and or best ever tried, true and or tested recipe? Thanks

angel361 - 2015-08-21 16:41:00

Jamie Oliver gave a nice Cauliflower Macaroni Cheese recipe but felt it was very large and some items were not easily accessible or economically available but adapted the following and can be halved for a easier sized dish.

Jamie Oliver Cauliflower macaroni -Altered.
This does make a huge batch, possibly need to divide all by two, hmmm.
2 X 350 gram packets of bacon pieces from Pak’n’Save Chopped smaller
A packet of Brier sticks about 6 in a packet or a small Salami (about 300grams)
1 large head of cauliflower
500g dried macaroni
250g mature Cheddar cheese (Can use grated Tasty or Mild Cheese)
4 thick slices of country bread ( 8 slices of normal Toasted Bread)
Few sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
2 x 250g tub of crème fraîche
Parmesan cheese, to serve (optional)

Preheat Oven to 220 c.

Cauliflower macaroni:
Lay the bacon pieces in a roasting tray (approx. 30 x 25cm, or large enough to bake the pasta in) and put on the top shelf of the oven and remove when cook/grilled.
Get rid of any tatty outer leaves from the cauliflower,
then trim off the tough base of the stalk and quarter the head.
Put in a extra large saucepan, core down in pieces, with the pasta, on a high heat.
Cover with boiling water, filling and reboiling the kettle if necessary for more boiling water.
Season with a good pinch of salt, drizzle over a little olive oil, then stir and cook according to pasta packet instructions, with the lid askew.

Grate the Cheddar in the food processor (or packaged grated cheeses) and tip into a bowl.
Fit the standard blade attachment, then with the brier sticks added and blitz in the processor with the bread, rosemary leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil until you have a coarse bread crumb consistency, (depends on the processor size - may need to do two smaller lots).
Put a colander over a large bowl to catch the pasta water, then drain the pasta and cauliflower.
Tip pasta and cauliflower into the roasting tray with your cooked Bacon still in, add 400ml (or just under a pint) of the reserved pasta water from the bowl.
Gently breaking up the cauliflower with tongs or a potato masher and put on top of bacon pieces. Crush in the 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic and mix in the crème fraîche and grated Cheddar.

Have a taste and correct the seasoning.
It should be nice and loose; if not, add another splash of the pasta water,
do not be frighten to do this, just gives great moisture content.
On top of all, spread out evenly and scatter over with the breadcrumb mixture.
Put on the top shelf of the oven for about 8minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

To serve:
When the cauliflower macaroni is golden and bubbling, take it to the table and shave over or sprinkle some Parmesan.

valentino - 2015-08-21 16:59:00

thanks

angel361 - 2015-08-21 17:06:00

valentino that sounds divine - I am drooling!

Edited by agedbag at 5:10 pm, Fri 21 Aug

agedbag - 2015-08-21 17:09:00

The member deleted this message.

rainrain1 - 2015-08-21 18:06:00

Cut down on the macaroni, I like mine with plenty of sauce, not too thick
And use Diamond macaroni elbows, it stays firmer

Edited by rainrain1 at 6:16 pm, Fri 21 Aug

rainrain1 - 2015-08-21 18:08:00

Oh, further to the recipe above.

It freezes and defrosts beautifully !!!!

Made a full batch, served 3 medium servings had enough for 3 to 4 servings and froze the remainder in 2 batches.
Had one 2 weeks after and it was lovely, the other still in freezer but still looking good, checking and trialling it to se how long, LOL but now about 6 weeks will use it very soon this coming week.

Looks as though an excellent recipe as a stand-by freezer ready to go sort of meal as well as having it freshly cooked.

Cheers.

Edited by valentino at 9:03 am, Sat 22 Aug

valentino - 2015-08-22 09:02:00

This is my daughters fav....

