beXnlog

Mac n Cheese #1 + Fried!

Last night, partially due to Dyanna's IM conversations and the potential of fried goodness the following day, i baked my first ever real pan of mac n cheese! I used Alton Brown's controversial recipe from FoodTV - the one where you either loved it or thought it tasted like crap - but with a few changes. Instead of chopped onion, i used about 2t of onion powder; i didn't have any bay leaves so i left that out; instead of milk i used plain soymilk; and we didn't have powdered mustard so i substituted about 3 big squirts of Dijon mustard. If you're also going to use prepared mustard, just be sure to NOT add it to the roux mixture of butter and flour in the beginning, but rather after you've added the milk and cheese, otherwise it might not brown properly with the additional liquid from the mustard.

It came out of the oven a beautiful mass of cheese and macaroni, covered in a bubbly layer of Cheddar topped with flaky Panko breadcrumbs. Upon tasting, i thought it was quite glorious although i wish i used top-notch Cheddar instead of supermarket blocks. The Panko really added a wonderous layer of flaky crunch so if you can, do use actual Panko - which are super flaky Japanese breadcrumbs you can find at a Japanese, Korean or gourmet market. Way better than the mac n cheese i've had at so many restaurants!

Now on to the fried experiments: be and i ate about half the mac n cheese for dinner so we were left with a good-sized congealed block of leftovers. Using Alton's recipe for "Next Day Mac and Cheese Toast" aka fried mac n cheese, i cut the block into cubes and prepared them for frying with a seasoned flour dip, a dip into egg and finally a coating of more Panko breadcrumbs. I deep fried 5 cubes for each of us, about the size of a large marshmallow - and honestly 3 were enough! They were super flaky on the outside, buttery and cheesey on the inside and with a ton of oil all over. They got golden brown very quickly in the 375 degree oil so be sure you have a strainer or tongs ready to take them out fast.

Overall, we both immensely loved the mac n cheese recipe. be thinks it's the best he's ever had. I thought it was very good but would've been better with high quality cheese. As for the fried mac n cheese, we both enjoyed it but for next time, i'm going to find a recipe whose cheese gets meltier and gooey-er and probably use plain Italian breadcrumbs for the crust outside. I loved the Panko on the regular mac n cheese but thought something that held less oil would be better for the fried cubes.

I have a feeling this winter will include many more mac n cheese recipe tests!

posted by beXn @ 11:59 PM