Cheddar-Beer Mac and Cheese

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Kathy

I love comfort foods – mac and cheese, beef stew, chicken soup, anything slightly salty and full of butter. I tend to reach for them when I’m having a bad day or just because. I turn to comfort foods in times of celebration or when I’m in need of comfort. This mac and cheese is no different. It’s something I have been perfecting for about two years. Tweaks and modifications have led to a perfect mac and cheese – one with body that isn’t too rich. This particular flavor combination comes from my love of Saus’s cheddar duvel sauce. Though, it’s evolved from there. Something that started with cheddar and beer became more – I added mustard, I experimented with different beers – stout, reds, i.p.a.s, lagers, you name it I probably tried it in this mac and cheese. I made this particular mac shortly before St Patrick’s day so I had a nice Harpoon Celtic Red around, and it was (and is) my favorite.

I make macaroni and cheese pretty regularly – pasta, milk, and cheese are ingredients I always have on hand so it makes a quick meal pretty much any night of the week. I think that’s one of my favorite things about mac and cheese. It will work with most any cheese and will accept any additions. It’s always familiar and different, which I love. But this mac and cheese is a special one; BF and I use it to celebrate – jobs, raises, pretty much anything positive in our lives means I make this mac and cheese. The beer makes it rich and the mustard adds a great sharp flavor. Also – the benefit of being able to drink a beer while you’re cooking is AWESOME.

There’s something so comforting about that beer at the end of the day, and pairing it with cheese and mustard basically makes it a much more filling pretzel. And we all know how I feel about those.

Cheddar-Beer Mac and Cheese

Adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, though at this point it’s really all my own. I also crisped a handful of homemade bacon lardons to add to mine, but that’s totally optional.

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (sharper=richer)
2-3 Tbs spicy mustard (I use Gulden’s, because it’s what I typically have on hand but your favorite will work just as well)
1 cup beer (lighter is better, this isn’t great with stout)
1 lb pasta, cooked to a bit less than al dente (I like a curly tube pasta, like cellantani or campanelle because they hold a lot of sauce and their shape)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2-3 Tbs melted butter
1 tsp crushed mustard seed (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 and oil a large ovenproof bowl.
In a medium, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat melt the butter and mix in the flour until it becomes a paste. This is a basic roux and can be used for thickening in lots of ways.
Add the milk to the roux and let it come to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese and stir to melt. The sauce will be quite thick.
Stir the mustard into the cheese sauce. Gently add the beer, if the bottle is fresh it will be quite foamy. The sauce may slightly curdle at this point – don’t worry. Keep stirring and it’ll come back together.
Add the cheese sauce to the cooked pasta and stir well. Pour the cheesy pasta into the oiled bowl
Mix the panko crumbs, melted butter, and crushed mustard seed together. Spread the crumbs evenly over the cheesy pasta.
Bake the mac and cheese for 30-40 mins, until the panko is crispy and lightly browned.
Remove the mac and cheese from the oven and allow it to cool for 5-10 mins before eating.
Enjoy with a beer!

Cheesy Semolina Bread Fail

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Kathy

Not everything I make is a resounding success. I frequently try recipes and end up throwing them out or pretending they never happened while trying to come up with something better. This state of mind leaves me one of two ways, I am either sobbing and trying to figure out why I failed or I feel like a totally mediocre cook who can’t do anything right. Though, sometimes I am trying a new recipe and it just falls flat, like in the case of this bread. It looks tasty right – the cheese is golden and crispy on top and the whole thing is a lovely golden brown? It’s not. It’s dense and chewy and sits in your belly like a bowling ball, just making you feel full but not satisfied in terms of flavor or texture.

I’ve had semolina flour sitting on my shelf for quite a while now, initially it was there as a pasta making addition but more and more I’ve been coming across semolina breads. These breads, when I buy them, are fluffy and airy – like a baguette or ciabatta but with a little more texture to the crumb and I am a fan. So one day last week I decided to try it out, make my own semolina bread. So I looked in all of my cookbooks, I looked on the internet – I looked everywhere and found one recipe for semolina bread. It was a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and it only called for semolina flour, so I was wary of it but went for it.

The dough was a cinch and mixed up in just a few minutes, it rose well, and then rose well after shaping – but in terms of flavor it was flat and disappointing. Will I try semolina bread again?, of course, I’m nothing if not persistent. Will I use this recipe again, no. It needs work – too much semolina flour created a dense bread that weighed heavily and didn’t do either my baking skills or the bread any justice. I’ll definitely be trying semolina flour again, and maybe then I’ll find a recipe worthy of sharing. In the meantime – here are some pictures of this bread.

Small Plates at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Posted on December 4, 2011 by jprusik

This post has been brought to you by kathycancook’s very own “BF”, who also sometimes writes in his own blog.

