Mac and Cheese in a cast iron pan - cook it on your grill or in your oven!

The latest book in my hands that's making the rounds in the Cook My Book group is Fire & Smoke, which is primarily about grilling and smoking.

While I like grilling, the weather wasn't motivating me to cook outdoors. I made a spicy mayonnaise recipe that was pretty good, but then I set the book aside until it was almost time to give the book up.

I decided I wanted to try one more recipe, and decided to make the mac and cheese recipe cooked in a cast iron skillet. I was going to make it in my oven, but the the weather convinced me that it was a much better idea to cook it outside.

Good thing, too, since cleaning up drips is a lot easier on the grill than in the oven.

This is one of the better mac and cheese recipes I've tried in a while. Next time, I'll probably make half of the recipe, since this makes a lot and it's really rich and cheesy. And, if it's not grilling weather where you are, this would be pretty darned good baked in a casserole or even individual ramekins.

Iron Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from Fire & Smoke by Chris Lilly

For the Topping:
5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3 ounces Muenster cheese, shredded
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Texas Pete hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the mac and cheese:
1 1-lb. package elbow macaroni
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 ounce Muenster cheese, shredded
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces sliced Velveeta
2 coups half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon salt

Set your grill up so you can cook on indirect heat, and shoot for a temperature of 350 degrees.

Have a cast iron skillet waiting. The book suggested a 10-inch-cast iron pan, but when I tried that, it was slightly overfull before I added the topping. I used my next-largest pan and it bubbled over a bit on the grill, but it wasn't terrible.

Set a pot of salted water on to boil for cooking the pasta.

Combine all of the topping ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

When the water is boiling add the pasta. Cook until al dente. Turn the heat off, drain the pasta, and return the pasta to the pot. Add the butter and stir until the butter is melted.

Add the cheeses and stir until the cheese is melted. If the cheese isn't melting, turn the heat on to gently re-warm the pasta and melt the cheese. Add the half-and-half and salt and stir to combine.

Dollop the topping on, as evenly as you can.

Put the skillet on the grill over the indirect heat and cook until the cheese is bubbling and the topping is as browned as you like. I pulled it off when it was spotty brown - a little more than what you see in the photo.

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One-Pot, One-Cheese, Easy-Peasy Stovetop Mac 'n Cheesy

I love cheese.


So when a cheese company called Rumiano contacted me and asked if I wanted some cheese for myself and for a giveaway, I was all over it. (note: giveaway is now over.)

I'd tried their cheeses when they first came on the market, but since they were only locally available at Whole Foods at that time I didn't buy them very often.

Now, they're available at other stores, and I found a much larger variety than when they first came out.

I ended up buying (with coupons supplied be the company) mozzarella, Havarti, mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, and Colby. There were a few others there as well - a pepper jack and medium cheddar and  ... hmmm ... I don't recall if there was another one or not. In any case, I got a good selection.

That's 2 1/2 pounds of cheese, if you're wondering. Each package was 8 ounces. They're all GMO-free, which is what the company is promoting this month.

Me, I'm promoting cheese. Delicious cheese.

I've been on mac and cheese kick lately, and I've tried quiet a few recipes I've found in books and online. But this time, I decided it needed to be me, the cheese, the stove, and just one pot. None of this noodle-cooking in one pot, and sauce-making in another. Nuh uh, this was going to be a one-pot meal.

Okay, I used some spoons and stuff.

One-Pot, One-Cheese Mac 'n Cheese

8 ounces uncooked pasta (I like elbows, but use whatever you like)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup milk (more, if desired)
8 ounces Rumiano Havarti* cheese
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Get a pot of water boiling in anticipating of cooking the noodles. Add a teaspoon or so of salt. When the water is boiling, add the noodles, give them a stir, and cook until al dente.

While the noodles are cooking assemble the rest of the ingredients. To make cheese-melting more efficient, grate or shred the cheese. Or cut it into thin slices or small chunks, or tiny bits.

*Or any other willingly-meltable cheese that you like. I considered using one of the cheddars, but that's traditional, so I used the Havarti instead.

