One of my favourite things to make and eat is macaroni and cheese. I like to make it from scratch, using cheese that I have grated myself, and a rich homemade sauce.
You cannot beat a great homemade mac and cheese.
I call this the World's Best and it is not a claim that I make lightly. It truly is (in my opinion) the World's Best.
I have eaten a lot of mac and cheese in my lifetime.
I have tried many, many different recipes. I love it done the old
fashioned way which is pure and unadulterated, nothing but cooked
macaroni, milk, chunks of cheese and lots of butter.
Oh my, pure and utter bliss.
Seasoned with salt
and pepper and baked until the milk is almost absorbed by the macaroni. There are gooey patches of delicious cheese scattered throughout . .
.
It is simple, old fashioned, and really, really good.
This is not that mac and cheese. Its a bit more work than that mac and cheese.
This one involves making a rich cheese sauce, which then gets layered in a baking dish along with cooked macaroni and more grated cheese.
Surprisingly the cheese sauce is created with a mix of chicken stock and milk.
This simple step adds a depth of flavour and richness that I have never found in other cheese sauces.
I also like to use a combination of cheeses.
Crumbly and rich strong cheddar . . . .
Nutty and sweet Gruyere cheese, which has beautiful melting properties and provides a lovely ooze factor (this is a type of Swiss Cheese) . . .
Red Leicester Cheese which is mild and creamy and bright orange in colour. You can use more cheddar if you like, but choose a coloured one.
And finally grated Parmesan Cheese . . . salty and piquant . . .
A little bit goes a very long way.
The three together are an unbeatable combination, which gets used partially in the sauce . . .
As well as being layered between the macaroni and the sauce. Mmmm . . . .
I top it with a mix of the cheeses and some dry bread crumbs. Today I used Panko Japanese Bread Crumbs.
This provides a lovely layer of crunch.
You don't want the macaroni to be crunchy . . . but you do want a nice element of crunch on the top.
Well, I do anyways.
Today I added some strips of partially cooked streaky bacon . . . I mean, bacon . . . you can't go wrong.
However if you want to keep it totally without meat, then just leave the bacon off. Its not something I do all the time anyways, but I had it today and so I added it.
Yield: 2
World's Best Mac & Cheese for two
prep time: cook time: total time:
Nothing says comfort quite like macaroni and cheese. This is, in my opinion, the very best version! I have downsized it for two people.
ingredients:
- 225g of macaroni (2 cups)
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 1/2 TBS plain flour
- 240ml hot chicken broth (1 cup)
- 120ml milk (1/2 cup)
- 60g shredded Gruyere cheese (1/2 cup)
- 60g shredded red Leicester cheese (1/2 cup)
- 60g cup shredded strong cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)
- 3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- a dash of Tabasco sauce
For topping:
- a bit of Parmesan, Cheddar, Gruyere and red Leicester cheese grated and mixed together with a few bread crumbs
instructions:
How to cook World's Best Mac & Cheese for two
- Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Lightly butter a large shallow casserole dish and set aside.
- Grate all your cheeses and mix them together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to the boil and add the macaroni. Cook according to the package directions, draining it while it is still a tad bit undercooked. Drain it well and rise with cold water. Set aside.
- Make the sauce by melting the butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir in the flour, mixing well and allow to cook for about a minute. Add the chicken broth, whisking it in vigorously until the mixture is thickened and smooth. Whisk in the milk. Heat thoroughly. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese mixture until it is well melted and amalgamated. Season to taste with black pepper and tabasco sauce.
- Place about 1/3 of the cooked macaroni in the buttered dish. Pour over 1/3 of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle on 1/2 of the reserved cheese. Repeat layering until you finish up with the final 1/3 of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle the top with a final layer of the cheese bits mixed with the bread crumbs.
- Bake in the heated oven until nicely browned and bubbling. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
NOTES:
If you can't get Red Leicester cheese, just use cheddar in its place. Gruyere can be substituted with Swiss cheese. Place your baking dish on a baking tray as it can bubble over.
Altogether this is pretty fabulous. Wonderfully down-sized for just two. A simple make. All you need on the side is some salad and a crusty loaf. Perfection at its best.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
One thing we both really enjoy in our house is Banana Loaf. I always buy extra bananas so that I can make one for us to enjoy with a hot drink every now and then.
Usually half of it gets given away or thrown out because we can't get it all eaten.
I know I could freeze it, but experience has taught me that things get lost in my freezer, never to be seen again.
Today I managed to cut my recipe in half and bake a really lovely one for just two people. I was really pleased with how it turned out and couldn't wait to share it with you.
It is lovely and moist and delicious. Sour milk helps to create a really beautiful loaf, but don't worry, I have told you just how to make your own sour milk. You could also use buttermilk.
You will need a small loaf tin for this. I have one that is about 7 by 3 by 2 inches and it worked well. It was the perfect size.
You could also bake it in a couple of ramekins or muffin cups. Whatever you have to size really. Who says a loaf has to be shaped like a loaf, really?
It rose really nice and tall. I like to blitz my bananas for banana loaf with my stick blender.
It gets them nice and smooth. I used two quite small banana's for this delicious moist loaf.
My husband loves his bananas. I always have hide a couple so that I can make banana bread, or else there would never be any left to make one.
Does anyone else have that problem?
And I do really enjoy a banana bread. You don't often catch me eating a raw banana unless its sliced onto my rice crispies, but I do love banana bread.
Baked into something, I love . . . raw, not so much.
This is a lovely moist bread with a beautiful crumb. The secret to a good quick bread is not over-mixing it.
Overmixing quick bread batters develops the gluten too much. This is something you really don't want in a quick bread.
They are much more rustic than cakes. You don't want to over mix them.
