Rainy Day

Hello All,

The weather today in New York is pretty terrible - cold and rainy.  However, the rain and the cold is no match for Time Warner Cable's ability to make my day even worse by providing me with problems with not just my television service, but (GASP!) my internet service!  These people should know that messing with my internet is probably the most catastrophic cardinal sin they could ever commit on my watch.  Now, instead of being able to enjoy the spaciousness (insert sarcasm) of my apartment via my wireless internet, I have a cable wire connecting from my modem to my mac, thus confining me to my kitchen table.  Quite devastating, I know, but us New Yorkers must persevere.

However, I am planning to combat the weather and Time Warner's incompetence with Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain," an album that could warm the heart of even the most miserable person.  This album almost seems to be meant for a rainy day when the usual playlist won't do the trick.  So for all of those people who need a pick me up, I repeat, listen to "Sketches of Spain."

However, if Mr. Davis isn't enough for some of you, I might have an even better remedy to the rainy day blues.  I am known in my circle of friends and family to be a really wonderful cook, and I feel completely justified to toot my own horn by saying that I am pretty damn good.  Like all cooks, I have my signature dishes which always seem to satisfy even the most critical people in my life.  However, if I had to pin point my most successful dish, the dish that always seems to rise to the occasion, the dish that always makes MY mouth salivate, the dish that my wife requests at least two to three times a month, it would have to be my world-famous macaroni and cheese.  I have never revealed the recipe to my macaroni and cheese in fear that the likes of Bobby Flay or Emeril Lagasse might get their hands on it and make a fortune off of it, but being that today is such a gloomy and awful day I feel obligated to share this delicious dish with my readers.

(Disclaimer: This is not a picture of my mac and cheese.  Mine looks so much better.)

Spicy Garlic Macs and Cheese

 Ingredients:

• 1 pound of elbow pasta
• 1 package of Cabot Sharp Yellow Cheddar Cheese
• 1 package of Cabot Jalapeno Monterrey Jack Cheese
• 5 cloves of Garlic (approximately)
• 1 small/medium Spanish yellow onion
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups of milk (1%, 2% or whole)
  
• Butter (optional)
• 1 cup unflavored bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Put a tablespoon of olive and a pinch of salt into the water.  Once water is brought to a roaring boil, put pasta into the pot.  Leave pasta in pot until al dente (approximately 7 minutes).  Once finished, run the pasta through a strainer.  Once all extra water is discarded, put the paste back into the original pot, put one tablespoon of olive oil on the pasta to prevent pasta from sticking, stir the pasta, and cover the pot.  DO NOT turn the burner on while the pasta is in the pot at this point.
2. While water is boiling shred both packages of cheese using either a manual cheese grater or a food processor using the grating tool.  Once grated, put cheese into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator. (Tip: For best grating results, Put cheese in the freezer before grating - the harder the cheese is at the time of grating, the easier it is to grate).
3. Next, perform a rough chop on the onion and the garlic.  The chunks of garlic should be no smaller then the size of a dime in thickness, and the onion strips should be no less than half an inch long.  Put the onion and garlic in a small sauce pan with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  You can add a little butter for flavor.  Put the burner on a medium heat and cover for approximately 10 minutes or until the onion and garlic are golden brown.  Stir frequently (every 1-2 minutes) for the ten minutes.
4. Once the onions and garlic are browned, combine the onions and garlic with the pasta and stir so the onions and garlic are evenly distributed in the pasta.  At this point, put the burners on a low heart and let the pasta get warm.  Cover the pot.
5. Once the pasta is warm (approximately 5-6 minutes) take the cheese out of the refrigerator.  Add 1/3 of the cheese to the pasta, onions and garlic.  Stir so that the cheese is evenly distributed.  Cover the pot and let the cheese melt.  After the cheese has melted (4-5 minutes) add another 1/3 of the cheese to the pot and cover.  Let sit for a another 3-4 minutes with the pot covered.  Make sure to keep stirring the pasta and cheese to prevent the cheese from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. 
6. At this point, there should be a fair amount of cheese in the pasta.  To create a creamy texture, add 1/2 cup of milk to the cheese, pasta, garlic and onions.  Stir so the milk and the cheese combine to create a creamy cheese sauce.  Cover the pot and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the remaining cheese to the pot and stir.  Cover the pot and let sit until remaining cheese has melted.  Add another 1/2 - 1 cup of milk and stir until milk and cheese combine.  
8. The milk can be added to taste.  If you want the cheese to be tighter add less milk.  If you want the cheese to be more saucy add more milk.  The key is do not add too much milk.  So try not to use more than 2 cups of milk.  
9. Once all the cheese has been added and has melted, stir the macaroni and cheese to make sure it has a smooth texture.  Once doing this, slowly add 1 cup of breadcrumbs to the macaroni and cheese.  FOLD the macaroni and cheese and bread crumbs so to make layers of breadcrumbs within the macs and cheese.  Do not stir the bread crumbs in.  The idea is to create a crunch to the mac and cheese, and the folding process allows the bread crumbs to stay dry and crunchy.
10. Serve macaroni and cheese to guests in LARGE quantities.  
11. Provide your guests with Tums or Pepto if the spice and garlic gets to them!

And there you have it - the world's greatest macaroni and cheese.  While there appears to be a lot of steps, I promise that it is very easy to make.  I can't say that I will be making this lovely dish tonight, as I am still recovering from Montezuma's revenge from my recent trip to Mexico.  However, there is no doubt in my mind that this dish will brighten up your day in no time!

In an effort to brighten up my day/evening, I will be watching Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion" this evening.  It's a great film, and for anyone who cares it was one of Orson Welles' (Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil) favorite films.  I would recommend it to anyone who can tolerate the French, films from the 1930s, and subtitles, which is about 1% of my friends.

It seems the rain has stopped so I will be taking advantage of the clear skies by doing some last minute errands.  

Hasta manana!

Prepstarr