Tonight’s rendition was made with milk, 5% cream and 2 % evaporated milk, around 3 oz of cheddar, 1 oz Gruyère, a heavy pinch of nutmeg, a few grinds of black pepper and crushed chiles, and shake of dry mustard. 2 cups dry shells, almost 2 cups of dairy, maybe 2 tbsp butter to 2 tbsp flour. I find 2 cups of dry pasta is the right amount for an 8 inch Pyrex square dish of mac + cheese.
The Martha version is even more decadent than what I made tonight, but this was more decadent than my usual mac and cheese.
I think of short ribs as a special meal. Depending on how I prepare them, I enjoy polenta or mashed potatoes as the accompaniment. Your version looks absolutely luscious!
yesterday for lunch at my sister’s i made her the pastina risotto again, using store-bought passata this time and, instead of adding plain hot water, i filled the empty passata bottle with water to get all the tomato from it, and heated that up to add to the passata and pastina, so it came out just way too tomato-y, very one-note. the passata was also thicker than the stuff i made with the canned San Marzanos. We didn’t like it at all, so I brought home the leftovers (a lot) for me and the BF. Today, I bought some 'ndjua and fresh ricotta from a local pasta place, and mixed some of that into the risotto with a little water to dilute, more parm, and more basil. MUCH better! a little spicy, milky & creamy. a big drizzle of very good olive oil too. basically, It tasted like pastina lasagna!
At a friend’s home for a dinner party last night - befitting our current mood, he made an in-mourning dinner: all black food, no “cheating” with food coloring (he did use some squid ink in the bread.) So, homemade bread and black hummus, blackened duck prosciutto (and Spanish Table’s morcilla) for apps, then a blackened crispy pork belly to start, Forbidden rice, black lentil salad, a spectacularly darkest black chicken mole, and roasted plantains. Dessert was a black sesame and chocolate cake. We drowned our sorrows in Black Manhattans beforehand (and French champagne I brought) and red wine i and others brought with dinner. Everything turned out spectacular! The pork belly and the mole were my favorites, but that bread was amazing too. He’s really impressive as a home cook. Beautifully set table, too…
I just made stew last weekend. Was watching Kenji / Serious Eats on you tube making beef stew . He said the same thing about the flour making the dish muddy . He uses powdered gelatine which gives a glossy mouth feel and a little thickening. I took his advice . Worked very well . Its a go to from now on .
So the “other “ sandwich in Philadelphia is Roasted pork, with broccoli rabe, sharp provolone, and long hots. Made a pasta with pancetta in place of the roast pork, broccoli rabe, long hots and provolone. The long hots are hot! But I’m really loving this.
We enjoyed another excellent dinner at Jessica’s Restaurant including a17 oz. prime ribeye with mushroom mustard purée, black olives,
red wine braised cipollini onions, baby spinach, demi jus; shrimp rigatoni with wild mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, balsamic fig glaze, white cream sauce; grilled octopus with stuffed potato croquette with cheese, roasted fennel, Napoli sun dried tomatoes, saffron sauce; Jumbo lump crab meat crepe with wild mushrooms and lobster sauce. It all went great with a couple of excellent cabernets.
someday i hope to try a real roast pork and broccoli rabe sandwich from the source, but I’ve made it at home myself as best I could, and it’s one of my absolute favorites. love the idea of turning it into a pasta! genius.
Before anyone gets too excited it’s a $9.97 family size(serves 4)Marie Callenders chicken pot pie. I figured that maybe just maybe we could salvage enough chicken from one half to go with the other half for two. Good call. Barely. Very little chicken and a soupy mess. Live and learn. He picked up a marked down bourbon apple pie for dessert. Topped with whipped cream. Not my finest hour on WFD.
The last of a delicious garden-tomato-basil soup (from frozen), served with chili oil and homemade cheesy bread croutons. Savory scones with salami and cheese. Salad greens in homemade vinaigrette.
I was craving spaghetti and meatballs so that is what I made. Garlic toast and salad with oo&v dressing. By the time everything was ready I had lost my appetite. I ate the salad and bread, one meatball (it was very good, moist and tender) and about 1/4 of the spaghetti. The rest went in the freezer. There was wine.
Cottage Pie - ground beef, onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, marsala wine, thyme, bay leaf, flour, cornstarch are cooked in beef broth and get topped with mashed potatoes (made with butter, milk, egg, scallions) and heated under the broiler.
Home made pozole - not red or white maybe rose? Served with huitlacoche quesadillas. I happened to have some pomegranate arils sitting on the counter so threw a few on top on the soup. They added a nice, bright pop of flavor and texture.
It’s an occasional treat for me, especially at those prices 
