I am the worst at laundry. Things turn blue, pill, and shrink to toddler size under my care.
Or lack of care. Either way, I've lost several things I loved to my laziness and ignorance.
Having just pulled out another load of laundry from the dryer, I discovered my new Ballads by AG had snuck into the load with all our white socks, underwear, and table linens. SNEAKY JEANS. Not only did the denim dye ruin a couple of napkins and a tea towel (baby blue is now our unintentional pop of color), but my wife's wedding undies (TMI) are a silvery-blue hue. Whoops.
It's totally my fault, of course. Cori is constantly telling me I don't read labels, and she's always pulling things out of the laundry basket that need to be dry cleaned (like the new-ish green sweater I bought only a month ago that is now a cropped no-closure with more pills on it than ribbing). Someday I'll learn, and someday I'll have enough money (sense) to dry clean what needs to be dry cleaned.
But not today.
So I kinda sorta suck at laundry. But do you know what I'm not sucking at lately? Mac and cheese. The other night we had friends over and created an extraordinary combination of flavors to ever come together in a bowl. The base came from one of my favorite new books, Mac + Cheese, and then the inspiration from their daily offerings menu online + the use of my noodle (ha!) = the greatest thing I have yet to wolf down for dinner.
Seriously. It's better than well-done laundry. I promise you.
It begins with what Homeroom refers to as the Mac Sauce, and then a crap ton (that's a measurement) of cheese is whisked in. The result is a heavy heavenly blanket of peppered cheese sauce just begging for toppings and noodles. It's criminal how good it is on its own.
Going with a Mexican theme, I added sauteed [fake] chorizo sausage for extra kick and texture and folded it in. The toppings that followed only intensified the craze-amaze flavors going on: scallions, cilantro, sriracha sauce, and crumbled cotija cheese.
Let us pause to really absorb that list of goodness.
After you have made this, eaten it, and high-fived yourself on a job well done, let me know what you think of my creation. I'm thinking of making this creative mac and cheese endeavor a more permanent installment here in my little corner of the web. Have a suggestion for a future recipe or a theme you'd like to emulate? Kick over.
I'm gonna go dream about what I can do with Gouda now and try to forget what I did with the laundry...
Smoky Pepper Jack Mac
inspired by Mac + Cheese
the bachamel/mac sauce:
3 cups of whole milk
1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 cup ap flour
1 teaspoon salt
In a medium sauce pot, heat the milk over med-high heat just until it is about to boil (steam will come off the pot and you might see a couple teeny weeny bubbles around the edge). Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large sauce pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it has melted, add the flour and whisk constantly for about 3 minutes, when the roux has turned a golden brown and smoothed out.
Remove the roux from the heat for a moment and add the hot milk a cup at a time, whisking constantly. The mixture will be lumpy at first, and then start to smooth out. Be careful not to splash! Return to the heat once all the milk has been added and keep whisking for 2-3 more minutes. At this point, the sauce should be smooth, and thick. You can tell it's done when it coats the back of a spoon and doesn't slide off. Add the salt and whisk again. Remove from the heat.
the mac:
1 lb short cut pasta, such as macaroni, orecchiette, gigle or lumaconi (I used lumaconi, which to looked like an angry Minion to me)
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
2 links chorizo sausage (real or fake - whatever you like), sauteed to perfection and chopped up)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the pasta and cook to the package's directions.
While the pasta cooks, whisk in the pepper jack cheese to your hot mac sauce and keep over a low flame until ready to use. Fold in the chorizo sausage just before serving.
the toppings:
crumbled cotija cheese (mexican cheese that crumbles like feta and tastes like mozzarella)
finely chopped scallions (white and a little bit of the green was used)
roughly chopped cilantro
sriracha sauce
Spoon the mac into bowls and top with the cotija cheese, scallions, cilantro, and a drizzle of sriracha.