The Only Mac & Cheese Recipe that You'll Ever Need

Speaking of religious experiences, I’ve got Oprah’s “Favorite Things” episode on mute. It’s been on for about 4 minutes & people are already on their knees crying.

Well, I can’t give you a diamond-encrusted watch, but I can make your holidays just a little better by bestowing on you this magnificent macaroni & cheese recipe. It’s that good, I tell you. It’s the only recipe for mac I’ll ever use again. I’m not even gonna look at other recipes, I promise.

The recipe that I started with is from the Everyday Food cookbook (the first one). I’ve made the recipe several times, but each time I made it, I was looking for something more. I found myself having to doctor up the leftovers with hot sauce, etc.

Be advised, however, that this mac & cheese is not the custardy, soupy kind you find at some places. That particular brand of mac is quite disgusting to me. You know how I hate eggs, so I’m finicky when it comes to custard. This version might seem dry to some of you. I wouldn’t take mine any other way, but if you are so inclined, you could add more milk or even some eggs (a 14 oz. can of tomatoes maybe) to your mix just before you mix in the pasta & bake it. However, to me, this recipe is perfect as written.


Shane is jockeying between the dishes of the night
French-Barrett Mac & Cheese
Adapted from Everyday Food

Serves 8
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound elbow pasta, cooked and drained
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped (I used a medium-sized onion)
• 1/4 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, (optional)
• 4 ¼ c. of cheese (I used a mix of 3 c. white Cabot cheddar, 1 c. mozz, and about a ¼ cup romano which has a lot of character. I highly recommend it.)
• ¼ or ½ c. panko
• 8 sundried tomatoes, drained of excess oil & chopped
1 heaping T. Dijon mustard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta, and drain; reserve. Meanwhile, in a 5-quart heavy pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in flour to coat onion. In a slow steady stream, whisk in milk until there are no lumps.

2. Cook, whisking often, until mixture is thick and bubbly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes (mine took about 15 minutes to get to a good consistency). Stir in cayenne, if using & mustard, and the cheese mixture. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. As cheese mixture melts, stir in chopped sundried tomatoes. (If you wanted to add spinach or any other veggies, this would be the time to do it.

3. Toss pasta with cheese mixture. Spoon some out into a ramekin & taste for seasoning (& to make sure it’s not poison, hehe. This is always my excuse for sampling.). Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or individual dishes. Set aside.



4. Toss panko together with remaining 1/4 cup cheese mixture, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Top pasta with breadcrumb mixture. Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes

Be sure to sample the sauce/mac before you transfer it to the baking dish. I added quite a bit more salt & some more seasonings. Just keep adding things until it tastes right for you. I’ll try to remember to pay closer attention next time I make it & I’ll update this with the additional stuff I added.

We took this mac to Shane & Sarah’s Southern-themed potluck on a Saturday night. We had about half a pan left. By Sunday night, the pan was empty, in the sink, ready to be washed. So much for eating this through the week. Truth be told, we did get a few lunches out of it, but dang, it went fast. It was truly the best mac ever. I’m taking it to my family Thanksgiving feast next week.

I haven’t ruled out the idea of making some for this weekend. Sarah’s coming over. She’d asked me for the recipe & I feel like I should give her a tutorial, hehe.

Mac & Butter

I had a very ambitious plan for Saturday. I decided to cook like mad. It's been a while since I've spent the day in the kitchen, so I was craving that experience. I intended to achieve the following:
1. Spring Roll Salad with accompanying sauces
2. Pumpkin Curry
3. Homemade butter
4. Ricotta

I woke up at 9 a.m. (a virtuous early hour for me) and headed to the Farmer's Market. As a CSA member, I hadn't gone to the FM this summer. Besides, I didn't have a very high opinion of the FM based on previous experiences there. Though it is somewhat obvious what is locally produced, I found some of the vendors a little shady when I'd ask them about their products. I have reason to distrust them when I see the packaged celery that I could just as easily buy at Kroger or the apples with produce code stickers still attached.

I'd heard that things were different this year and that is absolutely true. It was so nice to see that they now separate the local vendors from the others. There are also vendors selling meat, bread, and dairy. I was very excited about the local dairy and picked up a half-gallon of milk and a quart of cream.

I knew what would become of that lovely cream:


Butter is incredibly easy to make, kids. You just pour the cream in your food processor, crank it to it's highest speed and let it go for 11 minutes. It will change consistency a couple of times, but when it turns into a big lump, well that's butter. Dump it into a fine mesh colander and let it drain for a bit. That's it.

