Well now, that was a great brainwave, if ever I tasted one.
We were due to have "macaroni cheese" at some point during the week, but although the intent was good, the body was weak and we wound up having pizza instead. I know, what can you do, eh? So, inevitably, this gave me time in which to think "Goodness, but this is dull. What can I do to liven up our standard macaroni cheese recipe?" - which as we all know is sometimes the beginning of the end.
However, in this instance, it worked out brilliantly.
Do you remember my making some beef, ale & cheese soup, way back last year some time? Well I suddenly remembered this recipe and how well the beer combined with the melted cheese - and it was a short hop from there to combining beer into the cheese sauce for the pasta.
Now I always add bacon to my cheese sauce for a macaroni or pasta cheese, as we're confirmed carnivores who feel a bit short changed if a meal doesn't include meat somewhere along the line. Plus, bacon goes so well with cheese. Now, I can confirm that bacon goes very well with an India Pale Ale and cheese, in a sauce. Oh yes.
Ordinarily, I'd have sweated off an onion and included that, but we had run out of onions owing to the last two having turned to slush when I wasn't looking, so that was a non-starter. So to include the onion flavour, I rummaged around in the herb cupboard and added a half a teaspoonful of the onion granules that I normally use in barbecue sauces.
As for the healthiness of this dinner, I can quite categorically deny any element of healthiness. However, as to flavour, well yes it has that in spades. It also has that soft, warming, filling, comforting thing that anything involving cheese and pasta will deliver - especially on a cold, damp day like today. Add to all that the bacon - and we all know that a bit of bacon makes everything better - and the crisp, crunchy herby breadcrumbs sprinkled on top and you've got a sure fire winner.
Just don't make this for dinner if you're counting your calories. Like I am. ~koff~ Oops.
BEER & BACON PASTA CHEESE (serves 3)
Ingredients :
1 tsp & 1 tbsp olive oil
12 rashers thick cut smoked back bacon, diced
10g & 20g salted butter
50g dry breadcrumbs
half a tsp dried parsley
half a tsp dried thyme
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp plain flour
350ml India Pale Ale
450ml semi skimmed milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
half a tsp onion granules
quarter of a tsp freshly grated nutmeg
300g mature cheddar cheese, grated
50g parmesan cheese, grated
40g Leerdammer (or similar) cheese, grated
15g Philadelphia cream cheese
200g pasta - small tubes work well.
Method :
1. Heat a large frying pan and add the diced bacon. Fry until the fat has rendered, any water has burned off and the bacon is beginning to turn golden. Remove the pieces from the pan with a slotted spoon, so as to drain the fat back into the pan and reserve.
2. Add the breadcrumbs to a bowl and mix in the parsley, thyme and a small pinch of sea salt, along with a good quantity of black pepper.
3. Melt the 10g of salted butter into the bacon fat and, once melted, add the breadcrumb mixture. Fry on a moderate heat until the breadcrumbs have taken on the fat and are turning golden. Do not allow them to burn, so keep them moving. As soon as they begin to sound sandy and crisp, remove them from the pan.
4. Take a large saucepan and fill two thirds full with water, which should be brought to a boil and the pasta cooked according to packet instructions.
5. In a medium non-stick pan, melt the 20g of butter and add the tbsp of olive oil.
6. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and stir well for 2-3 minutes.
7. Take the pan off the heat and gradually add the beer, stirring constantly, until you have achieved a smooth textured thick sauce. Reserve any beer that may be left over.
8. Swap to adding the milk gradually, returning the pan to a gentle heat to retain the temperature of the contents and stirring very well to prevent the sauce becoming lumpy, until you have a thick coating consistency. You may not need all the milk, or you may need a little more.
9. Add a tiny pinch of sea salt, a good quantity of black pepper, the Dijon mustard, onion granules and nutmeg and stir through.
10. Add all the cheeses and warm through on a gentle heat until they are all melted and combined thoroughly.
11. Add the cooked bacon and stir through.
11. Taste and if necessary add a little more pepper - you can add cayenne if you like the heat that it brings. Add a little of the remaining beer, just to freshen up that beery flavour.
