White Cheddar Beer Mac and Cheese

(from my Instagram: ashmelzorn)

Back in October when my family took a trip to Oregon we visited Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. We began our meal with their Beer Cheese and pretzel dip which was insanely memorable. The cheese was a melted white cheddar laced with beer and there was coarse stone ground mustard rimming the bowl. When you swiped the pretzel through the mustard and into the cheese it was phenomenal. When it came time to make our Thanksgiving menu, I mentioned turning the beer cheese dip into a mac and cheese. I've had mac and cheese with mustard powder as an ingredient in the past, so I knew if I kept it subtle we'd have a winning dish.  

(Thanksgiving plate, mac and cheese is at twelve o'clock)

I used somewhat local Tillamook White Cheddar, which is delicious. We chose the Fat Tire Amber Ale because I'm not a fan of IPAs, which the dip used (we bought a 6-pack so I didn't want to get shorted out of the leftover beer!) This mac and cheese got better with each plate of leftovers! The beer taste was a little stronger and we declared it the best mac and cheese I've ever made!

White Cheddar Beer Mac and Cheese

Veggie by Season original

12 oz. short cut pasta (we used shells)

Kosher salt

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion, minced

Black pepper
3 tbsp. flour
1 c. beer of choice
1 c. 2% milk
2 tbsp. coarse ground mustard (I like inglehoffer from World Market)
12 oz. fresh grated sharp white cheddar

Preheat oven to 400*
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt and add pasta, cook to al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
Heat a shallow skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter and add onions
Saute' onions for 2-3 minutes, until translucent, season with salt and black pepper.
Add flour, whisk to cook for a minute then turn heat up to medium-high.
Add beer, whisk flour clumps into beer and reduce liquid by half.
Add milk and bring mixture to a simmer, turn heat off.
Add mustard and cheese, use a spatula and stir using a figure-eight motion.
Taste cheese sauce and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Drain pasta and pour into a baking dish, add cheese sauce and stir well to combine.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired brownness and crunch.

Gruyere and Brie Macaroni and Cheese

I have to apologize in advance, but this post has no final product photo, only several from the making of the dish. Blame it on the fact that we could not wait to dig in. It was just that good!

Almost exactly one year ago, I joined forces with Folio Weekly to become the host and writer of the Bite Club and Bite Club Blog. When I moved to Jacksonville, I wrote to several local newspapers and magazines with the hopes of becoming an affiliated food blogger. Folio Weekly answered first, and told me they had hopes to begin a dining group but didn't know where to start. We met several times, and decided that the best way to go about it was to pick a restaurant each month, have a menu tasting meal, and then I would photograph and blog about the event. We thought a blog seemed most fitting for the group because it's in real time, it's interactive, and I had two years of blogging experience. 

The first few events went really well, and were learning experiences for me. I discovered what types of events worked best, what style of menu and service was ideal, and how to keep the focus on food. In addition to hosting the events, I also provided restaurant profiles on the blog where I would dine at a new, local place and blog about the experience and food. There were definitely perks to the job, I was invited to many events and restaurant openings, but it also took up much of my time. Of course food is my passion, but at my core, I am a home cook, and dining out isn't always feasible for my budget, schedule, and eating preferences.

One of the restaurants I was invited to was III Forks, a steakhouse. At the time I was still a once-in-a-while-meat-eater, but I've never been a steak girl. So while everyone else ordered steaks and seafood, I hit the sides, and I hit them hard! Our server told me that their Macaroni and Cheese is phenomenal, and you never have to ask my husband if he wants mac and cheese twice, so we chose to split that. The macaroni and cheese was so creamy and had a wonderful balance of flavor. I asked the server what cheeses made up the dish. I expected him to say it's a chef secret, but he gladly told me Brie and Gruyère. Those are my two favorite cheeses, without a doubt. 

So if you've noticed, I've been writing about my tenure as Bite Club host in the past tense. About a month ago, after much thought, I decided to resign from the position. It was a hard decision, but ultimately it just didn't seem right for me to be writing about the dishes we were served at restaurants when I was barely eating anything (most dishes are meat-centered). I also thought the fact that I don't eat out often and couldn't really give restaurant recommendations was a disservice to the credibility of the position. 