So easy it's ridiculous almost and the resulting butter is so heavenly that when I stuck my pinkie in for a taste, my first inclination was to eat a bowl of it like ice cream. You'll be glad to know that I had just enough self-control not to do that; so I did the next best thing with it...I made Ina's mac and cheese. I had just seen her make it on her show that morning when I came in for a lunch break in my ingredient-gathering mission.

Ina's Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Good olive oil
• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced 1/2-inch
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced 1/2-inch
• 3 tablespoons cream sherry
  
• Kosher salt
• 1 pound pasta, such as cavatappi
• 3 ounces white truffle butter (recommended: D'Artagnan) (I used my homemade butter instead)
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 quart whole milk, scalded
• 12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 1/2 to 3 cups)
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (I used some of Mark's homemade bread)
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan, add the mushrooms, and cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until they are tender. Add the sherry and continue to saute for a few more minutes, until the sherry is absorbed. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add the pasta and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until al dente. Drain well.

Meanwhile, melt the truffle butter in a large (4-quart) saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the white sauce is thickened and creamy. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 1/2 tablespoons salt, the pepper, and nutmeg.

Combine the pasta, sauce, and mushrooms in a large bowl and pour them into a 10 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish.

Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until they're minced. Add the bread crumbs and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the crumbs over the pasta and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and the crumbs are golden brown. Serve hot.

There is something that comes over me when I decide to make an Ina recipe. I go a little overboard and buy the pricey stuff. I stood in Kroger staring at the cheese for a freakishly long amount of time trying to decide whether I should spend $20 to get the amount of Gruyere Ina had requested of me. I nearly got a headache and finally decided that one $9 brick of cheese would just have to do. I had a ton of cheddar from Sam's (Cabot brand) and I figured I'd make up the difference with that.

Ina certainly is the direct opposite of Sandra Lee. I loathe that woman almost as much as Anthony Bourdain does, but I have to say Ina could tone it down a little with the expensive ingredients.

Anyway, I made the mac and it was divine:


If you're in the greater Nashville area, please come to my house and take some of it off my hands. It's too much really.

The pumpkin curry and the ricotta didn't happen yet...but they will.

Sometimes I daydream about Artichokes (and manicotti)

Saveur is by far my most anticipated magazine every month. I devour it with great tenacity. It's a real page-turner for me...so much so that I never let myself look ahead or casually peruse it when it first arrives. It's to be savored, appropriately. I have a stack of them beside my bed.

It's not a magazine I go to for too many recipes. It's more about the food-related articles and wonderful pictures for me. I don't know why I don't cook more from the magazine. An article from the March issue regarding artichokes nearly sent me into an obsession. All I could think about was preparing fresh artichokes...but I'd long cut myself off from our Saturday excursions to Whole Foods, given that I was technically unemployed as a student teacher. I couldn't use just any artichokes for the dishes I was dreaming of, after all. My obsession with Whole Foods and the supreme high I get from shopping there warrants a separate post.

Anyway, for a while I dreamed of a fresh artichoke or two sauteed with some dungeness crab and a decent Sauvignon Blanc (with some butter, of course). Mark had a similar dish in Portland last July. I soon dropped the crab idea as I'm really not that big of a fan of seafood (even though I think I should be and often try and force myself to enjoy it. It's a familiarity issue for me. The first times I ate Indian food, I liked it, but didn't love it. It took some getting used to. In my mind, I'm training myself to really crave a nicely cooked, rare piece of fish rather than bloody cow) also I was unemployed in Nashville, TN. Where would I get fresh dungeness crab without going broke anyway?

I soon moved on to this recipe for Stuffed Artichokes:

4 large, full-size artichokes
1 lemon, halved
1 3⁄4 cups dried bread crumbs
1 cup grated pecorino
1⁄3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1. Using a serrated knife, cut off artichoke stems to create a flat bottom. Cut top thirds off artichokes, pull off tough outermost leaves, and trim tips of leaves with kitchen shears. Rub cut parts with lemon halves. Open artichoke leaves with your thumbs to make room for stuffing; set aside.

2. Heat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, 3⁄4 cup pecorino, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic. Working with one artichoke at a time over bowl, sprinkle one-quarter of bread crumb mixture over the artichoke and work it in between leaves. Transfer stuffed artichoke to a shallow baking dish. Drizzle each artichoke with 1 tbsp. oil. Pour in boiling water to a depth of 1". Rub 1 tbsp. olive oil on a sheet of aluminum foil, cover artichokes with foil (oiled side down), and secure foil tightly around dish with kitchen twine. Bake until a knife easily slides into the base of an artichoke, about 45 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle tops with remaining cheese, and switch oven to broil. Broil until tops of artichokes are golden brown, about 3 minutes.

