~ easy baked mac 'n cheese for two~

I don't really care if mac 'n cheese belongs or doesn't belong at a Thanksgiving meal but there are members of my family, who feel passionately that mac 'n cheese should be on their plate at Thanksgiving. Along with sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, rolls, cranberry sauce and green beans. Did I forget something? This year will be a non Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, thanks to our soaring cases of Covid. I would be happy with elbows baked in a cheese sauce, butter flecked bread crumbs on top and a green salad with mustard in the dressing for dinner. Maybe a glass of wine 🍷 We can have a proper Thanksgiving at another safer to gather time in the future.

This baked version of mac 'n cheese is easy, no need to make a sauce on your stove, everything to make a sauce goes in the blender and I do love my NutriBullet.

Ingredients and Recipe for Easy Baked Mac 'N Cheese
Serves 2 generously

1 cup elbow macaroni

1 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 tablespoon minced shallots

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra for pasta water

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 & 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese

2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to butter the ramekins

1/4 teaspoon sweet Paprika

Preheat the oven to 350F

Butter 2 medium size, minimum 10 ounce size, individual baking dishes

Cook the elbow macaroni in salted water according to al dente package directions, add the minced shallots to the elbow macaroni in the last minute of cooking. Drain the elbow macaroni and shallots, set aside in a large bowl.

In a blender, I love my NutriBullet, pour in the milk, flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste, blend on high speed.

Stir the milk mixture and cheeses into the cooked elbows until combined.

Divide the mixture into the prepared baking dishes.

Sprinkle half the Panko over each baking dish, drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown on top and looks like the picture.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Comments

springtime chamomile tea cake with strawberry icing

Good grief, Easter is in the rear view mirror and we are deep into this new year. And once again it's tea time at my house. This chamomile tea cake is a beautiful sweet addition to any tea ritual, especially my favorite, chamomile tea, which I rediscovered in my hotel room in Carmel earlier this fast moving year. I highly recommend a slice of chamomile tea cake with strawberry 🍓 icing with a cup of chamomile tea to just take a moment and slow this year down. Baking with tea is both creative and fun. Earlier this year I made Earl Gray sugar cookies which are made using the same method of infusing the butter with loose tea. For my tea cake I also rubbed the lemon zest into the sugar -another way to lend a pop of citrus to your baking. The strawberry icing is made using freeze dried strawberries, I pulverize them in my spice mill and then they are pressed through a fine sieve into the confectioner's sugar. In addition to using lemon zest rub...

braised romano beans with heirloom tomatoes and purple leaf sweet basil

Romano beans braised in heirloom tomato sauce, shallots and garlic make an easy summer side dish -excellent served with grilled fish and potato purée. I know because that's what we had for dinner last Saturday night. I happily used purple basil from my own herb pots that are now watered with leftover shower water. We have many more months of drought ahead of us in California and apparently mask wearing when in public, no not in the car. I appreciate our farmers markets more than ever, thank you farmers for romano beans and heirloom tomatoes and also myself for the fresh purple basil. Such a treat to find fresh romano green beans at the farmers market; they hold up to a fairly long, about 20 minute braise and become tender in the tomato broth from the heirloom tomatoes. 🍅 This is one of those simple good veg recipes. Ingredients and Recipe for Romano Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes and Purple Leaf Sweet Basil Serves 2-4 1 pound fresh romano beans, washed...

artichoke, green olive and caper tapenade

artichoke, green olive and caper tapenade serves 6 We spent last weekend with friends at their country home. They made dinner at home one night so I brought a couple of appetizers to share. My tapenade is easy to make, just spoon the blended artichoke mix into a terrine then pack in an ice chest for a short road trip. I like to serve it spread on small crisp crackers but toasted sliced baguette works well too. Save a sprinkle of capers for the top of your tapenade before serving and enjoy. recipe for artichoke, green olive and caper tapenade serves 6 One 14 ounce jar of artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and cut into quarters 1/3 cup pitted green olives, I like Castelvetrano green olives 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons capers, plus extra for sprinkling on top 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 cloves garlic, minced Aleppo pepper to taste, I use a scant 1/4 teaspoon Sea salt to taste Place the artichokes, olives, olive oil, capers,...

Tarragon and Chives

Search This Blog