Victims of Convenience

Who hasn’t eaten or opened a blue box of Macaroni and Cheese?  I know some of you probably have one or more boxes in your pantry right now.  I have no problem with this as I was a blue box junkie.  I used to eat this stuff by the box, yes the entire box.  Macaroni and cheese for lunch, dinner whenever.  This was my meal, one pan, one spoon, and one colander.  Easy clean up, total time start to finish about 20min, eight to make, eight to eat and four to clean up.  I’m not bragging, but once in college I prepared this box without butter or milk…it was a mistake but it still tasted like the description on the box, go figure.  My next favorite as a kid were the little round frozen pizzas; I remember them being about 10 or 15 cents each.  My mom would buy 4 or 5 dollars worth at the grocery.  Three of these frozen cardboard delicacies would be my lunch.  I remember eating these before going to one of my first jobs as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool.  Again about 20 minutes and this is a one cookie sheet deal.  I didn’t know any better, this was good eating for me and I would serve these to my friends, apparently they didn’t know any better either.  I can now appreciate the difference between good eating and not so good eating.  My macaroni and cheese recipe is loved by my daughter, but it doesn’t come from a box.  I know where all the ingredients I use come from.  If your cheese is in dry powder form you may want to be leery.  Fresh still only takes about 8 minutes.  I even do a grown up version with bacon, green onion and jalapeno.  One of my favorites is to take this recipe, put it in a pan and allow it to cool.  I then slice the cooled Mac and cheese into 3 x 1 ½ “ rectangles, coat with egg wash and Panko bread crumbs and deep fry.  What could be better?  Deep fried macaroni and cheese!  This sounds kind of hillbilly, but it’s very tasty.  If you take this to your next party, be prepared to be complimented and many will ask for the recipe.  Some will hesitate to try but once they taste, they will be hooked.  Pizza, although a bit more tricky; all you need is a dough you can handle and the rest is easy.  It’s a hell of a lot cheaper and again you know where the ingredients are coming from.  Frozen cheese just doesn’t melt the same and no delivery person to deal with.  Tip yourself instead!

Here’s my recipe:

  Begin by cooking your pasta according to the directions on the box.

Béchamel Sauce- This is one of the Mother Sauces of French Cuisine.  I know it sounds fancy and difficult, but it is very simple.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain and using the same sauce pan, begin melting 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Once the butter has melted and stopped bubbling, add 2 tablespoons of flour and combine.  You have just made roux (a thickening agent used in many recipes).  Pour in 1.5 cups of milk, this mixture will begin to thicken.  Once it is nice and creamy (Béchamel Sauce has been created), add salt & pepper and remove from heat, then begin adding shredded cheddar cheese, about 1 cup, more or less to your liking.  Also feel free to use any cheese as long as it will melt.  The possibilities are endless!  Once cheese is melted add your pasta, mix to combine.  At this point you can go ahead and serve or you can place this in a pan and put in 350 degree oven for 15 min to get piping hot.  It is very easy and like I mentioned, the possibilities are endless with the cheese.  Additional ingredients needing some cook time should be added to the butter or bacon drippings before adding the flour to make the roux.  They can also be cooked separately and then added to the roux mixture.  Don’t be shy, your taste buds will be rewarded and your family will be impressed.