04 February 2009

Mac, Cheese, and the Laundromat


Cats are finicky creatures.  Have you ever done something stupid like save a few dollars buying a different brand of cat litter, only to end up having your cat pee all over your bed?  Yeah, that was me cursing my stupidity as I recently bundled myself and my comforter down to the Laundromat.  I brought my new Christmas present along with me, a copy of Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook, and a notepad in order to make my grocery list.  During the wash cycle, I was busy setting the week's menu and making my list, and when I popped the comforter in the dryer, I knew I had just enough time to make it to the grocery store and back before it was done.  Did I end up saving money with the new cat litter?  Unfortunately, I think by the time the laundry was done, I finished $10.00 in the hole.  Why must I learn the hard way?  The good news is that now our cat is finally using the litter box again, and I made a yummy macaroni and cheese with tomatoes inspired by my trip to the laundromat.  Nice kitty...

Macaroni and Cheese inspired by Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook

Ingredients:

Salt
Vegetable oil
1 lb. elbow macaroni
1 qt. 1% milk
8 Tbls. (one stick--that's right baby) unsalted butter, divided into 8 pieces
1/2 c. all purpose flour
6 c. grated cheese (I mixed 2 c. mozzarella, 2 c. medium cheddar, and 2 c. Swiss)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
four small Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 1/2 c. white bread crumbs

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
2.  Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, drizzle in a little vegetable oil, and add your macaroni.  Cook until al dente (about 6 minutes).  Drain and set aside.
3.  Meanwhile, heat the milk in a saucepan but do not boil it.  Melt 8 Tbls. butter in a large pot and add the flour.  Cook over low heat for 2 minutes stirring continuously with a whisk.  While whisking, add the hot milk a little at a time, whisking well between each addition.
4.  Off of the heat, add the grated cheeses, 1 Tbls. salt, the pepper, and the nutmeg.  Stir gently, wait 2 minutes and stir gently again.   Add the hot, cooked macaroni and stir well.  Pour mixture into a 3 quart baking dish.
5.  Arrange the sliced tomatoes on top of the dish.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on top.


24 comments:

Meg said...

I love the addition of tomatoes to the mac and cheese! Looks delicious!

Varsha Vipins said...

:chuckle:..nice kitty story..:D
The dish made me hungry..:(
pls trail back for an award..:)

Femin Susan said...

Hi...........
Wow!..My tongue filled with water....

Namratha said...

I like the idea of adding Tomatoes on the top, a new way to serve up the good ol' Mac & Cheese! Gotta love Ina's recipes.

Chef E said...

That dish looks so yummy! Oh how I wish I could be past a plate...

Wandering Coyote said...

Homemade mac & cheese is the best and so worth the effort!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I love her recipes. This looks good.

Justine said...

mmm comforrt food.

Bob said...

You are cruel! I have been wanting mac and cheese for weeks now, but either don't have the ingredients or the time. That looks so good.

Fortunately, my cats don't care about the kind of litter we use. My brothers cats on the other hand... well, this is a food site so I won't talk about them. ;)

Anonymous said...

...that mac n cheese makes it all worth it, though, I bet! :)

Anonymous said...

Your story cracked me up! :) the mac and cheese looks wonderful - its making me want to skip work and just spend the afternoon watching TV and eating it.. sigh...

Anonymous said...

Ina's mac and cheese with the piles of cheese, butter, bread crumbs and tomatoes is so good! Thanks for posting this - all my Ina books are packed up in a box thousands of miles away!

Finla said...

Wow the macroni andcheese look so yummy creamy delicious.
Drool drool.

Cathy said...

I love Ina Garten recipes! I did her turkey recipe for xmas and it was the best turkey ever!

Sam said...

Our cat's just like that, very picky!

Your macaroni cheese looks gorgeous, I'd love some of that right now.

Reeni said...

Your mac 'n' cheese looks so scrumptious!! I love the tomatoes on top. The same thing happened to my Dad, he bought some cheaper kitty litter, luckily the cat didn't do to much damage, he went on a phonebook that was sitting out.

Beth (jamandcream) said...

This is ultimate comfort food - yum!

Recipeswap said...

Mac and cheese and taht to the contessa way,too much.
Looks so warm and comforting!

Karen said...

Oh boy that looks so good. I've never made mac & cheese and I think I should! Oh, my... I thought you were going to take the cat to the laundromat for a bath! LOL

CurryLeaf said...

Love the mac and cheese.I too make Ina s recipes.This looks delish

Tina said...

Well...first of all, that is cruel in deed to post such a beautiful mac and cheese. Those roma tomatoes look great..mouth watering.. want a bowl!

Blocked from all blogs at work today and felt cut off from the world. The one I care to read about anyway.

Cheers!

test it comm said...

That mac and cheese looks so good and there's lots of it!

Lori said...

I love Ina's recipes. For some reason I didn't like her show, but then she really started to grow on me. She makes the most amazing food. This looks great!

Anonymous said...

I've been trying different mac & cheese recipes lately, trying to find just the right one. After the last attempt, I thought, "I should ask Amanda if she has any good mac & cheese recipes!" and lo & behold, here one is :)
Thanks!

ShareThis