I told my editor and publisher, and as anyone would wish, they asked me to reconsider. I had made up my mind though, and told them I knew a perfect replacement. I met Caron through Bite Club, and couldn't think of a better host. She has practically dined at every Jacksonville restaurant, will eat just about anything, and is hugely into social media (maybe she'll even tweet this post - haha!). I invited her and her boyfriend to dinner so we could go over the position, and thought it would be fitting to make a rendition of the III Forks Mac and Cheese, one of my highlights from the past year as Bite Club host. I am sad to be leaving the position, but know it will be in good hands! 

Tips and Trades:

-Quality ingredients mean most delicious dishes. If you're making this for company, splurge on the cheese for this and choose a less expensive appetizer and salad (I made bruschetta and a spinach salad)

-Though this dish is rich, try making it with whole wheat pasta, Whole Foods has a wide variety of whole wheat shapes! 

Gruyère and Brie Macaroni and Cheese

inspired by III Forks Steak and Seafood

8 oz. whole wheat pasta, small cut or shape

4 tbsp. butter

1 small yellow onion, grated

Salt and ground white pepper

3 tbsp. unbleached whole wheat flour

2 c. 2% milk

1 tsp. ground mustard

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

6 oz. grated Gruyère cheese

4 oz. Brie, finely cubed

1/4 c. coarse, seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400*

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt heavily, add pasta.

Cook pasta 8-10 minutes, or until al dente.

Drain and pour into a casserole dish.

Heat a stockpot over medium heat.

Add butter and grated onion, sauté for 2-3 minutes, season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle in flour, whisk and cook for a minute.

Add milk, whisk and bring to a light simmer.

Add mustard and cayenne, whisk.

Add Gruyère and 3 oz. of the Brie cubes, turn heat off.

Use a spatula and gently stir in figure 8's. 

When cheese is melted, taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Pour over noodles, stir to distribute.

Dot with extra Brie cubes, sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned on top.

Some dot their mac and cheese with butter... I opt for Brie! 

Asiago and Provolone Macaroni and Cheese

In my family, it's a tradition to have Macaroni and Cheese at Thanksgiving. I never gave it a second thought, but later in life found out that not many people eat Mac and Cheese on Thanksgiving. Keeping with the Mac and Cheese at the holidays theme, I decided to make a variation on Christmas day. I had a huge block of Asiago to use up, and a bit of Provolone. I knew this would create a sharp tasting Macaroni and Cheese, but since those are two of my favorites, I decided to try it out and hope everyone else would appreciate the slighty stinky Mac and Cheese. It was great, easy to make ahead of time and reheat, and made a huge tray with plenty of leftovers.

Asiago and Provolone Macaroni and Cheese

1 1/2 lbs. cavatappi or any short cut pasta

1 stick of butter

1 small yellow onion, grated

1/3 cup AP flour

1 tsp. ground white pepper

1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

4 cups 2% or whole milk

3 cups grated asiago cheese

1 cup grated provolone cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt heavily, add pasta and cook until al dente.

Drain well, set aside.

In a large stock pot, melt butter over low heat.

Grate in onion, sweat onion for 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle in flour, whisk and cook for 2-3 minutes, until it is a light brown color.

Add milk, whisk, bring to medium heat.

Sprinkle in cheese, whisking in completely before the next addition.

Add pepper and nutmeg.

Pour pasta into a casserole dish, pour cheese sauce over top.

Stir to distribute cheese.

Transfer to a 350 degree oven, bake for 25-30 minutes, until crisp and bubbly.

Stovetop Vegetarian Chili Mac and Cheese

Tonight's dinner was sort of a last minute creation, but so delicious! I noticed that the gallon of organic milk JJ picked out on Saturday expires tomorrow. We're the kind of people that go through a gallon in 2 weeks, so to have it 4 days and then it expires kills me! I'm pretty sure JJ will be looking at expiration dates from now on as the milk is $6/gallon and we still have well over 1/2 gallon left.
So I had to think of some recipes that use a good amount of milk, and macaroni and cheese is one of them. My pantry is pretty limited right now, but I managed to come up with what we thought was a flavorful, spicy, creamy and delicious dinner! I served it with kicked up vegetables (see previous post).

Stovetop Vegetarian Chili Mac and Cheese

1/2 red onion, minced

1 tbsp. EVOO

1 tbsp. butter

salt and pepper

2 tbsp. flour

2 c. milk

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

6 oz. elbow macaroni (I like Barilla plus)

1 12 oz. can Rotel with lime and cilantro

1 15 oz. can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp. corriander

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. chili powder

cilantro, for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt and add pasta.