Skinny baked broccoli mac & cheese

340g pasta
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 C flour
2 C skim milk
1 C chicken stock
2 C cheese
340 g broccoli (i also add cauli)
2 Tbsp parmesan1/4 C breadcrumbs
salt pepper to taste

Cook pasta & veges together (add veges towards end of pasta cooking time) as norm.
Preheat oven to 190c.
Melt butter. Add onion & cook over low heat about 2 mins. Add flour & cook another minute or until flour is golden & well combined. Add milk & stock and whisk raising heat to med-high until it comes to the boil. Cook about 5 mins or until sauce thick & smooth. Season. Remove from heat, add cheese & mix well.
Add pasta & veges, pour into prepared baking dish. Top with cheese & breadcrumbs.
Bake for 15-20 mins. Can grill top for a few mins.

jaky - 2015-08-22 11:49:00

Add pineapple pieces!

kirmag - 2015-08-22 16:42:00

add chorizo ans smoked paprika- YUM

cheekypa - 2015-08-22 17:01:00

cheese cheese and more cheese vintage cheddar, real parmesan lots of it. Full cream milk plus cream. For sauce, Real butter fried until nutty then add flour and fry further until colours. Adding warmed milk seasoned. Well drained pasta. Mix the lot into deep casserole dish and then add more grated cheese mix. Let the lot bubble and colour golden in oven. Mac n cheese is a simple gooey comfort dish to be kept simple.
If going fancy then add fried good bacon such as speck and golden fried brown onions.
Into a big bowl served on your lap in front of black thing in the corner.

rexavier - 2015-08-23 03:30:00

daarhn wrote:

cheese cheese and more cheese vintage cheddar, real parmesan lots of it. Full cream milk plus cream. For sauce, Real butter fried until nutty then add flour and fry further until colours. Adding warmed milk seasoned. Well drained pasta. Mix the lot into deep casserole dish and then add more grated cheese mix. Let the lot bubble and colour golden in oven. Mac n cheese is a simple gooey comfort dish to be kept simple.
If going fancy then add fried good bacon such as speck and golden fried brown onions.
Into a big bowl served on your lap in front of black thing in the corner.

Yea...way to go!

rainrain1 - 2015-08-23 09:05:00

add sun dried tomatoes and use a mix of different cheeses

red2 - 2015-08-23 15:00:00

This message was deleted.

nzdoug - 2015-08-23 16:36:00

250g macaroni
100g butter
100g plain flour
500ml milk
100g Kikorangi chese
100g ham optional
50g baby spinach optional
200g cheese grated.
Make a white sauce then and then add Kikorangi cheese, ham, spinach.
Add to cook macaroni and stir thoroughly. Put in oven proof dish and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Oven 180ºC.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until grated cheese starts forming a nice golden crust.
Replace ham with bacon, or chorizo. saute before using. Cheese can be cheddar or Gruyere.

Edited by thewomble1 at 2:00 am, Mon 24 Aug

thewomble1 - 2015-08-24 01:59:00

I always put mustard,curry,worchestershire sauce,splash of tom sauce and nutmeg in to my cheese sauce.

rivercottage1 - 2015-08-24 10:53:00

thanks for the tips everyone :)

angel361 - 2015-08-24 21:10:00

Neighbour use to put a tin of cream corn in the cheese sauce as well. A bit different. Mine is just the cheese sauce with mustard added for a bite, cooked pasta, cooked bacon - all mixed together, then in an oven proof dish, grated cheese and breadcrumbs on top with onion rings, tomato slices, a sprinkle of paprika and baked until bubbly.

asue - 2015-08-24 21:54:00

rivercottage1 wrote:

I always put mustard,curry,worchestershire sauce,splash of tom sauce and nutmeg in to my cheese sauce.

We do it very similar, mustard, worchestertshire, white wine and aromat (stabilizer, probably not the healthiest choice)

stefanie - 2015-08-24 23:05:00

nzdoug wrote:

Mac n Cheese - my way
http://youtu.be/C6tyIcpRcQo

I just made this recipe, but I only added a tiny amount of cayenne, and left out the swear words....he's a bit of a dickhead

rainrain1 - 2015-08-25 11:47:00

This message was deleted.

nzdoug - 2015-08-25 12:36:00

Takes a little longer and a bit more fiddly but well worth the effort. I serve this with a green salad and garlic loaf. Sometimes I will make french bread rolls as an alternative to garlic bread.

Gourmet Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients

3 C milk (use dark blue milk)
1 onion chopped
1 bay leaf
60g butter
2 rashers bacon chopped
1/3 C flour
1 C cream
pinch of nutmeg
2 C grated cheddar cheese (I used tasty)
375g elbow macaroni
1 C fresh breadcrumbs*
30g butter extra

preheat the oven to moderate 180C. Grease a 25x20x6cm ovenproof dish with melted butter
place the milk in a saucepan with 1 Tb of the onion and the bay leaf. Heat until it is just about to boil then remove from the heat and leave for 15 minutes to infuse. Strain.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the remaining onion and the bacon and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook for a further 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually stir the milk into the onion and bacon mixture. Stir until smooth. Return to the heat, stirring continuously until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from heat. Add the cream, nutmeg and 2/3 of the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover the surface with cling wrap.
Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of water until al dente. Drain.
Combine the pasta and sauce then pour into prepared dish. Sprinkle the combined breadcrumbs and remaining cheese over the top. Dot with the extra butter and bake for 30 minutes, or until top is crisp and golden. Serve hot.