12. When the pasta is done, drain well and return to the pan. Pour two thirds of the sauce onto the pasta and quickly stir through. Serve swiftly into warmed bowls and add a drizzle more sauce over the top.
13. Sprinkle with the seasoned crispy breadcrumbs.
Serve with garlic bread or a side salad, or just as it is!
Printable version
Huddersfield Hash.
Now there's a new one for me! Have you ever heard of it? I hadn't - but I'm jolly glad I found out about it - as it's all set to become one of our new family favourites.
I found it on www.cookitsimply.com (follow the link to the original recipe) when I was searching for minced beef recipes and was a tad sceptical to begin with. That is, until I read the recipe and imagined the flavours together. Hmmmn, yes - now that looked promising.
I could see that I'd need to increase the spicing a little, as hubby likes to be able to taste the spices that went into a meal - and at "a pinch", the likelihood of his being able to do so was minimal. I didn't increase them much, however, just to a level teaspoonful. I didn't want them to dominate all the other flavours.
In order to reduce the fat content of the dish, I also turned the cooking process around a little bit in order to drain the fat from the meat, without losing any of the other flavours. I do think that it is well worth doing this, as most supermarket purchased minced beef will have a percentage of fat involved with it - and there's no need to be eating it.
I will also admit to including a tablespoonful of that fabulous secret ingredient that cheers up most tomato-based sauces, which is - of course - tomato ketchup. Aaah, where would we be without tomato ketchup. I find it far better to add a tablespoonful of tomato ketchup, than to add the same amount of tomato puree. There is just such a lovely combination of spices in ketchup - and sugar - that it can't help but cheer up a lonely tomato sauce. Very often - and particularly if I've used Tarantella organic tinned tomatoes (yes, that's a plug and no, I'm not being sponsored by them!) - I find that I don't need to add additional sugar, if I've used tomato ketchup. (Which illustrates how much sugar you're throwing down your neck, when attached to your chips!).
I made the cheese sauce earlier on in the day, which meant that it was stone cold by the time I was assembling the dish. I think it is very well worth doing that, as it not only makes "making dinner" a little bit easier, but helps the texture of the sauce once you've added the egg.
I served mine with plain boiled carrots, parsnips and broccoli, along with a new variety of potato that I had been sent to try out by the lovely people at Greenvale Farm Fresh - the "Jelly" potato. With its rich yellow flesh, distinctive buttery taste and creamy texture, this is a potato worth taking note of!
This first try-out was a simple test of a potato, but it showcased the flavour - which was surprisingly very nice indeed! I say "surprisingly" because I find that potatoes fall into two camps - the very "earthy" tasting ones and the rest (which don't taste of much at all). These Jelly potatoes are blazing the trail for a third type of potato - one which doesn't taste "earthy", but does taste of potato! Even hubby - who would happily see all potatoes loaded into a space rocket and fired into the face of the sun - was happily tucking into his!
Another point of note for the Jelly potato is the ease with which they can be peeled. As a disabled person with limited sensation in her hands, I found peeling these potatoes to be an absolute pleasure. I can see how they have got the name "Jelly", as although they aren't in the least bit jellified, their close texture has a smoothness that means the peeler just glides through. I'm looking forward to trying them out in different incarnations!
If you're a Shepherd's or Cottage pie devotee, as I am, I reckon you'll really enjoy this Huddersfield Hash. Give it a try - it's the perfect weather for it, at the moment!
HUDDERSFIELD HASH (feeds 4)
Ingredients :
For the sauce :
20g butter
2 heaped tbsp plain flour
milk, from 1 pint (although you probably won't need the full pint)
half a tsp English mustard powder
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of cayenne pepper
150g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten.
For the meat mixture :
500g minced beef
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small courgettes, sliced
1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped (I used a red onion)
1 bay leaf
half a tsp of paprika
half a tsp of ground cumin
half a tsp of ground coriander
1 garlic clove, chopped fine or grated
500g minced beef
400g canned tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato ketchup.
METHOD :
1. Begin, earlier in the day, by making the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Mix until the flour has absorbed all the butter and cook out for a minute or so on a medium heat.
