Balthazar Macaroni & Cheese
I have a cook book I
rarely use, as it is a little fancy. I took it out this weekend
looking for comfort food. The book is called the Balthazar
Cookbook named for the famed restaurant in NYC. I even found beer
battered onion rings, but did not want to eat that alone! Such a
fancy place, and I could only imagine what they would have charged for
macaroni and cheese!!!
The Gratin is flavored
with sharp Gruyere and smoky bacon. Be sure not to over bake the
gratin or it will separate; the butterfat in the cheese will separate
from the milk solids, resulting in a greasy gratin!
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
1 16oz box of
elbow macaroni
2 TBSP of olive oil
4 oz lightly smoked
slab of bacon cut into ¼ inch dice (thick sliced bacon is fine too)
5 cups whole milk (I
used skim it was all I had)
4 TBSP butter (1/2
stick)
½ cup all purpose
flour
1 cup grated parmesan
cheese
3 cups grated gruyere
cheese (I used half sharp cheddar half gruyere)
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground white
pepper (white is used since the cheese mixture is white, but you can use
any pepper)
Preheat
over to 400 F
Spray a 10
x 14 casserole with pam.
Cook the
macaroni according to the directions on the box. Drain, toss with
the olive oil, and set aside in the casserole dish.
Add the
bacon to a small skillet ( or cover with paper towels and cook in the
microwave) till brown but not crispy. Drain and add to macaroni.
If using bacon, break it up after it is cooked.
In a
medium saucepan, bring the milk just to a foamy boil. (skim did
not get real foamy), then reduce heat to low and keep warm. In
another saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour
and continue till smooth, a pale “roux” has formed. Return the
saucepan to medium heat and, while whisking steadily ladle the hot milk
into the roux 1 cup at a time completely incorporating each before
adding the next cup. After all the milk has been added, continue
to whisk till the sauce thickens
and bubbles gently (about 2 minutes). Add the Parmesan, 2 cups of
the Gruyere slowly, and salt and pepper and stir till completely melted.
Pour the
sauce over the pasta in the casserole dish and mix well. Bake in
the oven for 12 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the rest of the
Gruyere on top. ( I also sprinkled it with bread crumbs) at this
point. Bake for another 10 minutes or until brown. ( I
flipped the broiler on just to brown the crumbs for a minute)
YUMMM!!!
SUBSTITUTES:
You can use Emmentaler or Comte` cheese instead.
I never said low fat…
But yummy delicious.