STEP TWO: testing out cheeses #macncheese
I went to a cheese shop today and asked what cheese would taste good in a mac n cheese. They suggested a dutch, medium cheese called Gouda (among others, of course).
Gouda comes covered in a wax; mine was yellow. Slightly pungent. Somewhat bitter. Considerably creamy. Very easy to grate. I found that it needed complimenting, though. Perhaps with bacon, or at least a little bit of meat.
I also found some durum wheat macaroni in the cupboard today, too. A lot more sturdy than the 3 minute kind. So I tested out a very basic recipe to get my mac n cheese training going.
By adopting normal pasta cooking techniques, I boiled the macaroni, then proceeded to drain it and soak in olive oil while I prepared the cheese.
I added a good handful and a half of the grated Gouda with a dash of half n half cream, then added black pepper for flavor, and even put a little dried basil in there to try to bring it some life.
Result? Kinda bland. It's seriously missing something.
