White Food: White Mac & Cheese, Revisited

 

White Mac & Cheese. Kind of an odd thing to write about in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record, I know.

Most of you may not know that Flamingo Musings did not start out as a food blog. Back on August 30, 2006, this blog was born out of the boredom of waiting for a hurricane that never arrived. I wrote pretty sporadically back then – yes, even less often than I do now (shut up!). But, I did write about food once in awhile, which then turned into “Recipe Monday”, which then became pretty much All Food All The Time. What can I say? I fell in with a bad crowd on Twitter.

Since August marks my 5 year blog anniversary month, I thought I’d revisit some of those early posts. Coincidentally, I first wrote about food in this space on August 5, 2008. I had overheard a conversation on my way to work the previous morning about people avoiding “white food.” I couldn’t imagine that, and set about creating a White Mac & Cheese in retaliation. I didn’t measure anything, and never wrote down a recipe (although, surprisingly, I did take a picture!), so now, 3 years later, I decided to rectify that.

And yes, there’s cauliflower in there. Way to sneak in a vegetable, right?

White Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

8 oz. box macaroni
1 small head cauliflower, broken into florets
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. finely chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbs. all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
8 oz (by weight) sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded (more, if baking)

Preparation:

Cook the macaroni according to package directions, in a large (about 6 quart) pot. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the cauliflower florets and allow to cook until the macaroni is tender. Or al dente. Your choice. Drain well and return to the pot.

In the meantime, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, if using, and cook for a couple of minutes, until it softens. Add the flour, stir well, and allow that to cook for another minute. Pour in the milk, and whisk constantly until it thickens, then whisk in the mustard powder, garlic powder, and white pepper. Add the cheese in 3 or 4 parts, whisking after each addition until it melts and makes a smooth cheese sauce. Taste the sauce at this point to determine if you need salt. (I usually find that sharp cheddar usually makes it salty enough, but you may wish to add a bit to your taste)

Pour the sauce over the cooked macaroni and cauliflower and stir gently to combine. If you like creamy mac & cheese, it’s now done – dig in and enjoy! If you like a baked mac & cheese:

Heat your oven to 375º F. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray or grease with a bit of butter. Pour the mac & cheese into the casserole dish, top liberally with additional shredded white cheddar, and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and it takes on a golden brown color.

At which point, it’s no longer “white.” Just sayin’.