When all are stuffed, they look like this:


When being eaten, the artichoke looks like this:


The artichoke is by far the most beautiful vegetable in my opinion. Sadly, I didn't enjoy eating them too much. They were still a little prickly. I'm not sure if this is due to Mark's inexperience in paring down the spiky points. We probably should have just doused it with melted butter and called it a night. The pecorino was nice and nutty. Maybe next time we'll make a pecorino butter sauce for them.

Along with the artichokes, we made some baked manicotti from the same issue. We started out by putting together a very simple marinara sauce:
From Saveur:

This tomato sauce, based on one served at Angelo's Fairmount Tavern, tastes just as good when tossed with spaghetti as it does when cooked in dishes like the Veal Parmesan and Baked Manicotti. We recommend using a good brand of canned tomatoes, such as Muir Glen; their balance of tartness and fruity sweetness will yield a brighter-tasting sauce. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 8 days.

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1⁄2 small onion, finely chopped
1⁄2 tsp. dried oregano
1⁄4 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. finely chopped
curly or flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste

1 Put tomatoes and their liquid into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Set aside.

2 Heat oil in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, bay leaf, and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.

3 Add the chopped tomatoes along with the oregano and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly and its flavors come together, about 20 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper.

As for the Manicotti:

A little nutmeg added to the ricotta filling for this classic baked pasta imparts a subtle note of spice that complements the rich flavors of the dish, says Saveur.

4 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 cups Angelo's Marinara Sauce
1 8-oz. box dried manicotti shells (about 14)
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups whole-milk ricotta
1 cup grated parmesan
7 tbsp. chopped curly or flat-leaf parsley
1 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
1⁄2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten (I opted not to use any as I hate eggs)

1. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with 1 tbsp. butter and spread 1⁄2 cup of the marinara sauce across the bottom of the pan. Set aside. Bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the manicotti and cook until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain manicotti and rinse under cold water; set aside.

Speaking of which, I've been reading about Julia Child lately and apparently she was both very tall, funny & foul-mouthed...sounds like my kind of gal, right? Well, she was once boiling manicotti in her tiny Paris apartment when she exclaimed to her husband, Paul, who told on her in a letter to his brother: "These damn things are hotter than a stiff cock."

Dear readers, please do not hate me or not employ me due to my bad language, as my grandmother Peg always said, "I was just repeatin' what somebody else said."

That never made a good enough excuse for her cursing when I was younger. So sorry blog, the cat's out of the bag, even though I appear to contain my urges to curse a blue streak in this forum, I do find humor in obscenities and cultivate my own foul mouth.

2. Heat oven to 450°. Heat remaining butter in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer garlic to a medium bowl along with the ricotta, 1⁄2 cup parmesan, 5 tbsp. chopped parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and eggs (if you aren't grossed out by them) and stir to combine.

3. Spoon some of the filling into both openings of each manicotti shell. (Alternatively, transfer the ricotta mixture to a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag, snip off a bottom corner of the bag, and pipe filling into pasta.) Repeat with remaining manicotti shells. Transfer stuffed manicotti to prepared baking dish, making 2 rows. Spread the remaining marinara sauce over the manicotti and sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

I won't make any comments on that last photo regarding what it looks like.

I agree with Saveur regarding the fresh nutmeg. It is a very nice flavor. I also, per Rachel Ray's instruction, add fresh nutmeg to all my greens. I got a bag of fresh nutmeg at the international market for really cheap. It's more than I'll ever use. There were several seeds in the bag and they keep indefinitely in your cupboard.

The manicotti was really good, but I didn't have enough sauce to cover all the noodles. I made two small pans and used Newman's Own Sockarooni sauce for the second dish. They were both quite nice. The Saveur marinara is more acidic and way less sweet.

As I said, we made these dishes a couple of months ago and I'm still catching up. I've been cooking a lot in the last month and I hope to be up to speed before too long.

I had kind of given up on the blog for a while because I thought it was too self-indulgent, but I found out yesterday that my friend Claudia's family really enjoys this site. I'd like to give a big shout out to the Lombardo's and say thanks for the encouragement. I started the blog for myself, of course, and it is good to keep up with recipes that I've altered, but I was beginning to feel a little silly, like no one was getting anything out of it but me. So hello Lombardo's, I feel like I know you guys too as Claudia talks about you all so much.