2. Slowly, and whisking all the time, add the milk until the sauce reaches a gorgeously thick and gloopy consistency.
3. Add the mustard powder, cayenne and nutmeg and whisk through until properly combined, then remove from the heat and add the cheese.
4. Stir the cheese through and it will melt in the residual heat of the sauce. You can adjust the texture of the sauce by adding a little more milk now if it is too thick, but don't boil the sauce (to reduce it if it's too thin) now it has the cheese in it, or it might split. It is far better for it to be too thick!
5. Set the sauce aside to cool.
6. The next stage is the meat mixture. Pre heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. In a large frying pan, dry fry the mince until it is beginning to caramelise where it touches the pan and has given up all its fat.
7. Remove the meat to a warmed dish and reserve. Drain the fat (into the dog's bowl, is always a good idea!).
8. Add the olive oil to the pan and the sliced courgettes. Cook until beginning to brown - on both sides - and reserve in an oven proof dish.
9. Add the onion to the pan and cook on a medium heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
10. Return the meat to the pan and stir to combine.
11. Stir in the bay leaf and spices and make sure they are well distributed through the mixture.
12. Add the tomatoes and ketchup. Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, but leave them fairly chunky. Simmer for some 15 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Season to taste.
13. Turn the meat mixture into the baking dish and level the top.
14. Take the egg and whisk it into the cheese sauce, then cover the meat mixture with the sauce.
15. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
16. Serve.
Printable version
Not that we ate al fresco on the night we had the flan, but it would seem like a very civilised thing to do. Maybe once we've got a table and chairs for our new patio!
I've had some success with tarts and flans since I bought the new flan/quiche dish and - owing to an oversight on the shopping front - had two packs of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry in the freezer, doing nothing.
So, I began to think about what I could put into a pastry case. Sweet flans are relatively easy - and pretty much off limits at the moment. Hence, I began to ponder on what went with what, savoury-wise. Smoked haddock immediately sprang to mind, but have you seen how much it has gone up in price just lately? I can only think that it's out of season - and as I like to eat seasonally (where possible) I rejected that on both those grounds.
Chorizo was the next on the list. I don't know why Chorizo keeps on coming to mind, considering I don't really like it. It's one of those things that I think I'll like, but when it comes to it, it's just to strong on the paprika. I suppose it could be the type of Chorizo I buy and maybe I should source some from elsewhere and see if I like it better. I wonder if Spring Fields butchers does it? I'll have to find out.
So anyway, that was out for obvious reasons.
I'd recently done a Quiche Lorraine, so that ruled bacon out - unless I could find a flan topping that was so far from Quiche Lorraine as to be unrecognisable.
However, before I could come across a flan topping that used both chorizo and bacon (well there's bound to be one!), my mind travelled down the celeriac lines (remember the Cheesy Celeriac Slice?), and after a quick dalliance there, it hopped over to parsnip. I pondered on whether if you cooked your parsnip pieces (just boiling them), then riced (or mashed) them and added oodles of sharp cheddar, some cream (just a small amount), maybe some mustard (Dijon or English?), before topping up the whole thing with some beaten egg - whether you'd wind up with something good?
Well, funnily enough, you do! In fact, you wind up with something that is so good, it quite defies belief.
It isn't as deep as a quiche's middle, and the parsnip gives it a totally different kind of texture. The cheese and the parsnip go together quite ridiculously well. I had been worried that the parsnip would stamp all over the cheese, but so long as you make sure you've got a good flavoursome sharp mature cheddar, it'll be fine. Incidentally, at the last minute, I added a teensy bit of Grana Padano just to add another dimension to the cheesy flavour.
Again, this is another dish that is so easy to do, it'd be a great one to prepare with your kids (if you've got some - if not, then borrow some just for this). You'd better issue them with their own little piece of cheese to munch though, or all your recipe cheese will disappear!
We ate it with some gorgeous chutney from the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm, that my parents had brought back for us. The pair of them were made for each other.
