Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Mac and Cheese, Fancy Style

...or Bon Appetit's Baked Penne with Farmhouse Cheddar and Leeks.

We just finished eating this and I sat down to blog it immediately for several reasons. To redeem myself from the last post, because I feel like a bad blogger for not posting in ages, and because it is so delicious that it should be shared.

I don't actually have a subscription to Bon Appetit. My dad does but he never reads it because he doesn't believe in recipes (?!). That means I get them. I didn't always love Bon Appetit but they revamped a little while back and the magazine is working it's way into my heart. The recipes are very do-able and much more appealing to me than they used to be. At any given time I have a magazine or two with several page corners turned down and a pile of recipe clippings from recent issues.

This recipe is from the most recent issue. I do love a good mac and cheese, and this one sounded simple and fancy at the same time. I also love leeks and happened to have some raw milk English Farmhouse cheddar on hand (bizarre, I know).

I halved this recipe, as I do most recipes. We are both totally stuffed right now, and each have some for lunch tomorrow. I didn't use the Dijon mustard called for because I was out and I completely forgot to add the egg to the sauce. The meal was delicious, but I think it would have been even more delicious with those things. The bit of hot sauce really makes it, so don't skip that. I also found a fun shape of pasta called gnocchi that was on sale so I used that instead of penne.

Click here for the recipe.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Truth

So, sometimes I don't like feel like cooking. And when I don't feel like cooking, I pretty much always demand Annie's Macaroni and Cheese. The thing is, I can't seem to make mac and cheese from a box to save my life, so that is Tim's job. And as you can see, the meal doesn't always make it to a bowl. This particular batch had some chopped Hatch green chilis mixed in. So good, who needs a bowl?