The Best Chicken Marsala to be had in this great land...

Who knew I even liked chicken marsala?

I didn't until we attended the Iron Fork. I had a sample that I couldn't stop thinking about. Alas, I sought out recipes.

I may go as far as to say that this dish was the best we've ever made in our kitchen. But with a meal this opulent, there should be no leftovers. This is what we like to call "sometimes" foods and not eat it everyday like nobody's watching....which I might have done just a little. Marscapone? I'm useless in resisting it. By the end, I had to throw it out. I just couldn't have it for the third time in three days.

I used to hate white dairy. I drank Tab out of my baby bottle, I'm sure. I've never tasted cereal and milk. I used to make my mama order pizza with no cheese.

I started my backslide at 19 in an Outback Steakhouse. I had butter on a baked potato and it was a religious experience.

I still have some standards; I will never ever willingly eat mayo or sour cream.

So if you have some arteries you care to clog, here's a fine way to do it:

Giada's Chicken with Mustard Marscapone Marsala Sauce (with sauteed kale)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup dry Marsala wine (we used a very dry Marsala)
  
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard--I used whole grain mustard--somehow ran out of dijon
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, plus whole sprigs, for garnish
• 12 ounces dried fettuccine

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Exercise restraint: ONLY TURN THE CHICKEN OVER ONCE. This makes a nice crust on the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

While the chicken cools, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 12 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mascarpone and mustard. Cut the chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain.

glistening butta

Toss the fettuccine with 3 tablespoons of butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. (I add whatever cheese I'm going to add at this point before the sauce is added. A little tip I picked up from Lynne Rossetto Kasper). Swirl the fettuccine onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.

Improvised Pastas

My favorite food in the whole world is a tomato. They are the one food I cannot live without. Show me a food better than the tomato. Fried corn and tomatoes, bacon and tomatoes: they play very well with others. However, in the summer I eat them like apples; they're perfect by themselves. Sure, they're nightshades, poison to some, very acidic, but I'll never turn my back on them.

I used to hate any tomato-based pasta dish I'd ever make from scratch. The sauce always tasted metallic. Lately, I've been having good luck with little sauces. I'm committed to the idea of making the perfect tomato sauce.

Here are two pasta dishes we've made in the last little while:




All great dishes start out with sauteing onions in olive oil, then adding some garlic and a pesto cube.


I made a big bunch of pesto last summer (minus cheese) and froze it in ice cube trays. I know they've passed their best by date, but I still use them. I have a bag of basil pesto cubes and a bag of arugula pesto cubes. Please try arugula pesto. You're doing yourself a great disservice if you do not.

After the onions soften, then you add whatever other veggies you want (The first dish had spinach, peppers, and chopped canned artichokes), turn the heat up really high so that you get a nice char on everything, then pour in some white wine (In this case, Old Fort White Something-Another from Beans Creek Winery--Spring Break trip with Bethany and Mark 2009!) to deglaze the pan, scrapping up the brown bits. Next, I added a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I boiled up some whole wheat spaghetti and mixed the two together in a big bowl given to me by my sweet sister-in-law as a wedding present. This was very simple and clean tasting...but I wanted more tomato, something more akin to soup than salsa to cover my noodles.

The second dish was a meat sauce made leisurely last Sunday night. I started out by putting 1 lb. of lean ground sirloin and a pesto cube (maybe a tidbit of butter, but who's keeping track?) into my big ol' cast iron dutch oven. I chopped some onions and peppers and added those guys in (don't let 'em get too soft).

A note about the red bell pepper: I simply cannot do without red bell peppers. I hate how expensive they can be, but they are simple pleasures I've found that I cannot live without. Frozen peppers will do at times, but some times I need them crunchy and delectable in their fresh state. I rationalize that I do not spend money on fancy shoes or that pesky (not to mention bland) Banana Republic anymore, so why not?

I added some red pepper flakes, some homemade chili powder, oregano, probably a myriad of other spices I can't remember, and some s & p and let that go for a while. I added some chopped canned artichoke hearts and three cans of tomatoes to get my fix (1 28 oz. can of sauce, 1 28 oz. can of crushed, and 1 14.5 oz. can of fire roasted diced)! I let that come up to a simmer and added a pinch of sugar. The sugar cannot be avoided, mind you (not entirely true--you might be able to figure something out with agave syrup or your favorite sugar substitute). The sweetness from the sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes. I then added 2 bay leaves and a parm rind from the freezer and let it simmer away for as long as we could wait: about 45 minutes, I'm guessing.