CHEESY PARSNIP FLAN (feeds 4 hungry people)
Ingredients :
A piece of shortcrust pastry, enough to line your quiche dish
200g of cooked parsnip, cut into chunks
175g strong cheddar cheese, grated
75g grana padano or another cheese of your choice, also grated
3 large eggs
100ml double cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper.
Method :
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180deg C//350deg F/Gas 4.
2. Line the quiche dish with the pastry, then crack one of the eggs into a bowl and give it a light whisk with a fork.
3. Brush some beaten egg onto the surface of the pastry and prick with a fork. Line with non-stick baking paper and baking beans, then blind bake for 15-20 minutes.
4. Remove the beans and baking paper and leave to one side while you prepare the filling.
5. Into a large bowl, either mash the parsnip pieces or put them through a ricer. You are aiming to have a smooth paste of parsnip.
6. Add all but a handful of the cheeses to the parsnip.
7. Crack the remaining two eggs into the bowl with the original egg and add the cream, mustard and some freshly ground black pepper. Whisk them up until they are nicely combined. There is no need to add salt, as the cheeses will take care of that.
8. Add the eggs to the mustard and cheese and stir gently to combine. Pour onto the pastry case and smooth the surface, giving it a final flourish with the remaining cheese.
9. Put back into the oven to bake for around 35-40 minutes, or until browned all over and firm to the touch.
Serve with a lovely piquant chutney and some salad.
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Didja see what I did there? *chuckle*
I took a sudden fancy for Quiche Lorraine. Yes, I know, there are a billion different quiches out there that are far more exciting and interesting in their ingredients than plain old Quiche Lorraine, but I was feeling a bit de-tuned in the ingredients line at the time.
I wanted something savoury, that could be accompanied by salad.
I was also fairly keen to use my new quiche dish again.
The plan (which worked to perfection) was to make sure that the ingredients were the best I could achieve, bearing in mind finance and availability. So that meant shop-bought pastry (because my last attempts at rolling out pastry were a trial, putting it mildly), beautiful Burford Brown eggs (for their unctuous richness and glorious colour), our local butcher's back bacon (because it is by far the best bacon available around here) and some gorgeously strong, salty mature cheddar cheese.
Add to that a pot of cream and some lovely cherry tomatoes and you have all the makings for a superb Quiche Lorraine.
To make extra-sure that the bottom of the pastry was cooked (I have some history with soggy bottoms), I put the pastry back into the oven for five minutes without the baking beans, when I blind baked it. I'll have to remember to do this more often, as it certainly solved the "soggy bottom" problem. The bottom of this pastry was as crisp as you could want - even the next day, when I polished off the last slice cold from the fridge.
QUICHE LORRAINE (Serves 4-5)
Ingredients :
1 pack pre-prepared shortcrust pastry, to fit an 8" quiche dish
1 pack back bacon, trimmed of fat
4 eggs
200ml double cream
freshly ground black pepper
a quarter tsp of nutmeg
150g gruyere or mature cheddar cheese
4-5 cherry tomatoes, sliced.
Method :
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180deg C/356F/Gas 4.
2. Roll out the pastry so that it fits neatly into the quiche dish, with sufficient up the sides to hold the mixture in. Place the pastry gently into the quiche dish and trim any excess.
3. Scrunch up a piece of baking paper that will fit easily into the pastry dish. Smooth it out and put on top of the pastry. Next, fill the pastry case with baking pellets or beans - to prevent the case from bubbling up as it bakes.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and baking beans and bake again for another 5 minutes or until the pastry has gained a lovely golden hue.
5. Remove the pastry case from the oven and set aside to cool whilst you make the filling.
6. Cut the bacon into small squares and place into a dry frying pan. Fry until each piece is beginning to caramelise, but before the pieces become crispy. Set aside to cool slightly.
7. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and give them a good whisk. Add the cream, nutmeg and salt & pepper and whisk to combine.
8. Take the pastry case and add the bacon to it.
9. Grate the cheese and add three quarters of the mixture on top of the bacon, then give it all a little mix - making sure the bacon is evenly spread.
10. Pour the egg mixture into the case and give it a very gentle stir around, to make sure it has got under all the cheese.
11. Next, sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese and lay the slices of tomato over it, in an appealing pattern.
