Heart of the City by Steenz for June 02, 2024

Mac n cheese for the win!

I’ve heard that Southerns do not put bread crumbs on top of Mac N Cheese, my mother did however she probably got her recipe from the back of a macaroni box.

The thing about mac-n-cheese is that it can be the base for so many things. Want it a little more Mexican? Add diced onions and green peppers. Ham blends in well, as does hot dogs. My trick is to boil the hot dogs in the water first, remove the dogs then add the macaroni. The hot dogs will infuse the water with their flavor which will be picked up the macaroni. Panko makes a nice topping.

This recipe Sunday’s are kind of fun but I’m ready for a return to Sunday stories.

Do not use pre-shredded cheese. You’ll have better luck shredding your own cheddar cheese

I don’t understand boxed mac and cheese. With the boxed kind, you have to boil the macaroni and add cheese. From scratch, you have to boil macaroni and add cheese. It isn’t even easier.

What’s with the Sunday recipes?

Sounds like you need a note from your cardiologist before eating it.

Nutmeg! An old boyfriend’s mom taught me to put nutmeg in Mac and cheese. Only good thing to come out of that relationship.

The cheese sauce recipe is very close to one I learned from my mom, except the recipe I do is four tbsp butter, four tbsp flour (all purpose), two cups of milk, followed by the cheese (an eight oz. block of cheddar I grate myself) and dashes of seasonings (paprika and cayenne). Typically it’s used here as part of a meal, to put over chicken, potatoes, and broccoli. The mac & cheese casserole my mom does increases the amount of cheese sauce, adds a little more milk to the casserole so that it doesn’t dry out, and uses grated parmesan and panko bread crumbs on top too.

As for the comic, that’s nice that the characters themselves are sharing recipes, and that Dean loves Charlotte’s family’s cooking (carrying over from the Thanksgiving leftovers strip).

I’ll just order pizza.

I use the sharpest cheddar I can get – the kind with crystals in it! – and also some muenster! Why muenster? it’s got great meltability, you get nice goo and stretch. I also season with black pepper, garlic and onion powders (you could also roast garlic and smoosh it into the sauce, mixing well), mustard (powder, not prepared liquid mustard), and some paprika. I toast up some panko in a pan with butter and seasoning and top the mac and cheese with it – you have to do this right before baking! If you prepare the macaroni and cheese ahead of time don’t add it until right before you put it in the oven! Macaroni and cheese freezes well, btw. Also: if you use a glass pan it doesn’t stick much. Don’t freeze stuff in a glass pan! You can add veggies if you want too. Broccoli, carrots, and peas are my faves to add.

Sunday dinner. Yum.