In the meantime, I boiled the pasta water, salted it well (always add more salt than you think is sufficient) and added a box of rigatoni. In a separate pan, I sauteed some cremini mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter until all the butter was absorbed. I deglazed the pan with some leftover marsala wine we had for some incredible chicken marsala you'll hear about some day. These mushrooms were incredible. I'd intended to fold them into the sauce, but I didn't want their flavor to get lost in with everything else. So, I poured the mixture into the bottom of my baking dish. When the noodles were done, I poured them in a big bowl and added enough sauce to cover them well. I poured this on top of the layer of mushrooms and topped it with pecorino romano cheese, parm, and skim mozz. I baked it at 450 for 10 minutes and yeah, it was the best so far.

A few interesting bits of info re: at-home pasta goodness:
1. You don't have to spring for the expensive tomatoes. My darling Lynne prefers Hunt's.
2. Trader Joe's never ceases to amaze me. They're dried pasta has proven to be better than many of the more expensive products that get me with the flashy packaging. See this article. Thanks for the info Claudia/Lesley.

Also, I'm in the midst of a culinary love affair with Ina Garten! I once counted her a nemesis with her condescending descriptors of "good olive oil," etc. Now I know what it's all about: more details to come, maybe.

Please stop, Ina. That's tacky. I'm a married woman.

Decatur County Weekend

Mark guest post

After seeing David Sedaris Friday night and nearly wetting ourselves with laughter we made our way westward to see the Fam.

David Sedaris (before he quit smoking)


After stopping in at the house, we made our way to Perryville, specifically the River Arts Community there. Our bro, Jeremy Gibson, was playing a set on the stage there while the local news crew got the story - Wendy and I walked about to see what we could find (Note by Wendy: I found an incredible owl clock at a yard sale, full of kitchy good vibes).

The Stage (love the rebel flag amp)


Right across the road from the stage was this lovely house, with an open front door.


Inside we met the owner of the house, Stan J. Valencis. He creates a wide variety of work: acrylics, watercolors, pastels, sculptures, and murals.


He had some sweet cats, and the whole front room of his house was a gallery and studio.



The community is cute in so many ways. Sweet little houses with murals painted on the outside.


Note the mural on the retaining wall and the tree painted to the corner of the house.


Lots of baby making in this community...


Saturday's dinner was supposed to be Giada's mushroom pasta, however, our plans were thwarted when the fam decided we needed The Rusty Fish Hook in Linden. It was a smart move in the end so that we could relax and focus on hanging out.


The conversation hilariously bounced from talk of Sarah Palin to the Girls Next Door on E! to discussion of Paula Dean's most outrageous moments. Wendy shocked everyone with the story of Paula's breakfast hamburger, topped with bacon, an egg, and most insanely replacing the bun with two glazed Krispy Kreme donuts.

"That's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard," said Lacey - without pause, "Get me a Whopper!" We all burst into laughter. She's learned that she can really milk the laughs with her impersonation of that line.

Freddy ate a huge 20oz. steak


Kelley's dramatic take on our dinner - "Hooked"


I promised the girls we'd make pasta together. When they visited us in the summer they had such a good time making pizza dough, I knew they'd love the pasta process. I was so impressed how much they remembered from the pizza dough: what ingredients we use, specifically they remembered my borrowed (from Alton Brown) explanation of how yeast "burps" and creates the air which rises the dough, and the steps of the process.

We tore a neon yellow stalk off the "bright lights" swiss chard and used it to make bright yellow pasta - using the Tom Lazzaroli method passed to me in a magical conversation at his store. Here's a slideshow of the dough-making process.


On Sunday we finally made good on the mushroom pasta:


It was so very good. Half of the fam didn't even like mushrooms, but still raved about it.

Aren't you tired of cheesy pasta?

For a girl who has never known her limits...um, yeah...I kinda am tired of the barrage of pasta dishes. Sorry. Maybe this will be the last horah for a little while.

