I kind've set out wanting to make a mac-n-cheese recipe that was literally as easy to make as it was to boil a pot of water. Which was kind've an impossible feat, but I think I came close.
Directions:
Bring a soup pot to a boil. Add macaroni and cook for 7min. Drain. Add cooked pasta back to the soup pot. Add cheddar, parm, milk, and butter.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Generously salt.
Add macaroni.
Stir and set a utensil across the top of the soup. (to of course, prevent overflowage)
Drain.
Add drained macaroni back to the soup pot.
Set the pot back over the burner for 1-2min.
Stir in the parmesan, butter, cheddar, and milk.
Stir to combine.
The mixture will be creamy, melty, sticky, gloopy, sha-doo-bee-boo-boo. In other words, the mixture will be all that is Mac & Cheese goodness.
Dig in.
or Plate up with a dash or two of cayenne and nutmeg.
I've watched this episode of Working Class Foodies a handful of times. 'Handful' meaning if a hand had over 100 fingers.
I didn't follow this recipe verbatim. But because WCF is so lax/casual about most things, I figured I could be too... or at least flexible. There were, however, a few things I was sure to be strict about: 1. Use fresh tomatoes. 2. Use fresh tomatoes. 3. Don't be a Menace to South Central Use fresh tomatoes.
All jokes aside, this recipe yields unbelievable results. (singing in the tune of 'Macho Man') Guh-spotch-oh! Gazpacho Man! … okay that was the last joke.
Ingredients:
1 1/2lb. fresh Tomatoes
French or Ciabatta Bread
2 Cloves Garlic
2Tbl Sherry Vinegar
1teas Cumin
1/2teas Brown Sugar
Directions:
De-crust, tear, and add bread to a bowl. Core/de-seed tomatoes. Squeeze tomatoes' cores over the bread, add 2Tbl water, and soak bread for 3-5min. Mince garlic with salt, cumin, and EVOO. Add the cored tomatoes to a blender. Squeeze excess liquid from bread and add the bread to the blender. Add garlic/salt/cumin/EVOO paste. Blend. Slowly drizzle in EVOO. Add vinegar. Taste for seasonings.
De-crust a chunk of french or ciabatta bread.
Tear and add to a bowl.
Core tomatoes.
Squeeze the tomatoes' cores over the bread.
Add 2Tbl water and let soak for a few minutes. (or the amount of time it takes to prep the rest of the ingredients)
Mince the garlic with salt, cumin, and EVOO.
Add the cored tomatoes to a blender.
Squeeze/squidge the excess liquid from the bread.
Add to the blender.
Add the chopped garlic mixture.
Add the brown sugar.
Blend! This is no time to be coy. Shove everything down with a spoon whilst blending at the same time. (if the spoon hits the blade of the blender, so be it)
Blend until you see this:
Now... "with your blender or food processor running - slowwwly slowly pour your olive oil in, in a thin drizzle." - Rebecca Lando
"It's not necessary but I like to strain my gazpacho before I refrigerate it." -Rebbeca Lando
"Oh, Rebbeca does that? Definitely doing it then." -Me
Last minute, I decided to make a topping w/leftover ingredients from my Vietnamese Summer Rolls (click HERE for that recipe) that I wanted/needed to use up.
Includes:
Red Bell Pepper
Cucumber
Cilantro
Basil
a little onion
Take care to dice the veg fairly small. (this is for a garnish ya know!)
roll herbs
and chiffonade to be fancy.
Season with: 1/2 teas ground black pepper, 1/2tsp Tabasco, 1/4tsp Kosher salt, and 1teas EVOO.
Chill (both) Gazpacho and (optional) topping in the fridge for at least 2hrs.
Bowl up. Serve with a spoonful of garnish & a drizzle of EVOO.
so far, this is the single best photo I've ever taken for my blog. Could stare at it for days.
Truth Time:
I don't own Sherry Vinegar. Don't be sad for me, I'm fine with it (I mean sort've). To compensate, I tried mixing equal parts of Apple Cider Vinegar and Balsamic Vinegar in attempts to create the same flavor effect. (truth time again) I've never tasted sherry vinegar, so I don't know how the dueling flavors compared. Probably paled in comparison as my efforts were blindly based. I'm aware in doing this (and telling everyone about it), I'm probably offending a bunch of people. But everyone seems to get offended these days. What's mixing a vinegar or two gonna hurt?
