What's It All About
—This blog began as a side project when we opened Nook Eatery in 2009. In September 2012 we sold Nook, and sadly it now no longer exists. We have a new blog (see A Good Place to Gather). As always we remain inspired by the ingredients we use and the food we cook. This site remains purely as an archive of our three years at Nook Eatery and the recipes I created.
Mac and Cheese
Diana and I have known each other since we were 7 years old. That’s almost 22 years I have been witness to her love affair with cheese. On occasion she has described herself as having “a penchant for nice cheese”. More like fervent enthusiasm. I have a letter from our schoolgirl days in which Diana compares our friendship to no less than 25 different cheeses:
“… the legend of the Cheesemasters will live on … like mozzarella melting over a tomato covered pizza base … like Cheddar, Pecorino, Emmenthal and Parmesan; like Havarti, Sweetmilk, Motali and Brie … ” dot dot dot etcetera dot dot.
Her #1 cheese based dish of course, is Macaroni and Cheese. It has to be the ultimate comfort food. And boy is this recipe not the most delicious macaroni cheese I have ever tasted. Aim to use as much cheese as possible! More than you think is appropriate.
I adapted this recipe from Hawksmoor at Home. They make use of distinctively English cheeses, namely Stilton, Ogleshield and Montgomery Cheddar. I chose Taleggio for its excellent melting ability, and an aged Gruyere for its fruity flavour.
500g macaroni
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
600ml milk
60g butter
60g flour
250g Strong Cheddar, grated
200g Gruyere, grated
150g Taleggio, crumbled
Maldon sea salt
white pepper
pinch of ground nutmeg
- You can make four individual macaroni servings, or bake in a medium-sized oven proof dish. Brush the dish with half the olive oil and rub with the cut clove of garlic.
- Cook the macaroni in salted water until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold running water, then mix with the remaining oil.
- In a saucepan bring the milk up to boiling point, then reduce the heat and keep warm.
- In another saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat, whisk in the flour and keep whisking until you have a pale golden ‘roux’ or grainy looking paste. Return this saucepan to a medium heat and ladle the hot milk into the roux, a cup at a time, whisking all the time and completely incorporating each cup of milk before adding the next one. After all the milk has been added, continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and bubbles gently (about 2 minutes).
- Take the pan off the heat, add the taleggio, gruyere and 125g of the cheddar, and stir until completely incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Pour three quarters of the sauce over the pasta and mix well. Tip the mixture into the baking dish. Top with the remaining sauce and half the remaining cheddar.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle over the rest of the cheddar and bake for another 10 – 15 minutes, or until brown.
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Wow, what a wonderful variety of tasty cheeses. A very nontraditional mac and cheese!