Overmixing results in a quick bread that is often quite tough and full of holes. They also won't rise as high. Its the same with muffins.
This is especially good served sliced and spread with softened butter . . . I know naughty . . .
Tell me I am not the only person who loves their loaves like this spread with soft butter?
I would rather have butter than icing or jam or anything sweet on it.
In all truth this is also very good with nothing on it.
I added toasted walnuts, but chocolate chips would also be very good . . . or butterscotch chips, or both . . .
I know. I am a glutton through and through.
In any case. I was super pleased with how this turned out. It is moist and delicious and has a beautiful flavour.
I think you are sure to love it also!
Banana Loaf for Two
Yield: 8 slices
Nice and moist with a delicious banana flavour.
ingredients:
- 60g butter softened (1/4 cup)
- 70g granulated sugar (1/3 cup)
- 1 large free range egg
- 125g mashed banana (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS sour milk (see note)
- 175g plain flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- handful of toasted chopped walnuts (optional)
instructions:
How to cook Banana Loaf for Two
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a small loaf tin (7-1/2 by 3-3/4 by 2-1/8 inch) and line with some baking paper.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, then beat in the egg, banana and sour milk.
- Whisk the flour, soda and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture stirring just to combine. It is okay and preferable for the batter to be a bit lumpy. Stir in walnuts if using. (You could also use chocolate chips.)
- Spoon into the prepared loaf tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and it is well risen and golden brown.
- Lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into slices to enjoy.
NOTES:
To make the sour milk. Measure 1/2 tsp of white vinegar into a TBS measure and fill with milk. Dump into a small cup. Add the other TBS of milk and let sit for five minutes.
I am really enjoying this little exercise in making smaller recipes. Not sure what I will do next! Watch this space!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan@aol.com
This recipe I am sharing with you today is for a wonderfully moist and delicious golden layer cake filled and frosted with a lush and rich chocolate frosting.
When I worked at the Manor this was the Birthday cake that I had to make for the Mister every year on his Birthday. It was his favourite cake, the only difference being that I had to use an American golden yellow cake mix to bake it for them, rather than from scratch as that was what they were used to.
I will tell you right now, that cake isn't a touch on how good this one is. This is many, MANY times better.
It is a recipe I adapted from a cookery book by America's Test Kitchen, entitled "The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook."
Yes, you read that right. This recipe is intended for only two people . . . I think they would have to be two really greedy people however because I think you could easily get 6 delicious slices from it.
The cake is moist and so delicious. Not too sweet and a perfect golden colour. It uses cake flour, which is not something we can get over here. I made my own cake flour. To do that I weighed out the flour, removed a tablespoon and then replaced the tablespoon I removed with 1 tablespoon of cornflour (corn starch). It worked very well.
Its a bit of work in that you have to beat one of the egg whites separately with some of the sugar until stiff and glossy.
All of the dry ingredients and the remaining sugar get whisked together in a bowl.
Melted butter, oil, egg yolks, buttermilk, and vanilla are whisked together and then are beaten into the dry ingredients and then the egg white is folded into that mixture.
You will need two six inch round layer cake tins. When I had divided the batter between the tins and baked the cake (which doesn't take very long) I was a bit surprised as I thought the layers would be quite a bit thicker.
But trust me when I say that when you layer them together with that rich frosting they are just thick enough.
That frosting . . . oh my, my . . . it is lush and very rich, and beautifully chocolaty and creamy! Almost like a mousse!
It is very rich, which is why I think that you would get six slices of cake from this instead of four. If you could eat a quarter of this cake in on sitting, I would be amazed!
This was just perfect. Not too big. Not too small. Just right.
Golden Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Yield: 2
A beautifully moist yellow layer cake with a lush chocolate frosting, perfectly sized for two people. You will need two round six-inch layer cake tins. Alternately you could bake in a small loaf tin, but timings will need to be revised slightly
ingredients:
For the cake:
- 2 large free range egg yolks, plus one large white, room temperature
- 100g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
- 105g cake flour (3/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 80ml buttermilk (1/3 cup)
- 3 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 TBS vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp vanilla
For the frosting:
- 170g milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)
- 200g unsalted butter softened (14 TBS)
- 86g icing sugar (2/3 cup)
- 56g cocoa powder (not drink mix) (1/2 cup), sifted
- 175g golden syrup (1/2 cup, corn syrup)
- 1 tsp vanilla
instructions:
How to cook Golden Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter two six inch round cake tins and line the bottoms with baking paper. Set aside.
- Beat the egg white with an electric mixer until it gets foamy. Continue to beat until it softly mounds, then slowly beat in 2 TBS of the sugar until glossy stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Whisk the egg yolks together with the buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla until smooth.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the remaining sugar. Stir in the egg yolk mixture and mix until almost combined. Stir in 1/3 of the egg white, then carefully fold in the remaining egg white until there are no longer any white streaks. Divide between each baking tin. Tap each tin gently on the counter once to release any air bubbles.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 16 to 18 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean with only a few moist crumbs.
- Let sit in the tins for 10 minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Carefully peel off the paper and discard. Cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting, melt the chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals on high, stirring each time, until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool somewhat.
- Whip the butter, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, and salt together until smooth. Beat in the corn syrup and vanilla, then beat in the melted chocolate chips until smooth and creamy.
- Put a small dollop of icing in the middle of a small plate. Top with one layer of the cake. Spread with about 1/3 of the frosting. Top with the other cake layer and Spread 1/3 of the frosting on top. Spread the remaining frosting evenly around the edges.
- Cut into wedges to serve.
Now that I have made one cake, small sized I think I can play with the recipe a bit and adapt it to other flavours, etc. Watch this space!
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