Heat a deep skillet over medium.

Add onion, EVOO and butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Sweat out onions for 2-3 minutes, sprinkle flour over onions and whisk to cook off flour.

Add milk, turn heat to high and bring to a bubble.

Drain rotel and add to the milk, whisk in cheddar cheese and spices.

Once cheese is melted and incorporated, add beans.

Drain macaroni and add to the pot.

Stir well, serve with cilantro.

Moosewood Lowfat Mac and Cheese

It's not very common for JJ to request a specific dinner, so when he does I make it for him. His request was buffalo chicken tenders and mac and cheese, so I made the baked boneless tenders I always do, and I decided to try out a new mac and cheese recipe I'd had my eye on.

I love mac and cheese (don't we all?) so finding a lowfat recipe in a cookbook I love sounded great. I've tried quite a few low-fat versions that were not so good. This one was a little different, very creamy, and actually really good! I haven't had the full fat, good stuff in a long time though... However, I definitely would try this out. What makes it borderline healthy is the use of cottage cheese as the creamy base. It adds lots of protein and bulks up the sauce in a healthy way. Moosewood cookbooks often use cottage cheese as a sub for cream or a bechamel sauce.

I served the mac and cheese and tenders with a large garden salad for a complete meal.

Moosewood Low Fat Mac and Cheese

(I halved this)

1 1/2 c. 1% cottage cheese
1 1/2 c. nonfat buttermilk

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (omitted, don't like it in my mac and cheese)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 onion. minced
1 c. extra-sharp cheddar
1/2 lb. uncooked elbow macaroni (farfalle)
2 tbsp. grated Pecorino or Parmesan Cheeses
1/4 c. bread crumbs

Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

Prepare a 9 or 10 inch square baking pan with a light coating of cooking spray.
In a blender, combine the cottage cheese, buttermilk, mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper and puree until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine the puree, the onion, macaroni and cheddar cheese and stir thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into your pan.
Combine the Pecorino/Parmesan and the bread crumbs and sprinkle on top of the mixture.
Bake about 45 minutes, until the top is browned and the center firm.

A Year Ago: Dog Friendly Birthday Cake (Pumpkin's 3rd B-day!)

And HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY to my Little Pumpkin Spice :)

JJ's favorite White Cheddar Mac and Cheese

White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb. piccolini farfalle

3 tbsp. butter

1/2 onion, grated

3 tbsp. flour

2 cups milk

4 cups shredded Cabot cheddar cheese

½ tsp. mustard powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al dente.

In another pot over low heat, melt butter, grate onion directly in and cook 5 minutes until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to form a roux. Allow the flour to cook for a minute, then add in the milk. Bring to a soft boil, turn to low, whisk in the cheese slowly, a handful at a time. Stir in the mustard, taste and adjust seasonings.

Drain pasta very well, add to cheese sauce.

Mix to distribute. Pour into a baking dish, and bake at 400 for 30 minutes, until crisp on top.

Goat Cheese Mac & Cheese, BBQ Succotash

Tonight I had planned on making rice bowls, but I was not at all in the mood for rice. I was, however, in the mood for mac and cheese, but I also needed to use up all my veggies! We had some goat cheese and cheddar cheese in the fridge, so I settled on that for the mac and cheese. I asked JJ if he wanted tex-mex succotash, or bbq succotash, and he said BBQ. So, here's what I came up with.

Creamy Goat Cheese Mac and Cheese

BBQ Succotash

Mac and Cheese:

1/3 lb. whole wheat penne

Salt

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

1 c. milk

1 c. cheddar cheese

2 oz. goat cheese

Salt and Pepper

Thyme

Bring pot of water to a boil, drop pasta and cook to al dente.

In a medium saucepot, melt butter, add flour and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in milk, bring to a gentle bubble, add cheese and season.

Drain pasta, add to cheese sauce, mix and serve.

BBQ Succotash:

1 red bell pepper

2 small zucchini

1 red onion

Salt and Pepper

1/2 c. frozen corn kernels

1/2 15 oz. can black beans

1/4 c. Stick Fingers Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

In a large nonstick skillet on medium, cook bell pepper, zucchini and onion. Season with salt and pepper, and sweat out veggies for 10 minutes. Add corn, black beans and sauce, gently fold in, heat through and serve.