There is no better way to improve a day than by to spend it cooking. Some might call it escaping reality, but it works for me and tends to make those I live with equally happy. So Tuesday became a spontaneous dinner party, one attended by a good friend, her two bottles of wine, and eventually my parents. Quality over quantity always rules when one thinks of guests.
While waiting for my friend I set out the salsa, marinated olives and a Latin-American inspired yogurt dip which I had made earlier that afternoon. It has that nice balance of tangy and creamy goodness and was a lovely antidote to my salsa which turned out far too spicy.
In a food processor, finely chop fresh cilantro, a bell pepper, jalapenos to taste and dried whole jalapenos. In a medium-sized shallow bowl put 2 cups of plain yogurt (preferably Greek or Middle Eastern, low or full-fat). Add the chopped cilantro-pepper mixture and stir well. Add 1/2 a lime's juice, a dash of cumin, dried mint, and salt and pepper to taste. Dip will only keep a day or two refrigerated.
I also cracked open a really nice Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, just to get the creative juices flowing of course.
For a long time I've been meaning to make a homemade version of Mac'n'Cheese, one of my personal vices combining both starch, cream, and really salty food. And I thought the addition of spinach would constitute the necessary vegetable/leafy greens portion of the evening as would the salsa that I made earlier in the afternoon.
So the below recipe is going to sound complicated, but in fact all of the steps are straight-forward and the dish is very easy to assemble.
Prepare a cream sauce by first making a roux by melting approximately 3 tablespoons butter and adding a slightly-lesser amount of flour. Cook the flour until it is nice and slightly browned, and quickly add approx. 1 cup of milk while whisking rapidly. The mixture will lump up a bit and slowly add chicken broth (about 1/8 a cup at a time) until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy. Set the pot aside to cool. In a separate bowl, lightly beat two eggs. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to the cream mixture to taste. Once the cream is sufficiently cooled - it should be cool to the touch - slowly add the egg mixture again while whisking quickly to avoid the eggs cooking and curdling. Check and adjust seasoning if needed, and set mixture aside.
Thinly slice approximately 1/3 - 1/2 pound of your choice of cheese, preferably cheddar or something slightly tangy and that melts easily, and set aside.
In a large heavy-bottomed casket, saute 1 sliced onion in olive oil. As the onions cook and absorb the fat, add chicken broth a tablespoon at a time to rehydrate the mixture. Cook onions until they are completely translucent and a tad caramelized. Wash, spin-dry, and coarsely chop two bunches of fresh spinach. Add spinach in batches to the onions, until they are all just cooked through. Flavor mixture with thyme, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste, and melt in a tablespoon of butter.
Cook an entire box of pasta until al dente. We only had spaghetti at home and it worked fine, but I think macaroni or fusili would work equally well. Drain pasta, return to pot, adding a splash of the chicken broth and some olive oil so the it doesn't stick together.
In a regular-sized ceramic baking dish spread a layer of cream sauce, approximately 1/2 the pasta, and then 1/2 the cheese. Add the entire spinach mixture, and then the cheese, pasta, and cream sauce in the reverse order. Generously cover the mixture with bread-crumbs (I finished off the panko we had), thyme, red and black pepper, and a few small pats of butter. Cover casserole with aluminum foil and cook in a pre-heated oven at 350F for approximately 25 - 30 minutes. Carefully uncover the dish and put under the broiler until the bread crumbs are golden, depending on how powerful your oven is this can happen in 30 seconds to 2 minutes but it is good stand right by and immediately pull the dish out to avoid scorching the entire top.
Serve immediately, preferably with a leafy green salad, good wine and company.
For my first time ever of making homemade version of mac'n'cheese, I have to admit it turned out pretty darn good and I'll be adding this to my comfort food/feel better repertoire.
Bon appetite.
PS: for those of you wondering, the other two bottles were duly consumed and 7am came far, far too early this morning. But it was well worth it.
