Is it Friday yet?

That's the question I asked on Monday morning. I had a premonition that this was going to be a craptastic week, and I was right. Nothing horrendous happened (thank God) but it just dragged and dragged, and I had two snafus at work that were not a lot of fun to deal with.

On the bright side, I made some amazing macaroni and cheese last night. This probably isn't the best weeknight meal, since it's a pretty involved recipe, but it was just to die for. I made two changes: I used 2% milk instead of whole, and I used Italian bread crumbs instead of plain, because that's what I had in the house. Also, I baked it in a 7 x 7 casserole instead of an 8 x 8 baking dish; it cooked in about 13 minutes instead of the 30 - 35 the recipe said, but I have no idea why.

Macaroni and Cheese

From "Artisanal Cooking" by Terrance Brennan and Andrew Friedman

Serves 4 as a Side Dish
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
5 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
Kosher salt
White pepper in a mill
2 1/2 cups Gruyere or Comté, grated (from 5 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup mascarpone
1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni

1.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour the water into a 3-quart pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

2.In a small sauce pan, melt 2 1/2 tablespoons of the butter over low heat. Add the bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, toss well, and set aside.

3.Put the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt it over low heat. Add the flour and cook for 5 minutes, whisking constantly, but not letting the flour burn. (I had trouble with this step - I basically got globs of flour, nothing that could be whisked, but it didn't seem to matter. Once I added the milk, it all smoothed out) Pour in the milk and cook for 5 minutes, whisking or stirring with a wooden spoon. Add 4 1/2 teaspoons salt, 4 grinds of pepper, the Gruyère and mascarpone, and continue to whisk until the cheese is melted and incorporated. Remove the pot from the heat.

4.Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the elbow macaroni to the boiling water and cook until al dente, approximately 8 minutes. Drain the macaroni in a colander and add it to the pot with the cheese sauce. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

5.Pour the macaroni mixture into an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture evenly over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, approximately 30-35 minutes. Serve hot.

Embellishment: For a main-course pasta dish, double the recipe and add prosciutto and/or peas.


We had this as a main course, without the Embellishments. It was fantastic. We started with a salad with my usual olive oil / lemon juice etc dressing. It stood up well to red wine.

*****

In other news, I am having serious baby fever. Part of it is that work has been crappy this week, and my go-to daydream is that Fiance gets a huge raise, and I quit my job and stay home with babies. The other factor is this article I just read, which definitely did something to my hormones. The rest of the problem is probably just hormones. We shall see, my friends.


We're going to sleep at my brother's tomorrow night, which means we get to see the boys! They are insanely cute. Saturday we are going to my parents' to stuff wedding invitations. I cannot believe we are this close!

I'm wearing a new red dress today and I feel pretty special. That's about all the news I got right now. :)