Mom's Mac 'n Cheese revisited

I've always loved my mom's Mac 'n Cheese, but after reading a New York Times article, How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?, it got me thinking about how to adapt the recipe to our current times, i.e., not so rich, trying to be frugal but not giving up too much. Why fix what ain't broke? Well, why not just for the hell of it? I almost never follow recipes exactly anyway.

Let's begin with how this dish has evolved over the years. Normally mom's version is full of cheese and whole or even evaporated milk. To make it healthier, I've been using light soy milk mainly because I'm lactose intolerant and wanted to cut down on the dairy, but also to cut down on the saturated fat. But going all the way with healthy alternatives -- soy milk, soy cheese, whole wheat pasta -- turned out less than satisfactory. Soy cheese doesn't have enough cheesy flavor and whole wheat pasta absorbs too much liquid and becomes mushy. To make it faster, I've tried not precooking the macaroni as a timesaving step, which ended up a mushy disaster.

I let the NY Times article stew in my brain for a bit, then started experimenting. Now after making several batches, I think I've hit it and even Jim "the white-and-brown-food eater" approves. The major flavor upside is there's hardly any milky creaminess to hide the cheese, so you can get away with using a lot less. And, you actually use pretty much all of the pasta water! How thrifty is that? I encourage you to try using this intriguing technique with other dishes. I've nostalgically named this dish in honor of my mom's original recipe, but in truth it's a lovely bastard child.

Mom's Mac 'n Cheese v. 2009
2 qts. water
1 T salt
1 lb. box of macaroni (not whole grain; try Ronzoni SmartTaste)
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
1 t. black pepper, fresh grated
1/2 t. nutmeg
10-12 oz. sharp or x-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 c. soy or regular milk, approx.
1/3 c. bacon bits (optional)
3 T bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F deg. Bring the water to a boil in pot, add the salt, then stir in the macaroni and cook for 7-8 minutes until al dente. Stir often, as the reduced water may cause the pasta to stick. Meanwhile, dump the undiluted soup, pepper and nutmeg into a 4+ cup measuring container. When the macaroni is done, drain the pasta water into the measuring container (with the soup mix) to make 4 cups. Discard any extra water if there is any. Whisk the soup mixture until blended. Spread 1/3 of the cooked macaroni evenly in a greased 13" x 9" glass pan. Scatter 1/3 of the grated cheese and 1/2 of the bacon bits, if using, on top. Repeat for the next layer. For the last layer, spread the macaroni, pour the soup mixture over it evenly (using "S" motions), then pour in approx. 1 cup of milk, or until the the liquids are ALMOST at the same level as the macaroni. Scatter the remaining cheese evenly over the top, followed by the bread crumbs, if using. Cover the pan loosely with a 1/2 parchment sheet or greased foil. Put the pan on a cookie sheet or other pan to catch any spills. Bake for about 45-55 minutes or until you can see almost all of the liquids have been absorbed (this is why using a glass pan is great). Remove the parchment/foil and bake uncovered for 10 minutes more to let the top crisp. Enjoy!

What I did this summer: Mafia Wars

Wow, I cannot believe it's been almost 3 whole months since my last post. I'm sure you haven't been wondering what I've been up to but I'm gonna tell ya anyway because it is my blog, after all.

Though I'm still baking bread (the ABin5 way, of course!) every other day, my free time has been sucked into the time vortex called Mafia Wars on Facebook. It's kind of sick, an addiction if you will. But the game is set up so it takes up as much time as you can give it. You must do jobs, make money, buy weapons, armor and vehicles, recruit more mobsters, attack, rob, snuff, retaliate and on top of all that, make sure your mafia family has all the loot they need by gifting and trading. Holy crap, sometimes I'll sit down and hours will disappear. Sometimes I'll take a break and continue to work on my Guitar Hero Metallica skills.

I'm having a lot of fun, though!

Someone recently left a comment about my bundt cake woes, and I have to tell you, I did solve the sticking problem but forgot to post it -- sorry. Here's what happened and what I did. Apparently, using Pam on nonstick bakeware is a cardinal sin. Why? Because it burns on and leaves a sticky residue. Oh, hello. I was aware of that from frying pan use but couldn't see it on the nonstick surface of the bundt pan. Here, let me yell it out to you: NEVER PAM NONSTICK COOKWARE!!! After very thoroughly cleaning the bundt pan, I made up a mixture called baker's grease which is:

1 part Crisco
1 part veg. oil
1 part flour (use cocoa powder for chocolate cakes)

The next time I baked the Chocolate Stout Cake, it unmolded PERFECTLY. Instructions are here at the 911 Baking site. I don't know why I was such a bad, numnutz baker. All I had to do was a little research, instead of repeating the same mistake 3 times in a row and whining about it. Doh!

In other baking news, an easy way to make your ABin5 bread simply divine is to knead some dried herbs, dried minced onion, or grated cheese while shaping the dough. I particularly like oregano and feta cheese, and I'll bet kalamata olives would be an awesome addition. I sprinkle the dried onion on top of the loaves before baking and of course they burn, but I'm fond of burnt onion flavor.

Hope you're having a great summer so far.

Lord of the Chocolate Cake II: The Twin Bundts

Hello, readers. Why still no pictures, you ask? Oh lemme tell you, you would not want to see the last two bundt cakes I made. I PAM'd the hell out of them, dusted with cocoa powder and still they stuck in the pans -- WTF!! They were almost Cake Wrecks material, and I couldn't bear to share that with you. It's possible the addition of the chopped chocolate to the batter is a terrible idea, and the cakes were back to being on the wet side. It may even be advisable to lower the oven temp. and bake longer than suggested. So without further ado, here's the latest recipe-in-the-works attempt at the GREATEST CHOCOLATE CAKE IN THE WORLD, using Fine Cooking's Chocolate Stout Cake as the basis.

The Great Chocolate Stout Cake Experiment v1.0

1-1/4 cups stout
1/3 cup mild molasses and dark corn syrup
7-1/2 oz. (1-2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
2-1/4 oz. (3/4 cup) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed); more for the pan
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
10 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar (or white sugar)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped (pulsed in a food processor works well)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Spray PAM or other no-stick baking spray in a large nonstick bundt pan and lightly coat with sifted cocoa powder. Tap out the excess cocoa.

In a microwave, bring the stout and molasses to a simmer (note: I don't really see the need for this step, but did it anyway). Dissolve the baking soda in the mixture and let cool while preparing the cake batter.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. With a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth, then add the brown sugar and beat on until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape the bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour and stout mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Stop the mixer at least one last time to scrape the bowl and then beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth, about 20 seconds. Fold in the sour cream and finely chopped chocolate.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula and wiggling the pan to level the batter. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out nearly clean, 50-60 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Say a prayer to the cake gods and invert the cake onto the rack and remove the pan. Without crying, remove the stuck parts out of the pan and press back onto the cake as decoratively as you can. Let cool until just barely warm, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap if not serving right away; if serving, sift powdered sugar over the top if the cake is pretty; if it's a wreck (and it probably is), opt to drizzle a lot of ganache over the whole thing.