Mac & Cheese

Mac & Cheese - made with Harvarti Dill & Roasted Garlic

Personal Review
Operationally went extremely well. Once you know how to make a cheese sauce, you have it down. It's almost like riding a bike. You need a great flavored cheese for a good cheese sauce. I didn't love the Havarti as much as a cheddar or American, but it did work. The havarti I bought has a bittersweet taste (sort of like swiss). One thing I would change in the future of mac and cheese, is add more butter to the top of the breadcrumbs.

Pictures to come with future recipes!!!

Cheese Sauce
1/4 cup flour
1.5 tablespoons of butter
2.5 cups of whole milk (from the farmers market)!
1.5 cup of shredded Havarti Dill
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1/4 cup of hard cheese (like parmigiana or Romano)
salt & cracked black pepper to taste
2 whole roasted garlics

1 pound of elbow shaped pasta
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs for topping
1 tablespoon of butter for topping

Start by melting the butter and add the garlic to the butter to soften. Add the flour and use a whisk and constantly whisk so it does not burn. Once the flour mixture lightly browns, add in the milk, 1 cup at a time. Continue to whisk. Let the mixture thicken as you continue to whisk and once it comes to a boil , remove it from the heat and add your cheeses. Remove the garlic pieces from the bulb and chop up as much as possible before adding it to the cheese mixture.

Lay the cooked pasta into a baking dish. Pour cheese mixture on top of the macaroni and cover completely. Stir into pasta. Pour breadcrumbs on top. Cut up butter and place pieces on top of breadcrumbs. Broil or bake on high for 10 min or so to get the top browned.

Remove, cool and Enjoy :)

Kale - 1st timer

Ian made me Kale tonight and it was the first time I ever had it. It is a green, leafy, rich, delicious and healthy vegetable. Some people may say it is bitter. extremely nutritional!

Cream of Potato Carrot Soup

The experimental Soup----

3 large carrots
6 small potatoes
1 handful of cilantro chopped
3 cups of water
2 cups of milk
1.5 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of oil
1 small onion
salt/pepper and tony chachere spice added to taste

Parmesian type of cheese added on top for extra flavor

This dish was extremely excitng to make because it was my first time making soup and most of the ingredients I bought at the farmers market in Union Square.

Cheese is from Hawthorne Valley Farm - called Alpine, an aged cheese that tastes like parm/romano. It is not made with animal rennet, which is hard to find in these type of cheeses.

I browned the onions in veg oil. Then added carrots cut up as well as the potatoes and let cook for a few minutes. I then added the water and milk and let it cook for about 25 minutes. I let it cool for about 10 min and then added the mixture to a food processor/blendar to puree with the cilantro. I put back in the pot and cooked for another 30 min or so on a low flame, and added seasonings including salt, pepper & tony chachere (made of red pepper, salt, garlic powder)

I topped off in my individual bowl with the Alpine hard cheese. Defnitley came out well for a first time soup and would make it again! The only thing I would think about changing is possibly using more carrot, less potato and possbly more cilantro. Another idea is to roast a garlic or 2 and puree that with the soup mixture.