And the winner goes to ......

Today was the first annual Firm Mac and Cheese Cook-Off.  We had three very unique entries and six hungry judges.

How do you choose between flavorful, decadent, and zesty?

 

Our fabulous entries

 Drum roll please ....

 Best Presentation goes to Grace's fabulous ham filled ramekin surprise! 

Clockwise from bottom: Grace's ramekin delight, Kelly's gourmet goodness, and Kimi's cheesy masterpiece

This mac was especially unique because Grace used wide egg noodles, which I have never had in m&c before.  She mixed fontina, mozzarella, and parm in with heavy cream, milk, cayenne and nutmeg until it thickened.  Then she mixed in smoked turkey ham and parsley.  She filled the ramekins, topped with panko bread crumbs and extra cheese for good luck, she baked it and voila - a creamy, cheesy, flavorful mac dish is made! This mac would be perfect for a family meal including kids and would make a nice entree as it is pretty filling with the ham.

Next, Kimi made us a wonderful six cheese delight that won the coveted "Cheesiest" prize!  And, to be clear, by prize I mean the praise and affection of the judges. No money in this competition!

I love a hidden jolt in my mac and Kimi really made that happen nicely.  The first bite has a nice all-American flavor but moments later this goodness is met with a powerful kick of chili.  Kimi's international cheesy concoction was made up of Spanish onion, cream cheese, heavy cream, sharp cheddar, parm, swiss, jack, mozzarella, and get ready for this - Chinese chili paste! Brilliant.

 The 1st Place Winner of the 1st Annual Firm Mac and Cheese Cook-Off goes to ... Kelly!

It is no surprise that this mac consists of:

·         Onion

·         Shallot

·         Garlic

·         Butter

·         Dry white wine, Pinot Gris will work

·         Whole milk

·         Flour

·         Fresh herbs such as oregano

·         Short pasta like Cavatappi

·         Gruyere

·         Ementhal (God bless the Swiss)

·         Sharp chedder

·         French baguette

·         White truffle oil

Kelly's mac tasted like it was the showcase item in this month's Food and Wine Magazine. The texture was excellent as it had a nice creaminess to it. It was wonderfully flavorful; the garlic, herbs, wine, cheese combo and white truffle oil combined to create a decadent flavor.  I noticed several judges go back for second helpings of this mac. It is a good thing I loaded my plate up early.

Thank you to our lovely contestants for brightening my Monday and making my pants fit just a tad more snug today.

From left: Grace proudly displaying her ramekin delight (please notice that there are none left to display since we ate them all), Kelly is grinning from ear to ear after winning 1st place, and Kimi gladly embracing her much deserved cheesiest title!

If you want the full recipe for any of these macs, please comment below and I'd be happy to send it to you.

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.

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! 

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!