Mac and Cheese Please

Today was a very productive day for me. Woke up nice and early and did most of my errands. I even had a phone interview and landed a face-to-face interview for next Wednesday. I’m super excited! It’s been awhile since I went on a interview, and it feels great to be getting back at it. Later in the evening, Will and I met up with one of my friends from back home. We went to high school together and even college and now live in the same city again! What’s the chances of that? Small world. It’s always nice to hang out with her and it's great to have a piece of Long Island out here with me in London. I picked up Will from work and we brought my friend to a beer garden near we lived named The Eagle between Old Street and Angel. It is a classic English Pub, complete with a beer garden and an open pit BBQ. The food looked delicious but I’m going to have to try it another day. Since I did not cook yesterday, I really wanted to cook and get back to my challenge. I asked my friend if she would like to join us for dinner and she kindly responded yes. Yey! I have a helper.... haha. It’s always nice to have a helper in the kitchen. Today’s challenge was…..


Recipe of the day: Roasted Tomatoes and Shaved Parmesan with Rocket Salad and Mac and Cheese


Ingredients/Grocery List: Total Spent : £13.64 (I failed to stay sub-£10 but to be fair I made enough to feed 4-5 people!)
1lb of Chifferi Rigati (ribbed Macaroni )£1.49
Dash of Salt (had it already
Drop of Olive Oil (had it already)
5 Tablespoon of Unsalted Butter (had it already)
4 cups of Milk £0.86
6 Tablespoon of Flour £0.93
1 ½ teaspoon of Mustard Powder £0.90
¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 Cup of Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese £1.28
2 Cup of Mature Cheddar (extra sharp Cheddar) £1.69
1 Cup of Leicester Cheese £2.00
2 Cups of Breadcrumbs (had it already)
Olive Oil Spray (had it already)
Grated Parmesan Cheese (had it already)

Salad:
1 Package of Cherry Tomatoes £1.19
1 Package of Rocket Salad £1.50
1 Package of Shaved Parmesan Cheese £1.80
Olive Oil (had it already)
Italian Herb (had it already)
Oregano (had it already)
Fresh Ground Pepper (had it already)

First, boil the Pasta (see instructions on packet). Make sure you add a few dashes of salt and a dollop of olive oil to the water. Preheat the oven to broil. In a baking sheet, spread the breadcrumbs and spray olive oil all over. Place them in the oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown. (You can always add butter to the breadcrumbs in a saucepan on the stove to make then nice and golden. )In a Medium Saucepan, add the butter until it melts and becomes bubbly. Now add the Flour, Mustard Power and Cayenne Pepper. Whisk it all together. Next, start adding the Milk, one cup at a time and whisking it continuously faster as you pour the last cup. At this point, you should begin adding the Monterey Jack, Mature Cheddar and Leicester Cheese. As you add each cheese, keep whisking. Cook the cheesy mixture for 3 minutes. When the pasta is done, drain and put it back to the pot. Add the cheese sauce and stir it all together. Place on a baking dish. While all that was happening, I marinated my tomatoes. Place a bunch of Cherry tomatoes in a bowl and add olive oil (enough to coat all over). Then I add a couple of Dashes of Fresh Ground Pepper, Oregano and Italian herb seasoning. Place the cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet. Now add the breadcrumbs on top of the mac and cheese dish. Lastly, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the breadcrumbs. Bake the cherry tomatoes and the Mac and Cheese in the oven (on broiler) for 8 minutes. For the Salad: Just add the tomatoes to the Salad. Then top it off with some shaved Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper. For Dressing, you can use vinegar and olive oil.... My husband made a nice plum pesto dressing this time!






Thank god I had a handy helper yesterday. It made making Mac and Cheese really fun and quick. At the end of dinner we were satisfying stuffed. There was plenty of leftovers. The Mac and Cheese recipe that inspired me today was from America’s Test Kitchen. Props to them. It is always a great time to have company over and cook. I love it! Yes, I did fail at my £10 challenge, but the salad and mac and cheese were great... and having a great time with great food is simply Priceless.