blue artichoke

So, weeks ago, I had a dinner date. Nothing special, and things ultimately didn't pan out. But it was one of those "I want to cook for you" things, and as I was working late, it was decided we'd make dinner together at my house. We both had a craving for macaroni and cheese and decided to have that.

There was a slight glitch in that Dinner Date couldn't pick up the ingredients, not understanding the full extent of kashrut in the house. So after we were both at my house we went to the Shaw's, complete with its three aisles of kosher products. We picked up several types of cheese and some macaroni and let loose.

The result was nothing short of spectacular. Unfortunately, though, I do not have exact measurements. I have suggested one of my friend make this for her mac'n'cheese cook-off, and her sister and brother-in-law tried it the night I told them about it only to rave about it for days afterwards. That made me smile.

Anyway, have at it:

Killer Kosher Mac'n'Cheese

Ingredients:
macaroni
small block of Cabot white cheddar
small block of Cabot sharp cheddar
small block of Cabot chipotle cheese
1/2 c. milk
butter
Ritz crackers

Cook the pasta as per usual. Shred a lot of cheese -- just eyeball it and use more than you think you should (cheesier is better, right?). Heat the milk and half a stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add the cheeses and melt them down.

Drain the pasta and put into a 9x13 (or whatever size you think works best) pan and smother with the cheese.

Crush up the a sleeve and a half of Ritz crackers, melt about a stick of butter and mix together, then cover the top of the pasta with the buttery Ritz crumbs.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes -- just keep an eye on it.

The Ritz and the chipotle cheese are what make this super tasty. Just enough kick, just enough butter (well, more butter than really is necessary, but butter is SO good). And you can use any brand of cheese as long as there is a hekhsher mark on it (if you want to keep it kosher) -- Cabot cheeses are all hehksher'd, which is why I specified them above.

If you want to go a bit treyf, throw some ham in there. Totally not kosher, but I can only imagine that it'd be fantastic. I'll have to keep imagining it until my roommate moves out.

Getting to Know All About You: Do you follow recipes or make it up as you go along? I'm a recipe person myself, but Dinner Date was not (which is why there are no measurements above)...