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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Macaroni and Cheese


This little meal was just about enough to put me in the nut house for a few days.  No matter what I seemed to do the camera would not cooperate.  I took about a million photos and these were the best ones.


They are still a bit blurry.  Now I will be the first to say that I have pretty bad eyes. Even with my glasses I tend to think things are blurry.  Most of it is in my head; I just got my eyes checked and the doctors say I am fine but the more I stare at something the more I can convince myself that every thing I look at is not quite right.  This happens more often than not when I am doing a presentation and right in the middle I think to myself, "wow, that screen looks blurry, is it just me?"  I normally present to the 50 plus age category and only endear myself when I say I cannot see.  Regardless, it is still a distraction when I am trying to get my point across.

Anyway, these photos stressed me out.  But what is better than after a stressful evening than to sit down to some macaroni and cheese.  Maybe I some how anticipated a bad photo night?



Macaroni and Cheese

by Emily Morris
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
  • salt
  • vegetable oil
  • 1 pound elbow macaroni
  • 1 quart milk
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
  • 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 cups seasoned panko bread crumbs
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

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13 comments:

  1. Love mac and cheese, gruyere is such a nice addition!

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  2. This looks delicious, I love putting different types of cheeses in Mac and cheese!

    And I completely understand with the photos, sometimes it just does not want to happen. They still look good though!

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  3. Sometimes taking pictures is STRESSful!!! Mac n' cheese sounds like a delicious way to cope!

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  4. Love the choice of cheese in this, definitely a creamy delight of a dish-yum! Despite your thoughts on the photos, I think they are pretty enticing.
    Photos do give me a headache sometimes and after numerous snaps, I finally have to give up and settle with what I have. It is never how pictured it in my mind and never will be-so I try to avoid the "mental" picture.

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  5. I love a good bit of crust on my mac 'n cheese and yours looks perfect, Emily! What a great recipe and combination of cheeses. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Nothing beats good old fashion macaroni and cheese, especially one that has a little bit of a delicious crust :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  7. Macaroni and cheese is the epitome of comfort foods! This looks great =)

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  8. Mmmmm....I need to make this before Lent is over...my family would love it! Sorry about your picture woes...I think all of your food blogger friends can relate!

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  9. I think we all have camera days like that. The Mac and Cheese looks yummy despite your technical difficulties. :)

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  10. There's nothing worse than when you're dying to dig into the delicious food you just made, but you can't get a good photo! Sometimes the lighting just isn't on your side, at which point I'm like, "Screw this. I'm eating!" I think your photos came out lovely though. The mac sounds delicious!

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  11. Looks absolutely delicious, and I love that they are pre-portioned to stop me from going crazy. :)

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  12. I hate when my camera doesn't cooperate! The recipe looks delicious.....I bet your next pictures are going to be incredible...that's the way it always works!

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  13. I love macaroni and cheese! But I can relate to when it seems like your camera is against you and you're just like "PLEASE! MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY!" and somehow it takes that delicious thing you made into an ugly...weird..thing

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