It happened again last night: someone called me a foodie. It’s a title I wholeheartedly reject and did so as animated as ever last night when confronted with the label. After all, I reasoned, when it comes to food, I’m anything but a snob! I love Happy Meals and refer to McDonald’s as a charming little Scottish bistro, for God’s sake! A foodie can’t embrace the golden arches! And McDonald’s isn’t even my only trailer-park-chic treat. When I feel like I’m waiting on death’s door, I long for instant mashed potatoes (a revelation that thoroughly shocked my friends).
And that’s not all… I love macaroni and cheese with sliced hot dogs! I recently shared this last tidbit of information with Rose, half expecting her eyes to roll right to the back of her head and watch her march out, alarmed at the realization that she could have been wasting her time with such a hillbilly. But rather than check for signs of inbreeding, she actually told me that she enjoys it herself and instantly started craving it. So there was no question in my mind what I wante to make her for our next meal. Still, I couldn’t quite bring myself to crack a box of Kraft Dinner (known by the late, great comedian Richard Jeni as “the poor man’s pasta”) for a woman I was courting.
My mother – to my recollection – never made us “real” mac and cheese, only the kind from a box. I wondered whether it was possible that I’d like the real deal as much as the low-brow version. As I began to look for recipes that did not include neon orange powdered cheese on the ingredient list, it occurred to me that Saveur magazine recently did a feature on mac and cheese. They offered four recipes: a four cheese mac, a super creamy version (though the use of Velveeta seemed to me to undermine the entire goal of upscaling it), a version with lobster and a classic version that let cheddar be the star.
I opted for the last of the four. I made a few changes – I used whole wheat pasta, fat-free sour cream, substituted aged white cheddar for the sharp cheddar called for, left out the onions (as much as I hated to do it, it was a nod to Rose’s stated hate for onions in any form), added a cup of panko bread crumbs tossed in some melted butter for s crunchy topping and quickly pan roasted some chorizo in place of the dogs. I served it all with some oven roasted broccoli, with just a bit of extra virgin olive oil, some lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. I do love pairing brocolli with something cheesey and gooey!
The results? Rose was suitably impressed, which was really the ultimate goal. The macaroni and cheese was good for sure, but got much better the following night as a midnight snack! Would I make it again? Absolutely! But will it due as a substitute for the neon variety? I’m delighted to cement my reputation as a non-foodie by saying that I don’t think anything could replace Kraft Dinner with bits of hot dog for me.
I’ll be posting the final recipe here shortly, but in the meantime, please feel free to peruse the original recipe, courtesy of Saveur magazine.
