“From the SCCC Kitchen” offers Daily Gazette readers tastes from Schenectady County Community College’s nationally accredited American Culinary Federation culinary arts program. Today, technical specialist (and certified executive chef) Christopher Tanner begins a series of summer recipes with Baked Macaroni and Cheese.
Warmer weather is coming. So are picnics.
Christopher Tanner expects most macaroni will be served in cold salads during June, July and August. He said people don’t have to forget about their fall and winter favorite — baked macaroni and cheese. The hot dish can be made on hot days on a hot charcoal grill.
“I like it on the grill mainly because it gives it some of that smoky flavor from the charcoal,” Tanner said. “If you have an outdoor gas grill, it’s the same thing as using an oven in the house. What’s nice about using the charcoal grill outside is, it heats up outside instead of heating up your house. When it’s 100 degrees outside, you don’t want to be sitting there heating up your oven.”
Charcoal gets an assist from wood chips that home chefs must soak in water for about an hour before tossing them into seasoned coals. “Keep the wood light, like apple wood, so the smoke doesn’t overpower the cheese mixture,” Tanner said. “Stay away from mesquite or hickory, that’s really overpowering smoke.”
Tanner tosses three types of cheeses into his mix before the mix is placed on the grill.
“Often times, we see macaroni and cheese, it’s kind of gritty or grainy or too dry,” he said. “I’ve found a secret to doing macaroni and cheese, which is a cheese I’ve never really ever purchased before until I worked on this recipe — Velveeta.
“My wife told me to try using Velveeta because it has that creamy consistency,” Tanner added. “It makes a good, nice textured sauce, and then balancing it with cheddar, which is my favorite cheese, and a little bit of pepper jack. I think it’s a nice combination of flavors.”
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Tanner also prefers wagon wheel-sized pasta pieces with the triple cheese play.
“Wagon wheels kind of pick up the sauce really well because they have those nice open holes in there,” he said. “Elbows work well too, if you want to use elbows, but I think the wagon wheels work really well for the recipe. You want to stay away from things like rigatoni or any of those other pastas which are good for sauté dishes . . . the sauce itself won’t work as well with those.”
On the grill, Tanner said people must use metal pans for their macaroni masterpieces. “Not glass,” he said. “It could crack. Direct heat is a little different than your oven.”
The baked mac is good company at any picnic.
“It’s just good comfort food,” Tanner said. “It goes with anything, grilled bratwurst, knockwurst, hot dogs and hamburgers.”
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 1⁄2 cups milk, heated
8 ounces Velveeta cheese, diced into small pieces
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
3 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried mustard
16 ounces wagon wheel pasta, cooked al dente
1 pound Cabot habanero cheddar cheese, or other favorite cheddar, shredded
1⁄2 cup bread crumbs
Prepare charcoal grill or heat oven to 350 degrees. Over stove, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add flour, cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add milk 1 cup at a time, mixing in completely each time. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce has thickened. Add Velveeta and pepper jack cheese and mix until smooth, season with salt, pepper, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, and mustard. Toss cooked pasta with sauce.
Melt the additional 1 tablespoon butter and coat an 8- by 11-inch baking dish. Place 1⁄3 of cheddar cheese on bottom of dish, top with half of the pasta and sauce mixture. Layer an additional third of shredded cheddar on top of pasta, top with remaining pasta and top pasta mixture with remaining shredded cheese. Top with bread crumbs and season with remaining smoked paprika.
Place assembled dish in oven or on top of grill and bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown on top. Serve immediately.
Serves 6 to 8.
Categories: Life and Arts