When the noodles are cooked drain the water out, leaving the pasta in the pot. Add the butter and stir it around with the pasta, then turn the heat to medium. When the butter is melted, add the flour and paprika. Stir.

Cook for a minute or so, stirring, and then add the milk. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a simmer. Begin adding the cheese by the hand full, stirring to get it melted into the sauce. Add another hand full when the previous one is almost all melted.

When the cheese is incorporated, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired. I suggest white pepper for the color, but if you prefer black, that's fine. If you prefer a saucier cheese, add more milk until you reach the consistency you like.

Serve hot.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Mushroom and Swiss Mac and Cheese for #MacCheeseMania

This post is part of the multi-blog #maccheesemania, coordinated by Rachel from Rachel Cooks and Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny.

There are all sorts of great mac and cheese recipes from some fantastic bloggers, and a chance to win some great prizes (details at the bottom of this post).

Prizes include Door to Door Organics Gift Cards, OXO Gift Baskets, Zak Designs Prize Pack, a year's supply of Cabot cheese, a Vermont Creamery gift basket, a risotto kit from Marx Foods, Barilla pasta, Anolon Advanced Bronze 4.5 Qt. Tapered Stockpot, Rachael Ray Stoneware Casseroval, Wusthof CLASSIC Studio Block Set, Microplane Graters and Kitchen Tools, a SavorX Starter Block with spices, and Le Cordon Bleu by Swissmar oven to table roasters. All giveaways open to US residents over the age of 18 only.

Mac and Cheese Mania is being sponsored by Door to Door Organics and OXO.

So let's get right to the recipe, shall we? This was inspired by my love of mushrooms. And I guess it reminded me of Swiss-mushroom burgers. Without the burger part.

Choose whatever mushrooms you like - all one kind, or a mix. For some reason, the mushroom section at my local grocer was pretty barren, so I used white button mushrooms. Baby bellas might have been better, but to be honest, I like fresh button mushrooms, and in this quantity, it had a lot of mushroom flavor, and a perfect balance with the cheese.

As for the cheese, a basic Swiss is fine, or you can go to the fancy cheese section and go crazy. The choice is yours. As far as those red pepper flakes, add as much or as little as you like. I added a hefty pinch so the mac and cheese had a nice zing.

Mushroom and Swiss Mac and Cheese

For the bread crumbs:

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup bread crumbs

For the mac and cheese:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup flour
2 cups cream, half-and-half, or milk
1/2 cup creme fraiche
8 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound shell pasta, cooked al dente
1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives
1 cup buttered bread crumbs

To butter the bread crumbs:

Use a tiny knife and spread the butter - no, just kidding. 

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet, dump in the crumbs and stir until all the butter is absorbed and the bread is lightly toasted. Remember, this gets cooked more in the oven, so you're not looking for a dark toast. Since my bread crumbs included the bread crusts, mine started out a little darker than if I had made my crumbs from just the bread middles.

Set the crumbs aside until needed. You can make these well in advance, or right before you need them.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and have a a 1 1/2 quart baking dish standing by. Larger is fine, if you don't have the perfect size. Or you can cook in several smaller dishes, if you like.

In a large saucepan or skillet or saucier (big enough to hold all the sauce, plus the noodles, after they're cooked) melt the 4 tablespoons of butter.

Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the mushrooms are cooked through and most of the liquid disappears.

Add the flour and stir. It will become very dry. Add the milk and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan well. Bring to a simmer. Add the creme fraiche, stir to combine, then begin adding the cheese in small handfuls, stirring after each addition to incorporate the cheese.

Add the cooked pasta and chives, and stir to coat the pasta with the cheese. The liquid should be thick, but not goopy. Thin enough to call it a liquid. If it seems too thick, add some of the pasta cooking water to thin it out.

Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top. If it's a really tight fit in your baking dish, you might want to put it on a baking sheet, or put a sheet of aluminum foil under it to catch possible drips.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbling around the edge of the dish.

Serve hot.

