Sorry that's just one of my biggest pet peeves...
Anyways, the picture looks really good so I decided to try this one next. I had most of the ingredients the only thing I bought out of the ordinary was the tiny bowtie pasta...but honestly I was itching for an excuse to buy the piccolino pasta by Barilla.
I don't normally put my ingredients in plastic baggies, that was just the easiest way to transport everything from one town to another.
So here are the ingredients and my inevitable alterations:
4 florets of broccoli, cut into smaller florets (I buy the organic frozen mini florets because that's what I like)
4 florets of cauliflower, cut into smaller florets (Again, just bought the mini florets)
1 cup small penne or farfalle pasta (Bowtie=farfalle)
1 1/2 tbsp. sweet butter or margarine (I used salted stick butter because that's what was in the fridge)
1 tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 cup of whole milk
1/2 tsp. dried oregano (Didn't have that...whoops)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (Had a bag of 4 cheese Italian I didn't want to waste)
Once again I was forced to deviate from the original preparation directions because frankly I found them to be very strange at parts.
Directions:
Steam the broccoli and cauliflower for 8-10 minutes until tender. (I just dumped them in a bowl with some water and nuked them in the microwave for 5 minutes)
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package, then drain.
Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small, heavy-bottomed pan over low heat. Gradually add the flour, beating well to form a smooth paste. (Mine didn't make a paste...just a thicker buttery liquid) Cook for 30 seconds, stirring continuously. Add the milk, a little at a time, whisking well to prevent any lumps from forming, then stir in the oregano. Simmer for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy, then mix in the cheese.
I stood there whisking and stirring because the last thing I wanted to do was burn the cheese sauce, this is not a realistic goal with hungry children at your feet. I've made a lot of home made mac and cheese in my day and I don't really think making a roux is necessary for a dish so simple. I always just toss bits of whatever cheese is in the fridge, half a babybell gouda, a laughing cow wedge of spreadable swiss, some sandwich cheese and a little butter and milk...its not rocket science.
The next step was to add the pasta, broccoli and cauliflower to the cheese sauce...but they told me to use a small pan so I used a small pan. There wouldn't have been enough room for all that. I read the rest of the directions and it says...
"Add the cooked cauliflower, broccoli, and pasta to the cheese sauce and stir well. Finely chop or mash the mixture."
What? You want me to mash up miniature pasta? What was the point of buying mini pasta that a baby can pick up and eat if I'm going to mash it like potatoes on Thanksgiving?
Once again...I went AWOL. I drained the steamed veggies and tossed them onto a the cutting board where I took a few whacks with the largest knife I could find (very carefully of course...) I finely chopped the mixture so that it would be easily stirred into a pasta sauce.
It looked delicious to me once I stirred it up, almost like a really thick broccoli and cheese soup.
I added the sauce to the pasta and got a surprise. The cheese I used contained Mozzarella...which didn't seem to want to blend and melt as well as I thought it should. the cheese sauce was stringy and not really coating the noodles. I pushed some of the globs of cheese aside and served up the pasta, which was now more of a butter and veggie dealio. The kids absolutely love it though, I'm not sure if it was the excitement over the little bowties or just hungry but both had second helpings and didn't even seem to notice the veggies.
I scooped out a little bowl for myself (with the cheese) and found it a little...lumpy.
I wound up fishing out all the mozz before I put the leftovers in the fridge. What I got was a large ball of messed up cheese that I was afraid to even put down the garbage disposal. This one was all my fault, the recipe clearly said cheddar cheese but the prospect of buying those expensive bags of grated cheese when I had the perfect amount leftover in the fridge from earlier in the week was too tempting.
Learn from my mistake...mozz doesn't make good mac and cheese.
Bags of shredded cheese aren't the best for mac and cheese anyway because of the anti caking agents or extra flour the cheese it tossed with so it doesnt' stick together.
ReplyDeleteMozz isn't a good cheese for this either as you found out. AND chese down the disposal...I don't know, doesn't it gum up the works? I don't know, don't have a disposal and compost the veg peels and stuff. Do the kids like tomatos? I like to put fresh tomato slices on top of Real Mac and Cheese (not boxed) cover with bread crumbs and a bit of extra cheese and pop in the oven till golden brown, yum.