I’m a fan of food classics which means you’re just as likely to get traditional Italian Carbonara as you are family-style baked mac & cheese on my table. They’re not better or worse than one another but obviously each has their own connotations of venue. Try to get away with a southern American casserole in the Piedmont and they’d run you out of town for pasta heresy I suspect. Still, you can’t avoid comfort food cravings sometimes so there’s room for both in my recipe box. But listen up Canada, I said “recipe”. That does not include opening a cardboard box and a packet of fake cheese powder. It means actual cooking. From ingredients you can identity easily.
Waiting for some of my hydroponic experiments to sprout this week, a snowstorm and a dead video card conspired to keep me home so I set to cleaning out the pantry. I came across some macaroni rapidly approaching its best by dates and went looking for a way to make it more interesting than just the usual tomato sauce. A spare chile and some locally-made bacon lurking in the freezer was enough inspiration although you can make a basic version of this recipe just as good with neither of those. Since it uses tinned evaporated milk and my house is never lacking spare cheese bits, I can throw this together anytime the mood hits and incorporate a multitude of extra flavourings.
Boxed convenience “Mac & Cheese” is a phenomenon in North America with far too many people relying on it as a major food group. The impact on Canadian culture specifically is even more dire starting in the 1930s and runs a sword right through the heart of the traditional Canadian cheese industry while simultaneously dumbing down the tastes of a nation for profit’s sake. And all through the collaboration and evil designs of a few industrialists helped along no doubt by a handful of well padded politicians.
Despite marketing attempts to distract from its industrial makeup with a few recent token gestures, it’s up there with desiccated discount ramen and frozen pizza pockets to my mind. The mainstream has sadly accepted it as ‘normal’ food. Worse still it has attained a sort of bloated celebrity status with people boasting about volumes of consumption and shoving it onto burgers and atop pizzas just for the shock value. Homemade recipes to ‘enhance’ a box of crap with added hot dogs or deep-fried onions are still based on crap.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of cheesy pasta from time to time but what passes for over-processed comfort food in a blue box here is a far cry from what I’d serve. Proper cheese does NOT come in a powdered neon-orange packet people. It should say something to you that they don’t call it “cheese” and resort to calling it “dinner” to sidestep any of those nagging questions about actual ingredient content.
What kills me is seeing those most in need of a healthier diet in the store with giant fifty-packs of the crap (literally, it comes in those sizes) when I know full well the salt, additives, and highly processed starches are killing them slowly. If there’s a poster child for overly refined, nutritionally bereft foods marketed to the masses, this is it. There’s nothing wrong with cheese and pasta in moderation but only if you make it from decent ingredients like actual cheese and milk with an easy hand on the salt. And all this before you even mention the quality implications concerning taste of freshly made versus reconstituted factory fare.
Since I haven’t had a topic worthy of typing for a couple of weeks I’m going to show tonight’s dinner and give you my basic baked macaroni and cheese recipe made from scratch. If you choose to add bacon and jalapeno as I did in the batch pictured above, that’s your business. You can also skip the meat and load in just about any interesting vegetable you wish. Diced courgettes for example work a treat when you’ve got a surplus. The idea is that a tiny bit of extra flavouring can infuse the whole dish whatever you choose. And did I mention it’s just as inexpensive as the boxed rubbish? What you don’t spend on glossy advertising and fake cheese suppliers you can spend on real ingredients.
The recipe makes plenty and I often prep the full measure but split it into two halves because the second can be stored in the fridge for baking fresh over the next day or two. Since everything is already cooked when it goes into the oven, remember not to over bake this into a dry heap. If you manage to have leftovers use steam to reheat rather than the microwave for the best texture. And please, for the love of decent pasta, don’t open another cardboard box to make dinner.
Baked Macaroni & Cheese From Scratch (with Bacon & Jalapeno options)
450 g macaroni, whole grain preferred *
2 tablespoons sea salt + more to taste
2 + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
150 g fresh bread crumbs
25 g freshly shredded Parmesan
250 g bacon or pancetta (optional) or three tablespoons olive oil
1-2 jalapeno chiles, stem and seeds removed, diced finely (optional)
1 small yellow or white onion, diced very finely
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
5 tablespoons flour *
350 ml evaporated milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard powder *
1 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorn
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
250 g shredded cheese **
* If cooking for Celiac’s sufferers deathly allergic to gluten, choose a non-wheat version of pasta and substitute for the flour with three tablespoons corn starch dissolved in the cold evaporated milk before adding to the pan. Fresh Dijon mustard can also be substituted for the same reasons.
** You need a mix of melting cheeses to be interesting. Gruyere, mozzarella, or Emmentaler all work well but are better when mixed. You can use some Cheddar for flavour but not more than about 20% in the blend or you’ll have oily, greasy results.
Yield: 6-8 dinner portions – may be cooked in two halves over a few nights.
Bring six quarts of water to the boil and add two tablespoons salt. Add the macaroni and boil for 5-7 minutes being sure to UNDER cook the pasta somewhat so that it can finish in the bake later. Reserve 500 ml of the cooking water and drain well. Allow to cool completely while continuing with the recipe. Using warm pasta will make for undesirable texture later.
In a wide skillet on medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter until slightly browned. Add the breadcrumbs in an even layer and toast until barely fragrant and lightly browned, about four minutes, turning often to prevent burning. Remove to a plate to cool and add the grated Parmesan before mixing well. Note: a small measure of fresh sage or rosemary is a nice addition to this browning step.
If using bacon or pancetta, cook in a wide skillet over medium-high heat until just beginning to crisp, anywhere from 7 – 10 minutes. Remove to drain on a rack or kitchen paper. Chop coarsely and reserve.
Pour off all but three tablespoons of the rendered fat (or add olive oil if not using bacon) and add two tablespoons butter to melt over medium heat. Add the onion, optional jalapeno, and garlic all at once to avoid scorching the garlic. Cook until softened, about three minutes.
Add the flour and whisk to form a roux with the fats. Cook about a minute until completely combined. Add the evaporated milk, mustard, peppercorn, and nutmeg. Whisk constantly and continue to add the remaining cheeses in small handfuls until completely melted. Use as much of the reserved pasta water as needed to thin the sauce to a very pourable consistency. Add the reserved bacon and stir well before tasting and adjusting salt levels. Preheat the oven to 190C (375F).
In a shallow baking dish, add the cooled pasta and pour the sauce over the top. Using a spatula, gently turn the pasta and sauce to combine well making sure the sauce is loose – it will firm up considerably in the baking. Bake for ten minutes then remove, top with prepared breadcrumbs, and return to the oven for 8 – 12 minutes until the top is golden brown. Do not over bake as the pasta will continue to absorb liquid after you remove it from the oven.
Cool for ten minutes before serving. Perhaps with a decent salad to lighten things up a bit. Don’t make this more than once a month and go for a long walk afterwards.