* to make fresh breadcrumbs, you can use stale bread or alternatively heat oven to 180C and place slices on an oven tray. Bake until lightly brown. Using a food processor process until crumbed.

madj - 2015-08-25 12:45:00

Easy Mac n Cheese
Cook a little pkt of bacon with one chopped onion in butter.
Add milk to make the bacon and onion mix into a white sauce.
Add cheese (however much you want)
Cook a pkt of big spirals for a bit (not quite cooked) then drain and add to the pasta.
Put it in a baking dish then top with crunched up green onion chips and cheese. - bake about 30 mins.

dons14 - 2015-08-25 14:18:00

add tsp mustard to the sauce

ritebuy - 2015-08-26 08:17:00

Mine is similar to all the above but I add a handful of walnut pieces.

vegan mac cheese is also great , no cheese or milk.... Google the recipe

jbsouthland - 2015-08-26 12:41:00

Top with panko crumbs mixed with sesame seeds and some grated cheese. Grill carefully!

artemis - 2015-08-26 16:29:00

Coarsly grated potato tossed with a smidgen of oil and parmesan or cheddar cheese sprinkled thickly on top ...makes a yummy filling crunchy crust.

jbsouthland - 2015-08-27 06:41:00

The extra curly San Remo pasta makes nice mac n cheese... has a lot of 'body' for the cheese sauce to really get hold of and suck up to. :)

sampa - 2015-08-27 08:36:00

thanks for that hint sampa - will look for it in the supermarket and try. :)

angel361 - 2015-08-27 16:50:00

Caramelised onion, mushrooms, streaky bacon and a medium-dark roux.
Large spirals or penne, not elbows. There IS a taste difference.
Toss a handful of smallish pieces of broccoli in with the pasta for the last few minutes.
Breadcrumbs with chives, sliced tomato and grated cheese over the top.
Grill it within an inch of it's life.
And go easy on the sauce. Pasta doesn't need drowning, so keep it thin and use less.

http://oi57.tinypic.com/m7chnd.jpg
Made this the other night. Had penne but no breadcrumbs. Oh well.

Edited by fizzy_kiwi at 4:06 am, Fri 28 Aug

fizzy_kiwi - 2015-08-28 04:05:00

I like elbows because they hold their shape and stay firmer than other pastas

rainrain1 - 2015-08-28 08:20:00

Any pasta will hold it's shape if you cook it properly.

fizzy_kiwi - 2015-08-28 19:51:00

Use elbows par cook. Add onion, chopped, bacon, mustard, curry powder to sauce. Plenty of creamy sauce tossed with panko crumbs, grated cheese sprinkle paprika on top, into 180c oven till sauce bubbles and top is golden and crispy. Left over spuds drizzled with Worcester or garlic sauce in bottom of dish is good to.

fifie - 2015-08-28 20:24:00

fizzy_kiwi wrote:

Any pasta will hold it's shape if you cook it properly.

Sorry - NO!

I once bought a 5kg pack of spirals and they must have been made with a low protein wheat - definitely NO Durum - they literally "fell apart" while cooking. One minute they were too hard, the next they were slush.

I have lived in Italy over a year and know how pasta behaves!

Needless to say the chickens and pigs loved it.

Never again will I buy a "special" like that!

uli - 2015-08-28 20:56:00

angel361 wrote:

thanks for that hint sampa - will look for it in the supermarket and try. :)

No problem angel361... should have probably qualified which pasta I meant exactly given there are so many types - these ones -

http://sanremo.com.au/product/san-remo-reg-no27-curls-500g/

sampa - 2015-08-28 22:51:00

fizzy_kiwi wrote:

Any pasta will hold it's shape if you cook it properly.