12. Give the tomatoes a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and place the quiche into the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is risen and golden.
Allow to cool before serving at room temperature with a side salad.
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This evening's dinner was a real treat. We don't have it often because of the calories involved - but as we're all cheesehounds, it always goes down very well.
I had a bit of a challenge with this one, as hubby had declared that he hadn't really enjoyed my previous incarnations of Macaroni Cheese, so I was determined to do the best I could with this one. I knew I had to make sure the Macaroni was cooked just that tad past al dente, the sauce was suitably cheesy, you could just taste the English mustard, and that the sauce was sufficient from a quantity point of view. But then, a dry Macaroni Cheese is no fun for anyone.
MACARONI CHEESE (serves 4-5)
Ingredients :
2 tbsp butter
350g macaroni
half a pack of smoked streaky bacon, diced
1 onion, diced fine
1 garlic clove, finely grated
2 tsp English mustard powder
3 tbsp plain flour
500ml whole milk (and a bit extra, in case of need)
250g mature cheddar, grated
10 g parmesan, grated
50g breadcrumbs.
Method :
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190deg C (fan). Boil the pasta for 2 mins less than stated on the pack.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon and set aside. Then add the onions to the fat left by the bacon and fry gently - without colouring - until they are soft.
3. Grate in the garlic clove and cook for 1 minute more.
4. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the milk until you have a lump-free sauce. Add the mustard and whisk in, along with some black pepper.
5. Simmer for 5 mins, whisking constantly until thickened. Take care that it doesn't begin to burn on the bottom of the pan.
6. Remove from the heat and add the cheese, stir until it is melted, then add the bacon and stir in. Taste to check the seasoning.
7. Stir in the drained pasta, then decant into a large casserole dish and scatter over the breadcrumbs.
8. Place into the oven and bake for 20-30 mins until crisp, golden and bubbling at the edges.
From a personal point of view, I enjoy a side salad with my Macaroni Cheese as I find the pasta itself can get a bit samey towards the end, plus the cheese sauce can get a bit much without a flavour to counter its richness.
So I decided upon a small mixed salad with a honey & mustard dressing. The dressing I made from scratch, using :
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
half a tsp of whole grain mustard
1 tsp of runny honey
salt & pepper
I just put them all in a cup and whipped them up with a fork. It was the kind of dressing that I could easily eat by the spoonful without any salad and I was correct in my thought that it would complement the main dish. It did so very well indeed.
Now I know that most food bloggers are supposed to buy their cheese from terribly posh shops and bring it home wrapped in proper cheese paper. Unfortunately, I'm not that sort of food blogger. Not that I'd turn down a trip around a posh cheese shop, you understand, or the opportunity to bring some home in proper cheese paper, but until that day I'll have to put up with what's on special offer at the Supermarket.
What was on special offer at our Supermarket today, was Lake District Mature Cheddar.
I sincerely hope that it remains on special offer for quite some time to come, because it is simply divine.
If you forgive it for being packaged in a common or garden plastic bag (which to be quite honest, how else would you imagine it to be packaged and remain at a reasonable price) that has rendered it a tad sweaty, it has stomped it's way up there to second on my list of desirable strong Cheddar cheeses. I'm afraid in first place has to remain Coastal Cheddar from Ford Farm which is worthy of a handful of superlatives in describing it.
Lake District Mature Cheddar looks promising as you extract it from it's sweaty home. It is interestingly cracked, which speaks of a crumbly nature. It looks creamy, but with those tell-tale flecks of salt that just make your mouth water.
However, the majority of its stomping up my cheese chart happens when you pop some into your mouth. Instantly, you get the tang of the salt, with the creaminess that soothes your palate. Then you're hit with a sweetness yet an intense savouriness that leaves your tastebuds dancing, trying to work out which one is the more prevalent - you just have to have some more.
Goodness, if ever there was a cheese to eat with biscuits then this is it. Also, I'm going to be doing a Macaroni Cheese towards the end of the week - oh boy, it's going to be good. :)
To learn more about the Lake District Mature Cheddar, call in at "The Land of Milk & Bunny".