Saturday night, we tried another recipe out of How to Eat Supper. This time, it was in the name of using up tomatoes (I know, you've heard it all before). The title sounds dramatic:

Cheese-Gilded Linguine with Smokey Tomatoes


What you'll need:
* 5 quarts salted water in a 6-quart pot
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* 6 thick slices bacon, sliced into 1/4-inch-wide sticks (I didn't use thick bacon)
* 1 medium to large onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
* Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
* 5 large garlic cloves, minced
* 2-1/2 to 3 pounds delicious ripe tomatoes, cored and fine chopped (do not peel or seed); or one 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with their liquid, plus one 14-ounce can, drained(I used one can whole and one can chopped)
* 1 pound imported linguine (We used Mark's homemade chive pasta)
* 1 generous cup fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for the table

What you might do:
1. Make fresh pasta a la Mark Barrett

false start pasta... too sticky to be salvaged and sad about it

2. Boil then generously salt water.

3. Lightly film a straight-sided 12-inch saute pan with oil (I didn't add any oil), add the bacon, and set over medium-high heat. Saute until the bacon is golden. Remove it with a slotted spoon, setting it on paper towels to drain. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the fat from the pan (We only had about 6 tablespoons total, so we transferred three into the next pan over--kale side dish, mentioned below).

4. Return the pan to the heat, and stir in the onions, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to medium. Sauté until the onions soften and start to color, 5 to 8 minutes.

5. Blend in the garlic, cooking for 1 minute, and then add the tomatoes. If using canned ones, crush them as they go into the pan. Stir in the cooked bacon. Bring the sauce to a lively bubble and cook until it is thick, 7 to 8 minutes, stirring to keep it from sticking. Remove from the heat, taste for seasoning, and cover the pan. The sauce can wait on the stovetop for up to an hour. Bring it to a bubble before adding it to the pasta.

6. Drop the pasta into the boiling water, and cook until it is tender but still a little firm to the bite. Drain, and turn it into a serving bowl. Toss with the 1 cup cheese until it clings to the noodles, then toss with the sauce. Serve hot, with additional cheese at the table if desired.

My process was a bit different as I was multi-tasking like the well-oiled efficient kitchen machine that I am. I sauteed a side dish of extremely well-seasoned and delicious kale (believe me, I was impressed as I haven't had much luck in the past) with baby turnips. Also, at the same time, I prepped a second recipe from the very same book for Carrie's brunch the next day:

21st Century Mac & Cheese

Here's the recipe from the book that serves 4, but we doubled it

• 1/2 pound (2 cups ) raw penne pasta, cooked and drained (I used organic elbows)
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 cup milk
  
• 1 small clove garlic (um, yeah right)
  
• 3/4 medium onion, coarsely chopped (2 onions)
  
• 1 generous cup (5 ounces) shredded good quality, extra-sharp cheddar cheese ( 1 c. Grafton's cheddar + 1 c. mixed bag of Gruyere, Pecorino Romano, and a bit more cheddar)
  
• 5 ounces cream cheese, crumbled (as the recipe was supposed to be "doubled," I didn't remember the measurements while shopping, so I only used 1 8 oz. bar of cream cheese--organic--believe me, I used to be the biggest ol' el cheapo ever, but if you're going to all this trouble anyway, what's 60 cents? I can honestly taste the difference in organic dairy and I could talk for just about forever on the subject, but I won't, maybe later)
  
• Generous 1/8 teaspoon each hot red pepper flakes, salt, and freshly ground black pepper
  
• Generous 1/4 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika (I was careful with the paprika this time)
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (I didn't make a crust because of time constraints)
  
• 12 saltines, coarsely crumbled (you don't need saltines if you don't opt for the crust)
  

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish, and add cooked macaroni.

2. In a blender or food processor combine egg, milk, and garlic, and process 3 seconds. Add onion, cheeses, peppers, salt, and paprika, and blend 10 seconds. Turn into dish, folding into macaroni. Casserole could be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 24 hours at this point.

3. To bake, bring casserole close to room temperature. As mentioned earlier, I didn't make the crust because I woke up too late, but if you're good and set your alarm, you might: melt butter in a small saucepan. Coat crackers with butter and spread over top of casserole. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, or until thick yet creamy. If top is not golden, slip under broiler for a minute. Remove from oven, let stand about 5 minutes, and serve.

Though this is my first undertaking of homemade mac and cheese, I've been around and read a few recipes and this one was different in that you don't start by making a roux, you just input everything into a food processor. I thought it questionable, but proceeded confidently knowing that Lynne and Sally wouldn't do me wrong.

As it turns out, it was quite nice:


The overabundance of cheesy noodles was due to the fact that Carrie was having a Sunday brunch. Mark's here with a montage of the highlights:


Also, here's Mark explaining to Alex how his new haircut, when the bangs are combed straight down, makes him look like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber


For reference, the real Lloyd Christmas (in case you forgot):