Real mac & cheese.

In my house mac & cheese came from a Kraft box with dried macaroni pasta and a foil pouch of creamy cheddar cheese.  I loved being asked to mix it when the macaroni was ready.  I loved eating it, too.  Mac & cheese is so yummy.  But I never make it.  Or order it.  I've always felt I'd be disappointed if it wasn't the Kraft tasting goodness from my mom's kitchen.  Boy was I wrong.  Wednesday's Washington Post brings the Food section to my door every week, and thank goodness for that!  Last week was all about shrimp doused in spicy sauces from little bottles and a mac & cheese recipe suitable for a holiday meal.  Yes, it had many steps, no, I didn't care.  Yes it was worth it.  And I will definitely make it again.

Menu:
Mac & cheese awesome style (#79)
Turkey breasts with hot sauce (#80)
Lemon sauteed asparagus (#81)
Salad with parsley vinaigrette (#82)
Brown sugar and butter marinated berries (#83) with ice cream

After a couple of days thinking about this amazing mac & cheese recipe in the paper, I decided to have some friends over for dinner Friday night and try it out.  I wanted to pair it with something that was spicy, and perhaps try out a new spicy sauce from the grocer that was either in the article or off the shelf.  Whole Foods didn't have the one mentioned in the paper, so I tried a jar of Bone Suckin' Sauce Hot and Thick.  And, yes, I felt ridiculous buying it.  I got over it pretty quickly though.  

 Working hard...

 hardly working.

Schaeffer's job was to shred the cheese.  But giving Schaeffer this job has both pros and cons.  He certainly takes it seriously and gets the job done.  But he eats a lot of cheese along the way.  Be sure to have extra.  That, I did.  


The turkey breasts, which I thought came out just the slightest bit dry, had a great flavor.  I had seasoned the meat with salt and pepper and poured the sauce in, turning the meat to cover it.  It sat in the fridge, covered, for about an hour or so before going in the oven. 

The peppery, spicy flavor went well with the mac & cheese, and the lemony asparagus was a good, crunchy complement.  I don't have a grill, so I just sauteed them on the stove for a few minutes.  Oh, and I think the blanching/ice bath shenanigans in the recipe is completely unnecessary.  Perhaps when I become a grill master I will appreciate it. 

The mac & cheese came out perfectly in the cast iron skillet.  And it looked so nice in there, too.  All in all, it was a hefty plate of goodness.

Molly and Damon

Dessert was strawberries and blackberries covered in a mixture of brown sugar and butter; I combined the last two ingredients in a food processor.  I put the whole thing in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or so at 350 degrees.  I drained the berries, put them in bowls and paired with ice cream.  Really skeptical upon seeing them come out of the oven, and the whole recipe was really an accident, because I forgot the flour in the food processor that would've made a cobbler-type dish, they really came out yummy!  Good to know.

  
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