Cookbook Review: Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese

Title: Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese

Authors: Stephanie Stiavetti and Garrett McCord

Publication Information: New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013

Location: West Warwick Public Library, 2nd Floor: TX809 M17 S743 2013

Review

This is a partial book-review, partial experiment in cookery. Two of the Reffies like to try new things in the kitchen - and the other two like it when we bring in samples to share. With winter winding down, but spring nowhere to be found, we thought we'd start off with a new spin on a classic comfort food - mac & cheese!

Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese was published in 2013 and written by Stephanie Stiavetti and Garrett McCord, two West Coast food writers who are interested in elevating ordinary homecooked favorites into haute cuisine - they weren't kidding about the 'Art' of their recipes in the title. Some of the offerings are a little more out there than others (there's even a section for dessert mac and cheese!), but everything looks amazing.

The food photography alone is enough to make your mouth water, though the lists of ingredients might be off-putting to a cook who's more comfortable reaching for the blue box at the supermarket than perusing the cheese shelf. Luckily, even if you haven't worked with all of the ingredients Stiavetti and McCord make use of, their instructions are very easy to follow and the end result promises to be worth stepping outside your comfort zone.

The recipe we decided to replicate was 'Penne with Garrotxa, Serrano Ham, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes'. Right away, we made some substitutions - and did some Googling to find out what exactly 'Garrotxa' is. (It's a Spanish goat cheese. We substituted a half pound each of Cheddar and Gruyère.)  If you can't find serrano ham, the recipe can be made with prosciutto, but we wanted to spice it up and chose to use a quarter pound of spicy capricola.

Any kind of ham would probably work well, but we thought the spiciness of the ham would go well with the sweetness of the tomatoes.

As you can see, the quality of our food photography is a little rough.

Step One

We began by setting a pot of salted water to boil on the stove for the penne (about half a pound, with the intention of serving 2-4 people) and turned our attention to the other ingredients. Because the cheese grater was out of commission (long story), we cubed the cheese to prep it for adding to the sauce. If you have a cheese grater, use it, it took a long time for the cubed cheese to melt.

We also did a little extra prep on the tomatoes and ham that was not recommended by the cookbook - we patted the tomatoes dry with a paper towel before we cut them and cooked out a little bit of the fat by lightly frying the ham in a hot skillet. We did this to make sure the meal wasn't too oily when it was all cooked together.

Step Two

Once the pasta was drained, we started the sauce. This sauce is one of the simplest in the book, it requires only four ingredients - a tablespoon of butter, a quarter cup of milk, and the grated/cubed cheese and a pinch of black pepper. Simply melt the butter in the pan over medium/low heat, add the milk, toss in some pepper, and once the milk is warm, add the cheese in small batches until it's all melted. A tip from the cookbook is to take the sauce off the heat before the last of the cheese has totally melted to prevent it from separating.

Step Three

Drain the cooked pasta, then put it back in the pot with the tomatoes and ham, tossing to combine. Place the pasta, ham, and tomato mixture into a buttered baking dish and pour the cheese sauce over the top. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.

Results

Pretty darn tasty! We didn't follow the recipe exactly, but the spiciness of the ham and the slight sharpness of the cheese, plus the sweet tomatoes was a winning combination. It was also pretty darn easy, all things considered, I think it took about 30 minutes altogether, not counting the extra fifteen to bake it all together. That fifteen minutes gives the cook just enough time to take their apron off, put the dishes in the sink, and open a bottle of wine ;-)

This was before the pan went in the oven - there wasn't time to take a ready-to-eat picture.

Can the Kids Do This?

Depends on the kids. Grating the cheese is definitely something they could do, if they remember to be careful around the sharp edges. Be careful they don't eat too much of the cheese before you get the chance to put it in the sauce! If you've got teenagers, this might be a good recipe for them to tackle to develop some skills in the kitchen.

March Craft - Customizable Coasters

Greetings from Craft Night!

The March craft at the library was Customizable Coasters, an inexpensive way to jazz up your dinnerware, or for use on special occasion events such as weddings, graduations, or baby showers.

Supplies

• Scissors
• Sponge brush (A regular artist's brushes would also work, but I felt like the sponge left a smoother finish.)
• Decorative paper (We used scrapbook paper. Photos would also work, just make sure the paper or photos are prints on cardstock or another heavy-duty paper.)
• Clear-drying glue (We used Modge Podge, which was the priciest investment for the project, it was about $10.00 for two medium-sized containers.)
• Cork (We purchased ours at about $3.00 a package for six pre-cut round or square coasters.)

Process (Total Time: 10 - 15 minutes per coaster)

The whole project runs about 10 minutes, including drying time, if you buy your cork pre-cut. We recommend it, you save a HUGE amount of time and if you're planning on making a full set of coasters they'll be uniform. If you can't find pre-cut cork coasters, you can cut the coasters out of a roll of cork yourself using an X-acto knife or a pair of sharp scissors.

Once you have your cork base, place the picture or paper you want to use to cover it beneath the cork and trace an outline. Cut out the the shape and set it aside. Then apply a layer of glue to the top of the cork. Go all the way to the edges of the cork. Then glue your cut piece of paper to the top of the cork.

                          

We found that the paper wanted to curl up along the edges, so weighing it down was necessary to make the paper lie flat while the glue dried. Find an old book without a dust jacket to use as a weight, it only takes about 5 minutes for the glue to dry to the point where the coaster can be handled.

   

                      

The reason we recommend a plain cover is because if there's extra glue around the edges of the picture, a dust jacket could get stuck and take some of the image off the coaster when the book is removed or some of the dust jacket will get stuck down on top of your coaster (we learned this the hard way). 

                           

Once the image is stuck down, apply a thin layer of glue over the top of the image. It will look white-ish when it goes down, but it should dry clear. A thin layer is all you need, but if you really want to make sure the coaster is properly sealed over the image, wait until the first layer of glue has dried completely and add another layer or two. 

Results

See? It really does dry clear!

 Special Notes

The Modge Podge that we used isn't 100% water-proof, so we recommended to participants that they not use the coasters on beverages that are really going to sweat in the heat, a lot of water will probably soak through to your image under a layer or two of glue.

Can the Kids Do It Too?

Absolutely! If you use pre-cut cork, this is a project that kids would have a lot of fun doing themselves. The only time you need to use scissors is either cutting out the cork or the pictures to glue on top, younger children might require some supervision to avoid snipped fingers and to ensure accurate cutting. Kids might be inclined to go overboard with the glue, but just remind them - a thin layer is all you need. And less glue = a faster drying time. 

Next Month...

No-Sew T-Shirt Vests!