Mac n Cheese the handcrafted way!

My wife and I have been talking about homemade Macaroni and Cheese for a while now, though we haven't been too keen on the idea of making ourselves since every homemade version we've ever tasted hasn't been all that great.  They've tended to be overdone, too gummy, or in most cases lack any kind of flavor at all.

After the last year of learning and trying new recipes, I figured I was ready to tackle a Mac'n'cheese that would not only be nice and creamy, but also retain a cheesy flavor.  The key was in adapting a Bechamel sauce to make a nice creamy cheese sauce...and it was actually incredibly easy!

Tasty flop for breakfast!

One of my favorite food memories is of a Coffee crumb cake my mother used to make on a semi-regular basis when I was a younger lad.  To the best of my knowledge she hasn't made that cake since I was about ten years old or so, and the last time I asked her about it she wasn't even sure what cake I was talking about.
Now I figure that:

• A) The memory is false and implanted into my brain by food loving aliens or the Government.
• B) I'm thinking about a different cake and my memory has changed with age. 
  
• C) (most likely) The Coffee cake my mom made was a phase she went through and then dropped it completely.

I will also accept combinations of all three theorie.

In an attempt to rediscover the cake that I loved so much as a child, I delved into the mysterious food portals of the WWW to search out a recipe that seemed promising.  The following  is what I discovered and attempted.

Ingredients:

TOPPING

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

 CAKE

• 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Topping. In small mixing bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork until crumbly. Set aside.

Sift 1 1/2 cups sifted flour with baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together beaten egg and 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix well.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square or 9-inch layer-cake pan. Sprinkle topping crumb mixture evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Partially cool in pan on wire rack. Cut coffee cake into squares while still warm. 

I followed the Recipe TO THE LETTER.  

First of all, you DO NOT want to actually have the butter for the topping at room temperature.  If it's too warm the topping will not become crumbly. instead it will be soft and pliable like dough.  To remedy this I put the bowl of topping in the freezer for about half an hour.  When it came out I was able to break it up and crumble it with my hands a little more easily.  You can also let it freeze hard like a brick and try using a cheese grater.  I read that someone had tried that idea with decent results.

Second, it's probably best to let the cake cook without the topping for about ten-fifteen minutes before attempting to add the topping.  I followed the instructions and added the topping before putting the cake in the oven, and watched it sink through the cake mix as it heated up.  When the cake was finally done I discovered that the topping was now the bottom layer of the cake.

In the end, the cake is delicious.  I doubt I'll use the full recipe again for a Coffee Crumb cake (the search continues!!), but the cake mix itself is tasty and seems to be adaptable to other styles and flavors.  Look for me to use it again in little baking experiments in my EVIL LAIR..er...kitchen.

...EVIL Kitchen.

Berfday Breakfast

Today was the ##th birthday of my Princess.  So to start the day I made her a good Southern Style sausage gravy, some drop biscuits, and friend eggs.  All in all a good way to start a birthday I think.  She likey'd my foodz.

I'm going to share my sausage gravy recipe! (makes enough gravy for TWO people)

• 1/2 lb Turkey Sausage
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• Salt and Pepper

In a large skillet, cook the sausage completely - make sure it crumbles well into small clumps.  Add the butter and sprinkle the flour over the sausage then stir constantly on high heat until the flour browns.  Browning the flour is important!  If you don't follow that step you'll end up with a gravy that tastes like thick wet flour with chunks of sausage in it!  Browning the flour ensures that your gravy will taste like the sausage - not the other way around.
Once the flour is browned, slowly stir in the milk.  Continue to constantly stir the gravy on high heat until it thickens.  If it gets too thick, simply add a little bit more milk - but not too much or else it will take away from the flavor.
Add the salt and pepper to taste.  You should be able to smell the pepper and taste its little bit of bite without it overpowering the flavor of the sausage.

Remove from heat when you're done and pour over a plate full of open biscuits.  I simply used the recipe on the box of Jiffy this time.  They're delicious and simple to make.  There are plenty of biscuit recipes out there, but I only share recipes that I've personally tried.


I don't have to point out that this is the first official entry on our blog here - but I figured My Princess's birthday was the perfect time to start.  Happy Birthday Baby!