Houseguest! Charlene!
Published by amit January 11th, 2006 in General.
Charlene’s visiting us this week from Manila. She is hosting a dinner party with Amit on Thursday and used to live with him at the Zü. See the comments for some of the great recipes she made for us at our dinner party!
What a wonderful house, and what a wonderful party they threw. I love these folks.
Three recipes from the dinner:
1. Mac and Cheese
(check out both _The Best Recipe Cookbook_, published by Cook’s Illustrated, and John Thorne’s _Simple Cooking_. He’s a grumpy, very loveable Amherst alum who is often credited with having the best mac and cheese recipe around.)
for the custard:
2 large eggs
1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
3 generous shakes teaspoon hot sauce
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, and additional salt for the pot, maybe 2 tablespoons
many grinds of black pepper
1 teaspoon mustard (anything non-seeded is fine)
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 onion, diced
12 ounces appropriate cheese (I use a mixture of Cheddar, Edam, and yes, American), grated
Bring water in a large pot to the boil for macaroni. Salt the water enough so that it tastes like the ocean (a lot of salt, folks), and add the macaroni, cooking it just shy of al dente, about five or six minutes.
While the macaroni is boiling, combine the custard ingredients in a bowl.
When the macaroni is cooked, drain it. In the empty pot, saute the onion in butter until golden and browning on the edges, then toss the macaroni in the pan, coating it with buttery onions. Put the pot over low heat (not too low, or the custard will never set), and add the custard mixture, along with three quarters of the cheese. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the cheese starts to melt. Gradually add the remaining cheese, stirring constantly until the mixture is hot and creamy - about five minutes. Wipe the sweat off your brow and serve.
2. Maple and Thyme Squash
1 butternut squash (this is the one with the long neck and pretty, cantaloupe-orange color)
a small bunch thyme, perhaps eight stems, ripped up into little pieces
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon roughly cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peel the squash and slice the neck into 3/4-inch rounds then cut each round into three strips. Slice the body of the squash in half, remove seeds, then slice each half into 3/4-inch half-moons.
Toss pieces with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, massaging the seasonings into the squash. Pour the squash onto a cookie sheets and bake for 20-30 minutes. Stir from time to time, to evenly brown the pieces. You may separate the squash onto two baking sheets, and bake for 18-20 minutes if you prefer firmer squash. Remove from the oven, and enjoy with the mac and cheese for a very orange-hued dinner.
3. Chocolate-Caramel Matzoh Crunch
(from David Lebovitz, who got the recipe from someone named Marcy. If you know Meredith Weill, get her to make you some. Her recipe is much better.)
4- to 6- unsalted matzohs (I think salted matzohs would probably be pretty tasty, however)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, or coarsely chopped chocolate
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Line a 11″ x 17″ baking sheet (with sides) completely with foil. You can use a similar sized pan. Cover the foil with a sheet of parchment paper. Line the bottom of the sheet with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.
In a 3- to 4-quart heavy duty saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Boil of 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour over matzoh, spreading with a heatproof utensil.
Put the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. As it bakes, it will bubble up. Make sure it’s not burning every few minutes. If so, remove from oven and reduce the heat to 325 degrees, then replace the pan.
Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chunks. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread with an offset spatula. Let cool about 15 minutes, then break or cut into pieces. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
we love you too charlene!! thanks for putting on such a great party, it was all you! are you sure you don’t want to move in??
Charlene, you rock! Thanks for an awesome week! Come back soon!