Mac of the Day: Trailer Style

Ordered this fun version for lunch.  My friend and I even got filmed for some cooking TV show B-roll footage while enjoying it.  It's Homeroom's Trailer Style Cheddar Mac.  Cut up hot dogs and topped with potato chips.  No shame.

Trailer Style Cheddar Mac

Review: 1515

Source: 1515

1515 Restaurant & Lounge
1515 N. Main St., Walnut Creek, CA
1515wc.com

While mac and cheese isn't their specialty, 1515 is still pretty noteworthy in my book.  They're currently ranked in my top ten best Bay Area mac and cheese spots.

So what makes 1515 special?  A combination of truffle oil, bacon/chicken add-on options, good breadcrumb/crispy cheese topping, all served in a HOT cast iron skillet.  I definitely haven't had a mac and cheese that's served hotter than what you get at 1515.  Why is this a good thing?  The heat certainly brings out the flavors in the three cheese blend, add-ons, and truffle oil.  Plus, who wants to eat luke warm mac and cheese?  Not me.

Crispy Cheese Topping

The mac is made up of three of my favorite cheeses: smoked cheddar, gruyere (yes!), and mozzarella.  I find the mozzarella to be particularly interesting since I actually haven't seen it used in many mac and cheese dishes before.  Perhaps it's because melted mozzarella tends to a stringy texture (think the cheese on top of a pizza), but blended with the gruyere and smoked cheddar, it doesn't seem to be too noticeable in 1515's version of the dish.

The restaurant itself ranges from super packed on weekend evenings to open and quiet during the week, as is typical with a lot of downtown Walnut Creek restaurants.  If the weather's nice, the outdoor patio is always great for people watching and soaking up the warm breeze.

Breadcrumb Topping

My only criticism of 1515's mac and cheese recipe would be the consistency.  I've had their mac and cheese several times and notice that everything from the cheese blend to the topping seems to change whenever I visit.  While it's always delicious, I'd be disappointed if I was looking forward to the crispy cheese topping and instead got more breadcrumbs (or vice versa).  As you can see in my photos from a couple past trips, I had that very experience.  One version of the recipe had a crispy cheese topping with a decorative leaf, and the next time I visited it was all breadcrumbs.

That said, don't let that one criticism keep you away from trying 1515's version of this comfort food classic.  Overall, it's pretty great and definitely one of my go-to's when I'm in the area and need a pasta fix.

More Running = More Mac & Cheese

I just started training for a 10k I'm participating in this coming fall.  The best part of all this running?

I get to eat more mac and cheese :)

What do you all think of this craziness?  Who's with me?  I'm taking any interested orders!  Hit me up at dontknowmac@gmail.com

Mac of the Day: Ditch Dog

Source: Ditch Plains

My dad recently forwarded me this awesome ABC News video talking about the "Ditch Dog."  It's a hot dog covered in good ol' mac and cheese.

Since it's Fourth of July weekend coming up, I figured it'd be fun to do a themed Mac of the Day post.

The Ditch Dog is the creation of the culinary experimenters at Ditch Plains, a New York City oyster bar and fish shack that also serves up this awesome concoction of hot dog and macaroni.  According to executive chef Marc Murphy, this mac uses Parmesan, Gruyere and white American cheeses.

I'm normally a little averse to mixing macaroni and cheese with other comfort food favorites (burgers, pizza, etc.), but I think I'd be interested in trying this sometime.  Maybe it'll be one of my experiments!

Below is the ABC News interview and demo with Ditch Plains executive chef, Marc Murphy.


ABC US News | ABC Sports News

Exploration: Wine Pairings

Photo courtesy of Samantha Samuels

If you are anything like me, you enjoy a little wine with your meal here and there, and mac and cheese is no exception.  Over the last year or so, I've had a lot of fun trying different types of wines and learning more about what types of wine go with different types of food.  I'm lucky to live near such a world famous wine-growing region, so it's been really fun to take trips up to the Napa and Sonoma Valleys and make an experience out of trying wine.

So, the question is: what kinds of wines would go well with your mac and cheese?

That's why you're really reading this.

Well, after researching and trying many different styles of wine, I've put together a quick guide for you!  Below are some types of cheese you might use and the wine that might go best with them.

Cheddar
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
Syrah
Zinfandel

Parmesan/Romano
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot

Swiss/Gouda
Chardonnay
Pinot Noir
Riesling
Merlot (with an aged Gouda)
Syrah (with an aged Gouda)

Feta/Goat
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Noir

Havarti
Chardonnay
Pinot Noir

Bleu
Meritage
Cabernet Sauvignon

A smoked cheddar mac pairs well with a bolder, red wine

It's important to remember that your additions (garlic, bacon, peas, etc.) will change the overall flavor of your mac.  A tip I've always tried to remember when pairing wines is that stronger flavors will require stronger wine, so a smoked aged cheddar will pair well with a deeper red, like a Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec.  Something with lighter flavor will pair better with a lighter wine, like a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or possibly a Pinot Noir.  From there you can try to play around with sweet, rich, bold and dry flavored styles of red and white wines.  I found that a garlic mac works well with both a Chardonnay (rich) and Moscato (sweet) wine. Both are considered white wines, but each has very different flavors.

What's your favorite pairing?  Have fun exploring!

Experiment: Bacon Fat Infused Cheese Sauce #2

Looked forward to this after work!

After feeling like I didn't give the bacon fat infusion trick a real chance to shine in a garlic mac, I thought I'd give it another try in something a little less complex.

I had some leftover béchamel sauce from the weekend and decided to use it for a little mid-week after work mac.  Since I usually don't get home from work until closer to 7pm, it was also my first time experimenting with how quickly I can re-heat béchamel sauce in our slow cooker.  I realize that sounds like a contradiction (quickly re-heating in a slow cooker), but I've found that the slow cooker really helps melt everything together without burning anything (like all my pots do), so it's my go-to option.

I melted down the following ingredients in the slow cooker on high for 40 minutes:
1 cup béchamel sauce
3/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano

Meanwhile, in the oven, I cooked 3 strips of bacon and saved the bacon fat to mix into the cheese sauce.  I also baked some panko bread crumbs for 4 minutes at 375F and they turned out great!  Much better than my previous attempts.

While the sauce and cheese were melting down, I also cooked about 1/4 pound of elbow pasta.

Before adding in the bacon fat to the cheese sauce, I gave the sauce a taste.  I was slightly disappointed.  The extra sharp cheddar wasn't offering much in the way of flavor.  I am still trying to figure out if I should have added some more salt, or if it was just the result in buying a generic brand cheese in an effort to save some cash.  I suppose I've become a bit of a snob and now all my cheeses need to be aged.

Then I mixed in the bacon fat.  Gave it a taste.  Again, disappointed.  It, too, didn't seem to add much in the way of flavor.  So, I suppose I can stand by my initial verdict about bacon fat in your mac and cheese sauce: not necessary.  Save yourself the added fat, some mixed in bacon bits is good enough.

Overall, the dish probably wasn't my best, but I was still happy to be eating mac and cheese.  When am I not?

(UPDATE: I tried the leftovers from this dish a couple days after making it and it seemed as if the flavor was slightly stronger than when I initially made it.  Perhaps it's better after a day or two?)

Mac of the Day: Crab Mac & Cheese

I received this awesome photo from some friends who were visiting Maui.  They tried the Crab Mac and Cheese from Honu on Maui.  It has cheddar, pepperjack and parmesan cheeses along with some white truffle oil.  Looks amazing!

Photo courtesy of Ryan Sullivan