I had Mac & Cheese with diced leftover Easter Ham on the menu yesterday.
I was going to use my usual recipe and just add the ham.
And my 'usual recipe' for said dish is the same one my mother used and taught to me many years ago. I believe she originally got 'our family traditional recipe' off the box of Mueller's Elbow Macaroni.lol
Anyway, upbeknownst to me, we ended up out of fresh milk on Tuesday when I went to make the Mac and Cheese.
The Horrors!!
Add in that it was so hot here and I really didn't feel like standing over the stove for an extended time making a roux so that I could make the cheese sauce.
So I went digging in the stockpile and came up with an improvisation.....
I also had jars of Alfredo Sauce so instead of making a roux, popped open a jar of Alfredo Sauce, dumped it into the pot and heated it slowly on medium.
When it was warm, I whisked in slowly the can of evaporated milk.
Then I slowly added an 8 ounce block of extra sharp cheddar cheese that had been grated, one handful at a time, incorporating by whisking, each handful before I added another.
The secret is to keep stirring so your cheese melds and doesn't separate from your milk.
Then it was just a matter of assembling the noodles, ham and sauce into the baking dish, sprinkling more grated cheddar on top and mashing up some multi-grain townhouse type crackers on top of the cheddar layer.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
Using the ingredients I did may have saved me a little time & effort in the kitchen.
It definitely helped me use up some stockpile items and not have to run to the store for fresh milk.
And I have to say that the flavor of this dish of mac & cheese was EXCELLENT!
The combination of the parmesan in the alfredo sauce and the extra sharp cheddar was so good.
The paremsan gave it some tang while the cheddar gave it some bite and having 2 cheeses gave it a depth that truly enhanced the flavors!
In plain talk....it tasted better with 2 cheeses than one. ;-)
I think next time I'll try adding some Monterey Jack or Mozzarella.
Sluggy
Sounds good with the Alfredo sauce. I've got it on my to-try list now. :)
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend Fontina as a smooth melting and blending cheese. I also used a can of evaporated milk in something I was cooking recently and found it to be better than if I had used fresh milk. Good job improvising. it sounds great!
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