Ah, along with the bacon and BBQ threads, this cheese thread now completes my favorite food trio. I think hubby and I would have to off ourselves if we ever became lactose intolerant since we eat so much cheese. Our fridge drawer is always stocked with mozz, parm, asiago, swiss, sharp cheddar and provolone. There's also currently a gifted block of artisan habanaro that is so damn hot it will probably die before we can finish it!
These recipes are decidedly low-brow comfort food but are the most "cheese-centric" that we use. Hope you enjoy!
This one is Patti Labelle's Mac & Cheese. I swear it is practically orgasmic right out of the oven, the ingred. list is the obvious reason. I cut it down to 1/4 of the recipe for the two of us because we don't think it reheats very well at all (separates). *Note* I use Provolone in place of the muenster and all sharp cheddar, I think you can tweek it to your taste.
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni
8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Muenster cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mild Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole.
Bring the large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the oil, then the elbow macaroni, and cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the cooking pot.
In a small saucepan, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Stir into the macaroni. In a large bowl, mix the Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses. To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta, and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and dot with the remaining one tablespoon of butter.
Bake until it's bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.
I must embarressingly confess as a foodie that I have a thing for the blue box mac & cheese but my hubby loves this scratch-made version by Alton Brown. It is honestly not much more time consuming than the boxed stuff and much, much better (my tastebud's kid memories notwithstanding
). I don't care for the hot sauce or the dry mustard but he loves it, YMMV.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.
This last one doesn't have a name per se, it's an old Campbell's soup recipe. I can never exactly remember the amount's or time's but it always turns out good (sauce
must be served with/over mashed tater's!).
2-4 Skinless boneless chicken breasts
3/4 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
1 Strip of bacon, cut in half, per breast
1 Can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2-3/4 soup can of milk
1 C. quartered button mushrooms (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a high-sided casserole dish that will hold however many breasts you are baking and allow for the sauce to just cover. In a med. saucepan, stir the soup and milk together and when heated, add the cheese a little at a time until melted and combined well. Pour into the casserole dish. Add the breasts and top with a bacon strip each. If using mushrooms, press them into the sauce around the breasts.
Bake for 40 minutes, checking periodically for browning. Cover with foil if the dish is showing much browning on top, for the remaining baking time. Serve sauce over sliced up breasts and mashed potatoes or other veggies.
*Note* The milk amt is based on how "saucy" you want the sauce to be, I recommend the 1/2 C. to start and adjust from there. If only baking two breasts, you will have left-over sauce.