Some don't hold their shape well at all, I find different pastas are more suited to certain recipes, so prefer elbows for my mac cheese

rainrain1 - 2015-08-29 08:31:00

I hate macaroni cheese, but make this one for son and this one, I can handle tasting!
For a slow cooker:
2-21/2 cups penne, macaroni or other "robust" pasta
25g butter
3 cups grated cheese
3 TBSP flour (I don't put this in)
1 tsp garlic salt
3 cups boiling water
can add cooked bacon/ham, paprika. I often add boiled broccoli just before serving

Tip pasta into slow cooker. Melt butter, pour over pasta. Stir.
Sprinkle grated cheese, flour, farlic salt and cooked bacon/ham onto pasta. Stir.
Pour boiling water over and mix gently. Sprinkle paprika over top.
Cover with lid, cook on high for 2-3 hours, stirring periodically.

ruby2shoes - 2015-08-29 09:46:00

rainrain1 wrote:

Some don't hold their shape well at all, I find different pastas are more suited to certain recipes, so prefer elbows for my mac cheese

And I prefer penne because it doesn't taste like glue. There was absolutely no need to target me just because you don't like penne. Which incidentally is a much firmer shape when cooked than elbows or those foul curls.

fizzy_kiwi - 2015-08-29 13:26:00

fizzy_kiwi wrote:

And I prefer penne because it doesn't taste like glue. There was absolutely no need to target me just because you don't like penne. Which incidentally is a much firmer shape when cooked than elbows or those foul curls.

I'm gobsmacked at your comment, guess I could say the same to you then,

rainrain1 - 2015-08-29 15:25:00

lol, wtf just happened?

ruby2shoes - 2015-08-29 15:58:00

lol...not sure.....but I don't hate penne, I'm sure of that

Anyway, here's a recipe to go with your pasta

Garlic Bread to serve with pasta.

2 French bread sticks
100 - 150 g butter
3 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried chives

Mix last four ingredients together. Slice the French stick almost through into serving size pieces on an angle. Spread with the butter mixture. Wrap in foil and store in the freezer to be brought out when needed. Bake at 180 deg C or until hot and it feels soft.

rainrain1 - 2015-08-29 17:53:00

bumping up

pixiegirl - 2016-08-28 10:33:00

I cook the rinsed macaroni in milk with seasonings. This way it self thickens and works well with gluten free macaroni as well as wheat.

jan2242 - 2016-08-28 12:12:00

bump

sweater - 2016-09-01 21:26:00

Add extra cheese, and a tub of sour cream. Personally I like a bit of onion in mine but the kids don't. I often slice up any left over sandwich ham or chorizo I have in the fridge. Chorizo is the best bet.

norse_westie - 2016-09-02 06:27:00

ritebuy wrote:

add tsp mustard to the sauce

Mustard is in my cheese sauce recipe as is cayenne pepper - love cheese sauce, hate Mac n cheese. I hate macaroni - regardless of brand it always tastes sweet. I only buy Barilla or actual Italian made pasta - San Remo and Diamond never cook properly

Edited by sarahb5 at 9:30 pm, Fri 2 Sep

sarahb5 - 2016-09-02 21:27:00

rivercottage1 wrote:

I always put mustard,curry,worchestershire sauce,splash of tom sauce and nutmeg in to my cheese sauce.

I'm with you on all of those..... plus I heat my milk with a bay leaf in it, let it stand for five minutes, and then use it (removing the leaf) to make the sauce.....

I reckon the mustard is a necessity..... just 1/2 teaspn of dry mustard makes such a difference to so many sauces

autumnwinds - 2016-09-02 21:31:00

autumnwinds wrote:

I'm with you on all of those..... plus I heat my milk with a bay leaf in it, let it stand for five minutes, and then use it (removing the leaf) to make the sauce.....

I reckon the mustard is a necessity..... just 1/2 teaspn of dry mustard makes such a difference to so many sauces

Ohh, I am going to try both of these tips myself. In fact, I just decided whats for dinner tonight. Thanks. :)

norse_westie - 2016-09-03 06:34:00

In case anyone is interested: I have now discovered that coconut flour does not thicken upon heating. It did add an interesting flavour though. The mustard went down well. The kids loved the mac and cheese and what was left has been devoured today so I guess the coconut faux pas wasnt so bad.

In the end I had to throw in some corn meal flour to thicken the sauce.

Edited by norse_westie at 8:04 pm, Sun 4 Sep

norse_westie - 2016-09-04 20:03:00

This message was deleted.

deb8888 - 2016-09-11 22:41:00