Sunday 17 July 2011

Random Recipies #6 Nigella Lawson Macaroni Cheese De Luxe with Honey Roast Gammon

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I even put the book on a festive red blanket!

This will be the first time I participate in Dom's Random Recipe Challenge and I'm really happy to be taking part and it's about bloody time I did so here it is.
I have a huge collection of cookbooks and I love them all, I'm one of those people that reads cookery books in bed and I bloody love it I do!
It was really hard to choose due to my undeniable love for each and every one of my precious books, It could have been 'The Prawn Cocktail Years' by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham who both also wrote and contributed to 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories' which is another all time favourite and regarded as one of the best cook books ever written. I adore all Nigel Slater books especially 'Good Food' that I am pretty sure I have cooked every dish from! Or what about a recipe from Sam and Sam Clarke from 'Moro' with their rustic bowls of beautiful food......
Well I came to my decision and I know it's July but the weather has hardly been that fabulous and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Nigella Lawson's book 'Nigella Christmas' was not one of my all time favourite books and the fact I have a year round obsession with Christmas may also have something to do with my choice, I would have been fully prepared to do roast goose with all the trimmings, no joke.
I adore the photography in Nigella's book, it's just so beautiful and I love the way she writes a little story and her own thoughts on each and every recipe which is why it's exactly the kind of cook book I will snuggle up in bed with.
I got my boyfriend to flick through the pages and I closed my eyes and shouted when to stop and it turned out to be 'Macaroni Cheese De Luxe', now I'm not gonna lie I was a teeny bit disappointed because Ive made macaroni cheese a thousand times before and was hoping for something new and exciting but I have never made one using evaporated milk so that was a little bit exciting, every cloud and all that.
I will admit that I did not stick to the recipe exactly as I forgot the Dijon mustard and I almost halved the quantities because it felt slightly excessive to use three cans of evaporated milk so I just used one and omitted the mustard. Here is Nigella's full recipe that unless your cooking for a small army you may want to scale down.

Nigell Lawson's Macaroni Cheese De Luxe
175g Soft butter, plus more for greasing
150g plain flour
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
3 cans evaporated milk 500g in total
1.5 litres of semi-skimmed milk
2 550g packs of macaroni
275g of Emmental, grated
300g Cheddar
75g Parmesan
salt

You make this as you would any other macaroni cheese and I'm pretty sure you all are accomplished cooks here and can make a macaroni cheese so Im not going to write out the reipe and some may say that's lazy but hey ho I say it's paying you all a compliment! The only difference with this one is mixing your semi-skimmed milk with the evaporated milk and use that to make your cheese sauce with when adding to the roux.

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Accidentally picked up 'light' evaporated milk, I hate anything that's diet or light so was not impressed when I got home.

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I bought a small gammon joint and boiled it before covering in honey and roasting in the oven. And yes there is a bit missing because I ate it alright.

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Starting to add the mountains of cheese, you can never have enough cheese in a good cheese sauce and that is a real fact

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Yes there is a hell of a lot more sauce than pasta and even I think I may have gone over board this time as that is a very deep saucepan with the macaroni just resting on top, but it was inevitable I like sauce, I always make to much and I always will

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Ready to go in the oven

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Ohhh....

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So gooey and cheesy with a delicious golden crust

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You may have noticed that my tomato's are un-roasted and that's because I forgot but still included them because you really do need something to cut through the richness of the cheese sauce.

After trying Nigella's version of macaroni cheese with evaporated milk I don't think I would make it again as the evaporated milk gave it a strange taste and I much prefer when I make it using just normal milk. I usually love the taste of evaporated milk so was a bit surprised by that but there you go. Thanks Nigella and thanks Christmas, I love you both! And Thanks Dom for coming up with such a great idea, I will be taking part far more often!


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25 comments:

  1. 'I bought a small gammon joint and boiled it before covering in honey and roasting in the oven. And yes there is a bit missing because I ate it alright.'

    love that line

    looks like proper tasty comfort food. I really should get my random recipe done.