Be sure to visit all the other great bloggers participating in Mac and Cheese Mania!

Jalapeno Popper Mac & Cheese by Heather's Dish
Buffalo Cheddar Mac and Cheese by Eats Well With Others
Creamy Spinach Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese with Gouda by Sarah's Cucina Bella
Light Sweet Potato Mac 'n Cheese Recipe by Cookin' Canuck
Macaroni and Cheese Fritters by Amuse Your Bouche
Skinny Chicken Mac and Cheese Casserole by A Zesty Bite
Smoked Bacon Mac and Cheese by Cravings of a Lunatic
Pizza Mac and Cheese by Very Culinary
Crab Mac and Cheese by Dine & Dish
Bacon & Eggs Breakfast Mac & Cheese by Sweet Remedy
Fried Mac & Cheese Balls by The Little Kitchen
Sweet Pork Macaroni and Cheese by Oh, Sweet Basil
Butternut Squash Quinoa Mac n' Cheese Bake by Queen of Quinoa
Lightened Up Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese by Prevention RD
Butternut Mac and Cheese with Pretzel Crust by Healthy. Delicious.
Skinny Greek Mac and Cheese with Crunchy Pita Chip Topping by The Law Student's Wife
Potato Skin Mac and Cheese by Eat Your Heart Out
Homestyle Baked Mac & Cheese by Pocket Change Gourmet
Bacon Mac and Cheese Egg Rolls by Miss in the Kitchen
Pepper Jack Mac and Cheese by Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Blue Cheese Bechamel Mac and Cheese by Sweetphi
Korean Mac & Cheese by Cooking with Books
Black and Blue Mac and Cheese by Fabtastic Eats
Tomato and Leek Mac and Cheese by Susie Freaking Homemaker
Healthier Mac & Cheese with Chipotle Peppers by Go Gingham
Mac and Cheese Ice Cream by Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body
Blue Cheese & Bacon Macaroni & Cheese by Gimme Some Oven
Poutine Mac and Cheese with Andouille Gravy by Climbing Grier Mountain
Double Smoked Chicken Mac and Cheese by Girl Carnivore
Creamy Greek Yogurt Mac and Cheese with Peas and Bacon by Running to the Kitchen
Nudel Gratin by Crumbs and Chaos
Mushroom and Truffle Sea Salt White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese by Big Bear's Wife
Roasted Poblano and Goat Cheese Mac by Daisy at Home
Creamy Cauliflower 'n Cheese with Bacon by Barefeet in the Kitchen
Wisconsin Cheese, Brats, and Onion Macaroni and Cheese by a farmgirl's dabbles
Spinach Queso Mac & Cheese by Bake Your Day
Roasted Garlic Mac and Cheese with a Pancetta Parmesan Crust by Mountain Mama Cooks
French Onion Mac & Cheese by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
Healthier Macaroni and Cheese by Texanerin Baking
Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese by CafeTerraBlog
Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Peppers by Cook the Story
Jack Daniels Mac and Cheese by The Slow Roasted Italian
Lobster Mac and Cheese by FoodieCrush
Green Chili 5-cheese Baked Mac and Cheese by A Southern Fairytale
Homemade Elbow Noodle Tutorial + a Recipe for Roasted Veggie Mac by Bakeaholic Mama
Salsa Verde Mac-n-Cheese (two ways) by Eat2Gather
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko Topping by The Lemon Bowl

If you want to enter the GIVEAWAY:

Go to Rachel Cooks and/or Nutmeg Nanny and enter to win some great prizes!

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Slightly Tipsy Mac and Cheese with Peas

The alternate title for this post could have been: What I Made for Dinner When I Came Home From the Hospital Way Too Hungry and Hadn't Planned Better.

But that was sort of long.

It all started with fondue cheese. You see, I got chosen to receive some cheese tools from Boska for review (not for this blog, although I might talk about one or two, anyway) and in order to properly test the tools, I got cheese from Emmi that I could use with those tools. Good deal, right?

I like cheese. It's good for snacking and sandwiches and more snacking ... and salads and snacking ...

