Ronald Reagan sure made great Mac and Cheese

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Well, since we’re sharing Mac and Cheese recipes…

Joe’s Basic Mac and Cheese
1 pound box of dried macaroni product (elbows, rotini, mini farafelle, mini penne, etc)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons general purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups (8 ounces weight) shredded cheese (cheddar jack blend, Mexican blend, nacho and taco blend, etc)
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1/2 cup Jimmy Dean pre-cooked bacon/sausage crumbles

Start a few quarts of water to boil, the volume depends on the size of your largest pot and your upper body strength. As the water is heating, melt the butter in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Once melted and bubbly, add in flour. Stir with whisk if desired, or a non-stick silicone spatula if practical. Once made into a roux, let the flour fry a bit to brown, but don’t burn. Slowly add the milk, starting with just an ounce at first, then slowly adding larger volumes, making sure it’s integrated and without lumps at each stage. This is about the point your water will be boiling, so now add the pasta. I usually select 7 minute pasta, since the timing is right, but up to 11 minute pasta is fine, and longer and you need to start your water earlier.

Continue adding the milk slowly to the roux, turning it into a béchamel sauce. Now slowly add the shredded cheese. Since this is Basic Mac and Cheese, I use pre-shredded bags of cheese, manly for the convenience and the fact that it’s the same price as block cheese without having to shred at home. Add the cheese in small amounts, about half a cup at a time, to allow the cheese to melt into the béchamel sauce, making your cheese sauce. Once the cheese sauce is complete, add your Sriracha and meat, mixing these into the cheese sauce for color and flavor.

Drain the pasts and return to the pot. Add the cheese sauce to the pasta, stirring liberally to coat every surface of your pasta with cheese sauce. Serves four to eight (main or side), though I tend to split into a four cup Pyrex container for ‘lunch’ and then eating the remainder for breakfast. Top with ketchup if desired.

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what a rip, I don’t see Ronald Reagan listed anywhere in those ingredients.

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These are brilliant, and the accompanying text is hilarious too, but just personally I find them kinda uncomfortably hagiographic, in some cases, for guys who were borderline war criminals.
I mean, what’ll Drumpf be doing in his portrait (if it comes to that, which Christ no, obviously). Drowning a homeless Mexican child in his orange-tinted sweat, maybe?

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If you want to get creative with your own mac n cheese recipes, learn how to make a béchamel sauce. Cheese and macaroni added to that is a basic mac n cheese. From there, you can experiment with adding other stuff (and other kinds of cheeses) and see what you like and what you don’t. Personally, I like to keep it simple. The only thing I add to it is some sautéed, finely chopped onion, a dash of salt, and a bit of white ground pepper.

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Oh, like anyone would be able to create an image like that if he’s elected. Well, OK, they may technically be able to create it, but you’d only get to view it if you were at the trial of the artist.

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Is there no love for Swiss anymore? Cheddar’s not all that, ya know.

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If I want a bland, rubbery cheese, then I’ll go for Swiss. Which is why I almost never eat Swiss cheese.

While we’re talking cheese, though: mini bell peppers stuffed with mascarpone and soaked in chilli oil. Nom.

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I would say they mean the kind of prepared mustard that still has whole mustard seeds visible within it:

fresh-whole-grain-mustard-2.jpg2592×2592 2.67 MB

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But where in Michigan? We have at least two other active Boingers in that state.

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Are the bell peppers roasted or cooked in any way? And how long are they soaking in the chili oil? And when you say “soaking”, you don’t actually mean fully covered in oil, do you?

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Oh, there’s many ways to make mac 'n cheese. Sometimes instead of this, I make it with oregano and red pepper, and gorgonzola. Also, very simply, ricotta cheese thinned with the pasta water with some garlic sauteed briefly in olive oil. This can be done quickly on the stovetop, for an easy alternative to a box.

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Paprika is a pointless, tasteless spice.

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Cooked unsure (you eat 'em cold and they aren’t charred, but they are soft; might just be the result of marinading, might be light roasting or boiling), totally coated, yes. I’m unsure if the oil is actually chili oil or just olive oil with chili in it; probably the latter. Spicy vegetable with delicious sweet cheesyness inside (which mostly neutralises the chili after you bite in).

I buy them from the deli rather than make them myself, so I can’t give much more detail than that.

There’s a recipe at https://adelaidefoodies.com/2013/05/28/preserved-is-better-sweet-pepper-stuffed-feta/ that looks fairly similar, albeit with feta in place of mascarpone. More salty, less sweet.

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That’s what it’d be here.

Wholegrain is the mild stuff with seeds in, Dijon is the bland grey stuff, Hot English is proper mustard (restrained yellow colour, wasabi-grade kick), American “mustard” is vaguely mustard-flavoured bright yellow ketchup.

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Only if it isn’t good quality or reasonably fresh. The distance from Hungary or Spain will have a lot to do with this.

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I tried the original white house eggnog recipe. I think the sherry wrecks it.

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I haven’t tried this one, yet. I think I found it here at BoingBoing:
http://www.villagevoice.com/music/charles-mingus-secret-eggnog-recipe-will-knock-you-on-your-ass-6648662

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To the Unpopular Opinions thread with you!

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Perhaps you’ve been buying old stuff or keeping it in your shelf for too long. Paprika is awesome (and so is bay https://theawl.com/the-vast-bay-leaf-conspiracy-f9903ddbb520#.6bjtu8hsy)

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Now we’re talking!

I also do a float shot (or small clear cup) I call the Lebowski Achiever (basically, eggnog instead of creme or half-and-half): strong eggnog from scratch because it’s more foamy with the eggwhites, floated on top of a Kahlua base. Kahlua is too sweet so I may do 40/40/20 cold espresso, kahlua and vodka or rum. Bourbon or bourbon/rum in the eggnog so the two layers aren’t the same booze. I suppose you could also try as a 3 layer separating out that vodka/rum but I haven’t really tried that. Either way… Careful, man, there’s a beverage here!

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