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  2. OMG, your mac and cheese looks out of this world cheesy! I love Nigella Lawson! I'm going to have to give this a try. :)

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  3. now that's dedication...! A Christmas recipe in July... for me... gawd bless you... totally understand why this is your favourite cook book, it is brilliant and is stacked with so many memories for me too!... thanks SO much for taking part, it's great to have you on board! x

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  4. OMG....that looks delicious!!!! so creamy...so yummy!!!!! well done!!!!

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  5. Mmm I love macaroni cheese - looks gorgeous and cheesey delicious! I do love this book as well, is just so lovely to flick through! I admit I too *love* my cookbooks and read them in bed!

    Strangely enough I made a tuna pasta recipe the other day using evaporated milk, was nice but different, though think will stick to normal version with milk in future!

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  6. Gary I always like to be honest in blog post's!
    Sinful Sunday's it was most definatly out of this world cheesey, I would not have my man and cheese any other way!
    Dom I thought it would be a bit of gamble doing a recipe from a Christmas cokkery book in July but that's the kind of girl I am, Imagine if I had picked the page with the whole full on Christmas roast!
    Thanks Nicoletta, I would recommend eating it in small portions or you may overload on cheese sauce!
    Anne reading cookbooks in bed is one of my favourite things to do, and I don't know what it is about the evaporated milk that made it taste so strange, I thought it would go well in the cheese sauce to be honest.

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  7. Just realised I wrote that I would not have my 'Man' and cheese any other way instead of mac and cheese...hilarious, I will leave that mistake there!!

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  8. I was also disappointed in a Nigella Macaroni Cheese (I think it came from Nigella Express) - yours looks fantastic though!!

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  9. It was a shame 'Brownieville Girl' I was not expecting to be disappointed by a Nigella recipe, perhaps you and me are just better than Nigella at making macaroni cheese, yes that's it were just better at the whole mac n cheese thing!

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  10. Hi Sam! Hey, I love that attitude! You are better than Nigella at Mac and cheese. And you my friend are a prolific writer.
    I wanted to tell you that next month I start teaching two different psych classes at our local college. I aspire to encourage, motivate and inspire my students. I hope your new educational adventures are full of inspiring moments. Keep me updated so I can root for you!

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  11. mac and cheese is the national food in the land of comfort, and nigella is the queen! too bad evaporated milk didn't do the trick for ya, but oh well--regular milk is my liquid of choice too!

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  12. Hi Mario, very excited for you starting two new classes and you sound like a fabulous teacher that encourages his students, what more could they want!
    Grace it is indeed 'The national food in the land of comfort'!!!

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  13. Ha! I read recipe books in bed too, glad to see I'm not the only one.. Macaroni cheese is so comforting, I like mine with dolcelatte on top! and yes I'm at university in Brighton, absolutely love the place. Lovely to meet a fellow Brighton food blogger!!

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  14. Alex, Reading cook books in bed is definatly one of my most favourite things to do! Glad you like Brighton, Ive lived here for 15 years now, Im one of the people that came for a visit and never left!! there is quite a lot of people that end up doing that!!

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  15. Ha ha - I love your enthusiasm and stream of consciousness.
    I do love Christmas too!

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  16. I love this book! And the mac and cheese looks so good!

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  19. That looks rich and delicious!! It's freezing here at the moment, I could eat a huge plateful RIGHT NOW! :)

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  20. I just love macaroni cheese. It was one of the first dishes my mum taught me to make, and I agree it definitley needs lots and lots of cheese adding to it!

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  21. You love Nigella. So do I (in fact I chose her 'Kitchen' as my favourite cook book). You read cook books in bed. This is my all time favourite pastime. You love Christmas. I ADORE Christmas and am already excited about the festive period...in July! Well anyway, needless to say I will continue to read your wonderful blog.

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  22. A bowl of macaroni cheese sounds so so tempting. I suspect there are quite a few of us with a pile of cookery books by our beds ;-)

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  23. That mac and cheese looks absolutely lush! I love that book. I love Nigella full stop.

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  24. @searchingforspice..you can never have to much cheese in it!
    @Italianinspriation...We have some of the best things in commen including the best thing of all Christmas!!!
    @Chocolette..I think you may be right about a few of us having a pile of cook books by our beds!
    @I really love that book to Michael!

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  25. Made me rush to my Nigella Christmas book. Like to wait until at least October before bringing festive books to the fore but just had to have a browse lol.

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