Mac and Cheese, with a twist

I know, the picture isn't great, but I was just so hungry that I started eating before remembering I had to take one. Trust me, the picture does not do justice to the flavour. 

I haven't been able to find much time to cook in the last week, so I only got around to making the mac and cheese today. I'm writing this post at 9 in the night so that I can get it out today. 

Mac and cheese is a really simple dish. It's about the sauce, mostly, and maybe some of the interesting toppings you could add. Let's talk about the cheeses you use. Mac and cheese can be thought of similarly to a fondue, but with a few additions. It's easy to choose cheeses for a fondue - gruyere and gouda are just generally good choices. A good Swiss cheese works well for a mac and cheese, although if you want it more traditional, a good sharp cheddar works too. From there, you may want to add a few other cheeses or just let it be. Honestly, it works even with just cheddar, but adding more cheeses makes it a bit more interesting. I used smoked Gouda, Gruyere and Emmental for my basic mac and cheese. 

Now on to the mac and cheese. Butter and flour create what's called a roux, which helps thicken the sauce while cooking. Now it's recommended to use milk, but I ended up using cream (it turns out we had no milk at home...probably should have checked on that before starting). Anyways, the cream worked, but it started to split. A tip for when this happens, and I'm not sure if this is the best method but it seemed to work for me - add a bit of water. I'd actually recommend that you use an egg yolk or some fatty agent, but in the heat of the moment, this is what I thought of. It actually didn't affect the consistency or flavour too much. 

If you're using milk and your sauce seems a bit runny, maybe add an egg into the mix. That will thicken it up when you're baking it. 

Now the twist. Here are my takes on mac and cheese - 

Tried and tested twists - 

Basic - just put this in the oven with a nice layer of Panko breadcrumbs on top and maybe a bit of grated cheese

French onion soup - When I thought of this, I thought I'd come up with some really good idea, but it turns out that this is actually quite common. You basically just add a bunch of caramelised onions to the mac and cheese. I'd recommend caramelising them with brown sugar instead of white, but that's just based on taste. I'd set it in individual ramekins, one for each person. Also, don't forget the parmesan. Spread a nice layer of parmesan on top, making sure that some of it goes over the edge of the ramekin, because honestly, when have you seen a french onion soup without cheese all over the rim?

Blue cheese and walnut - Here, taste matters a lot. Based on how much you like blue cheese, add it in after the sauce is off the stove but while it's still warm. If you have a couple SMALL chunks of blue cheese, you can actually leave it be so they melt in the oven and you get these nice patches. Crush a few walnuts and mix them into the sauce, and top it off with a few more. 

Not tried, but might be good - 

Basic part II - Maybe instead of panko, you could try a few sourdough crackers. Don't top it with the crackers immediately, but instead crush them and put them on top when there are 4-5 minutes left on the mac and cheese. 

Cranberry and apple - Just slice the apples really thinly and pull out some cranberries. Pour in half of your mac and cheese, then your apple slices and cranberries, and then the other half.

Olive and cauliflower - Honestly, both of these should work very well with a good mac and cheese. Roast the cauliflower a bit and layer it in the middle of the mac and cheese. Top off with some green olives (sans pit) and bake. 

Mustard - Honestly, what's there to say about this? It's obvious this should work. Add a bit of mustard into the sauce and that's basically it. You could also add a few mustard microgreens on top for the look of it.

Fig and spinach - Add the spinach into the sauce along with the cheese, and then add a bit of dried fig as well. Wait for the spinach to soften a bit and then add in the pasta. I'd also recommend keeping the spinach in larger pieces, but that's just because I'm not a huge fan of a mac and cheese that looks green. Something about it is just off-putting for me.