Clearly it would be a waste of a trip. 

Emeril has yet to fail me. Yes, THE Emeril. Everything I have had at his restaurants has proven his ability as a wonderful chef.  While visiting Vegas, my dear friends and I scoped out Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand.  Their macaroni and cheese was so tasty that I regretted having to share it with my friends. Seriously.  Everything about it was wonderful. 

From the presentation,

To the perfectly heated temperature, 

It was pretty much a spiritual experience.

It had a nice smoky flavor that was not overbearing, a perfect amount of Serrano Ham, and the edges were nicely crisped from the baked cheese.  My only regret is that I did not taste any Cajun flavors like I expected since it was an Emeril’s dish.  However, it really left nothing to be desired.  I highly recommend this macaroni and cheese dish.

I shared this dish with some friends; Jarrett Haley reminisces: “That Mac and Cheese was amazing. Thinking about it right now, makes me want to go back to Vegas just to get one more bite…”  Jeremy Parker reflects that it was the “culinary highlight of the trip. Creamy cheesy goodness.”   

From left: Jeremy, Jesus, Jarrett, and pretty pretty princess Jenai

My savory consultant and pretty pretty princess Jenai Yoshii says in less than eloquent terms “super amazing w/ a plethora of white cheeses, & I think ???penne pasta??? cooked perfectly al dente. We should go back for more...RIGHT NOW!”  She would be so angry to know I posted her spelling and grammar imperfections so please don’t tell (I LOVE secrets). 

 

Bottom line: this macaroni and cheese is divine.

Wasabi Macaroni and Cheese ala George

My husband has NEVER cooked from a recipe. He called me at work and asked what I wanted for dinner, I obviously responded macaroni and cheese.  Expecting kraft, or better yet, a frozen macaroni and cheese, I was so surprised to come home to find every plate, spice, pan, and refrigerated condiment out on display on our kitchen counter. 

Clearly they were all necessary. 

Georgey-poo had actually found a recipe, not in the massive number of cook books I directed him to, but on the food network’s website.  

First, he prepared the ingredients for the cheese sauce.

Next, he added the noodles to the prepared cheesey goodness.

 

Now we are ready to brown the bread crumbs, or uh hum, the panko crumbs since hubby-hubs could not find the bread...

Almost ready to bake but first, more cheese.

Bake until golden and then voilà!

       

He made a delightfully bold, cheesy and tangy dish.  As it turns out, the recipe called for powdered mustard but since we did not have any, and a trip to the grocery store was clearly out of the question, Georgelicious substituted it for wasabi powder. Surprisingly, this gave it a nice edgy taste that blended well with the other flavors.  

After helping myself to seconds, ... and thirds, I admit that his mac and cheese rocked. Nice work sweet cheeks!