This week's Barefoot Bloggers challenge was the Barefoot Contessa's Grown Up Mac and Cheese chosen by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl. I am a self professed cheese lover, and this mac and cheese was good (I had to omit the blue cheese) but I don't feel like it really stood out as I was hoping it would. The bacon added a nice touch though. So, don't get me wrong, this is a good recipe, just not a gold medal winner. You can find the complete recipe HERE.
First you start by cooking the bacon in the oven. This is a mess free way to cook bacon--no messy splatter on the stove. While the bacon is cooking, boil the pasta and make the rue.
Add the warm milk, cheeses (cheddar and Gruyere--I omitted the blue cheese due to pregnancy), salt, pepper, nutmeg, crumbled bacon and pasta. Give a good stir.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and top with bread crumbs and fresh basil. This recipe calls for making two individual size dishes, but for the sake of left overs (I can't believe I'm saying this) I doubled the recipe and used a large casserole dish. I also forgot to buy white bread so I used Panko bread crumbs mixed with the basil. They added a nice crunch.
Like I said, this was a good recipe and I would recommend making it, the bacon added a nice smoky depth. All mac and cheese wins in my book. Enjoy.
10 comments:
The blue cheese made it fabulous...next time!
I really loved it - the first mac n cheese I have ever enjoyed! Maybe the blue was what made it?
It looks beautiful, especially your chopped basil. Sorry it didn't score a 10 for you.
Looks delicious! We loved it!
Yay for doubling the recipe!
Looks great. I had no idea you can't have blue cheese when pregnant. It has been a long time - I may owe my kids an apology.
I want a spoon to dig in! It looks so cheesy and creamy delicious!
How did I miss that you were pregnant? Congratulations!
Your mac & cheese looks great.
~Cat
We really loved the mac and cheese. I liked the blue cheese taste. When you can make it that way and we also added extra bacon. Your dish looks delicious!
Sorry it was a miss for you. I wasn't fond of it either. Yours does look great though!
A good story
GK Chesterton: “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”
Voila: www.tastingtoeternity.com. This book is a poetic view of 30 of the best loved French cheeses with an additional two odes to cheese. Recipes, wine pairing, three short stories and an educational section complete the book.
From a hectic life in New York City to the peace and glories of the French countryside lead me to be the co-founder of www.fromages.com. Ten years later with the words of Pierre Androuet hammering on my brain:
“Cheese is the soul of the soil. It is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.”
I took pen and paper; many reams later with the midnight oil burning Tasting to Eternity was born and self published.
I believe cheese and wine lovers should be told about this publication.
Enjoy
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