Among the wedges and bricks and wheels, I had this package of fondue cheese from Emmi staring at me. The idea is that it's got everything you need, so you just heat it up and start dipping bread in. But it's just under a pound of cheese, and I'm living alone while my husband is in the hospital.

So when I came home late from the hospital, I thought it was time to do something with that cheese. But I wasn't in a fondue mood. Comfort food, on the other hand, sounded really good. Since the fondue cheese was formulated to melt smoothly, I figured it would make good mac and cheese.

Yep, I'm wild and crazy, right?

Since the cheese includes a bit of alcohol (as you would if you were making your own fondue recipe) the mac and cheese had a slightly "adult" flavor. Not overpowering, though.

I didn't measure any of this, but it's so simple ... and it tasted pretty good.

I used:

Elbow Macaroni
Emmi Fondue Cheese
Milk
Frozen Peas

I cooked the macaroni in boiling salted water until it was done (a little al dente), then drained it and added some of the fondue cheese, let it melt, and added a bit more until it was cheesy enough. Then I added milk to make it creamy enough. Your idea of cheesy enough and creamy enough might be different than mine, but that's fine, too.

Then I added a couple hand fulls of the frozen peas and mixed them in - not too long on the stove, because I like them best when they're still crisp.

And that's it. The only thing that took any time was cooking the noodles - once they were done, it was a minute or two to finish it.

I don't know if I'd buy the fondue cheese just to make mac and cheese, but if I had leftover cheese from fondue, this is a great way to use it up.

I used the original fondue cheese but there's also a Gorgonzola one - I'm thinking that would also make a good mac and cheese, or maybe a sauce ... for steak, maybe?

By the way, this reheats well, but it needed just a little extra milk to get the sauce creamy again.

    

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Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

A guest post from the lovely Madelyn from Karma Free Cooking.

This recipe has been getting a lot of buzz around the folks at the SE Water Cooler on FaceBook. And I thought it might be of interest to your Cookistry readers too. This is the first recipe I did for my first official vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner since I started my blog, KarmaFree Cooking. And since then, it is still one of most popular recipes/posts there.  

This Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese packs a lot of nutritional punch and color from the butternut squash in the cheese sauce. You can substitute the squash for regular pumpkin. It works just the same.

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

Roasted butternut squash or pumpkin – about 1 pound
1 pound whole-wheat elbow macaroni or other tubular pasta
2 cups reduced-fat milk
4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
4 ounces of Shredded mix of melting cheeses – Mozzarella, Asiago, Fontina, etc.
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese (also cream cheese will do in a pinch)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

First step is to roast the butternut squash…
1. Peel, remove the seeds and cut the butternut squash or pumpkin into 2” pieces.
2. Roast the butternut squash or pumpkin on a baking sheet by adding a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and a few sprigs of thyme. Massage the squash pieces so they’re seasoned all over. Roast in a 400F oven for about 45-60 minutes. Basically, until the squash is fork tender.
3. After it’s done, allow it to cool down a bit and puree in a food processor.

Now for the Mac and Cheese part…
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Bring a large pot to a boil for the pasta.
3. Meanwhile, start building the cheese sauce in a pot that’s big enough to accommodate the sauce and the pasta when it’s cooked. Over medium heat, bring together the milk, all the cheeses, the mustard, and pureed butternut squash. Season with salt and pepper. Your goal is to make a homogeneous cheese sauce where everything is blended and combined.  As soon as that’s achieved. Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. When the water boils, salt the water generously and add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is tender but still firm.
5. Drain the cooked pasta and transfer to the pot with the cheese sauce. Mix well together.
6. Transfer to a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and some of the leftover cheese blend all over the top.
7. Bake for 20 minutes and then broil for 3 additional minutes so the top is crisp and nicely browned. Everything is already cooked, so you’re just heating everything together and browning the cheese on top.

This recipe is delicious. The Dijon mustard gives it a different and grown-up taste. I hope you like it too. Tell me all about it if you try it.

    

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