Sharmila on Food

Mac n Cheese

My online life appears to have been consumed by references to macaroni cheese for the past few weeks.  Why, you may ask? Well, the primary reason is the challenge thrown down by Fiona Beckett on her blog (http://bit.ly/60IF4l) to find the ultimate mac n cheese.  Now, I wasn’t intending to enter this competition (I have a big fear of anything that involves competition in the kitchen), but having found myself subjected to a multitude of tweets and blogposts about some fantastic looking macaroni cheese, I ended up thinking I have to make macaroni cheese soon.  Anyway, it actually turned out so well that I thought I may as well enter.

This is a pretty straight up macaroni cheese - no real embellishments save for the addition of the merest smidgen of white truffle oil.  Whilst this may sound decadent, it adds a wonderful rich earthiness that you only pick up in the background of each bite.  Beyond this, I’ve gone to town on the cheese.  I found myself down at Neals Yard Dairy the other day asking the lovely man behind the counter for his choice of cheeses to make ultimate cheese on toast.  Of course, cheeses for ultimate cheese on toast lend themselves particularly well to ultimate macaroni cheese.  You need something with a punch and depth that really pervades the sauce.  Alongside this, a cheese with wonderful melting qualities is usually a good idea.  And then, why not just throw another cheese in for good measure?  I ended up with a combination of Montgomery’s Cheddar, Ogleshield and Isle of Mull Cheddar.  To top it off, there is Parmesan in the topping.  This resulted in the most wondrous cheese sauce (a bechamel with cheese added at the end) - luckily there is some left over to stick on toast for a makeshift rarebit.

Macaroni Cheese - makes a vat (how much you eat is up to you - who am I to judge?)

350g macaroni, small penne or rigatoni or similar

1 litre full fat milk

60g plain flour

80g butter

1 tsp white pepper

black pepper

150g grated cheese - a combination of Montgomery’s Cheddar, Ogleshielf and Isle of Mull Cheddar

60g white breadcrumbs

4tbsp parmesan or similar hard cheese

2 bay leaves

A small onion, peeled and halved

2 tsp English mustard (I like a bit of heat in the sauce)

a few black peppercorns

a couple of cloves

A drop of two of white truffle oil (optional, but it is pretty lovely)

1.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Put the milk, onion, bay leaves, cloves and peppercorns in a saucepan and heat up.  When just below boiling, take off the heat and leave to infuse for around 30 minutes.  Once infused, strain the milk into another pan or jug

2. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Whisk in the flour until you’re left with a biscuity coloured paste.

3. Slowly add the milk, whisking furiously whilst doing so in order to get rid of any lumps.  Continue to whisk until all of the milk is incorporated.

4. Continue to heat the sauce on a low heat until thickened (to around the consistency of double cream), stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

5. Once thickened, add the white pepper, mustard and stir to combine.  Then add in your cheese and stir until it is all melted in.

6. Cook the pasta in salted water until almost al dente (you don’t want it to end up overly soft when finally cooked after its time in the oven).

7. Tip the pasta into a gratin or similar dish (I use my pie dish) and combine with the cheese sauce.  Mix the parmesan and breadcrumbs together and scatter over the top until you have a nice layer of crunch on top of the macaroni cheese.

8. Place the macaroni cheese in the oven and back for around 35 mins.