A few weeks back, Kathy was invited to a blogging event at Fleming’s to experience their new small plate menu items. These type of events more-often-than-not fall into the category of “fun, but gastronomically unremarkable” (even more so when the restaurant is a national chain), so I considered passing on this one, but decided to tag along as a plus-one, aiding with pictures and review-related-thinking-activity-things. What I can report back is pleasant surprise. We were treated to a series of dishes, each one vying for my affections by exploiting my different culinary vices. Like children, I could not choose a favorite and had to eat each one multiple times. As such, I’m going to review each dish briefly so as to avoid gross keyboard-unfriendly drooling.

First up on this new lineup is the Filet Mignon Skewers. The skewers were cooked perfectly (rare-medium-rare for-the-win) and was accompanied by “the Sauce”. The Sauce is comprised of two-parts Gorgonzola, one-part bacon, and thirteen-parts jackalope magic. After being the first to taste it, I promptly (and secretly) snuck around the room looking for anything I could dip into it so as to maximize the relocation of whatever Sauce that was present from cold, unfeeling porcelain dishes into my stomach. Assume from this point forward, that all the other dishes I tried were first consumed as they were intended, and then again with gratuitous amounts of the Sauce drizzled all over.

Next came the Sliced Filet Mignon. Let me just re-iterate again here how perfectly this and all the other meat was cooked. My experience has been that most places (including steakhouses) have difficulty hitting that rare-medium-rare sweet-spot – Fleming’s nailed it each and every time (and let’s face it, if you’re eating over-cooked meat, you might as well not bother).

I’m not a huge fan of chops as a finger food, but these lamb chops were delicious and accessible.

Let’s also not forget the seafood offerings. We tried their tempura-breaded lobster, shrimp skewers, Ahi tuna skewers, and scallops. Full disclosure: I am not a seafood fan, save for very few, very specific exceptions. I tried each of these dishes, and was surprised to enjoy each one – they were actually on par with my all-time favorite, steak (which is nearly blasphemy in my book).

We wrapped up with espresso and white chocolate-covered chocolate truffles, which were their own kind of heaven.

I won’t lie, I was surprised by the quality of Fleming’s dishes. While I don’t consider myself a particularly discerning foodie, I recognize the difference between “pretty good” and “fantastic”. If the quality of these dishes are what can be expected at every visit, I’ll be adding Fleming’s to my list of regular places to eat.

Please Note:

We were also treated to red and white variations of wine, though I don’t feel terribly qualified to judge them. I enjoyed them plenty, but wine is one of my regular blind spots. The event was complementary, but as is the norm here at kathycancook, our opinions are our own.

Cheesy Grits

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Kathy

It’s Saturday morning and as I hang out at home I am, of course, thinking of breakfast. I think of all things breakfast on the weekends – eggs and homefries, pancakes, scones, and muffins (and whatever else seems relatively breakfast-y, pie anyone?). I like to take the time to make a breakfast that will satisfy BF and I through out most of our weekend days so our breakfast is usually large and late (neither of us even starts to get hungry until 10 am or so, which means the actual breakfast isn’t consumed until around 11). It’s on these late weekend days that I, more often than not, turn to eggs – they are quick and easy and fill me up so completely that they’re always perfect.

Now, down to grits. My big sister (who lived with me from Jan-March of this year) introduced me to grits as hangover food. She would come in late Friday and come Saturday morning when she rolled out of bed BF and I were starting to contemplate our breakfast and Meghan would suggest grits. As one who had never really had grits before I found myself thinking they would be hard to make and not very good. I was wrong about that. The grits big sis made were swoon worthy in every way – creamy, rich and topped with an over easy egg. They were luxurious.

Since my sister moved out I still buy grits by the carton and stock up on cheese and garlic powder. Making grits is so remarkably simple and it hits the spot; especially after a night spent a bit too late at the bar. I am still having trouble with poached eggs, so I won’t try to explain that to you – instead, if you can poach an egg do it because the grits are fantastic with a poached egg, if not then just fry an egg gently until the white sets and use that. Either way it will be a breakfast fit for whoever you want to serve it to.

Cheesy Grits
Adapted from the back of the Quaker Grits box.
Note: I almost always make this with whatever cheese I have on hand but my favorite, by far, is the Cabot Coop Garlic and Herb Cheddar. It made the best grits I have ever eaten and it is what I will recommend here.

2 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup grits
6 oz (about 3/4 cup) grated Cabot Coop Garlic and Herb Cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic powder (use less if you aren’t a garlic fan)
1/2 tsp onion powder
dash of salt

In a medium saucepan combine the water and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling add the grits slowly – I recommend having them in a one cup measure and pouring them in over the course of 30 seconds or so while stirring with the other hand to keep the water moving, otherwise everything gets clumpy and that’s just sad. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and leave the grits alone for 12 minutes. Look at them. If they are thickened nicely after ten minutes they are done. If they still look a bit runny leave them on the heat checking them every minute or so. Remove the grits from the heat and add the garlic powder, onion powder, and cheese. Stir completely. Cover the grits and set them aside for the cheese to melt while you cook your eggs. Split the grits between two bowls (this makes two as a breakfast entree four as a side) and top them with a twist of fresh ground pepper and a pat of butter. Put your over-easy eggs on top and dig-in. Delicious. I find it’s best when the egg yolk is stirred into the cheesy grits. The best. Ever.