Oh so creamy, Macaroni and Cheese (It's gluten free, too!)

Ode to Creamy Mac And Cheese!

Oh, how I long for thee
But with your glutenous ways
I rarely prepare ye

Until now!

Ah, I’m a happy girl. Happy, I say, happy!! Why, you ask, am I so happy? Well, I just figured out how to make an oh so creamy mac and cheesy that’s gluten free. And, guess what? It will work marvelously for you wheat eaters, too! This is good news because this recipe, I’m sure, can be varied in so many ways that I’m actually going to consider this a base recipe to be added upon and embellished based upon your fridge contents. Yep, I humbly ask that you try this, tweak it, and let me know what you did.

For some unknown reason, out of the blue, I started thinking about mac and cheese today. The weather has turned cooler (boo!) and a comfort meal was in order. My littlest mac eater endured surgery on her toe last Friday, and she misses eating mac and cheese (she’s my gluten free-er), plus my oldest mac eater gal loves mac and cheese, so I knew this meal would be well received. This is where I give kudos to my guardian angel. Not only did I think about mac and cheese, but for reasons not yet known, I thought about using evaporated milk to make it creamy. I have never used evaporated milk before in cooking. Never! Nada! So imagine my surprise when I was shopping today and I ended up in the baking aisle (my cart and I rarely venture down the baking aisle). Not one to mess with fate, I looked at the evaporated milk offerings and guess what was on the label? Anyone, anyone? Bueller? Ahem. On the can was a recipe for mac and cheese! (Insert twilight zone music here.)

Sooooo, I grabbed a couple cans, gave a wink in what I hope was the general location of my guardian angel (poor thing works a lot of overtime for me), and set off for home.

The recipe on the can was for regular pasta, but it really didn’t take much to tweak it for gluten free pasta. I used Tinkyada brand rice elbows for the pasta part and a mix of 3 shredded cheeses plus Parmesan for oomph. I also decided to bake it with a crunchy topping. Now, you wheat eaters can use seasoned bread crumbs. For you gluten free-ers, try this. It’s WONDERFUL! Substitute Rice Chex for breadcrumbs.Rice Chex by General Mills is gluten free!Just pop some in a bag, squeeze out the air, and seal.Simply smoosh the bag with your hands or with a can or the side of a plate. I used the evaporated milk can. Then treat these as you would for bread crumbs. I melted a pat of butter, dumped in the crushed chex (yep, dumped), sprinkled with seasonings, and let cool. I then added about a ¼ cup of grated Parmesan to it, and set it aside until the mac and cheese was ready to go in the oven. Here’s how you make the yummiest mac and cheese!

1 lb of pasta, cooked al dente
2 cans evaporated milk (that’s evaporated, NOT condensed)
4 generous cups of grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar, medium cheddar, and gruyere)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
White Pepper
Red Pepper
Rice Chex Topping

(See what's missing? No roux! No flour!)Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. In a large dutch oven, preferably non stick, heat the canned milk and the 4 cups of cheese over medium heat.NOTE: I used Sharp Cheddar, Medium Cheddar, and Gruyere. Feel free to experiment with your favorite cheeses, just be sure to incorporate something strong in the mix (like the sharp). Stir until melted. Gently fold in the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with the peppers (or whatever seasoning you like -- my cheese was on the salty side, you may want to add salt or seasoned salt here). Pour the cooked, drained pasta into the dutch oven and stir gently.You can serve it this way. It’s ultra creamy and oh, so good!Or, you can pour it into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with the chex topping, and bake covered for 15 minutes, and then remove the cover and bake 5 min more! YUM!It looked so pretty on these darling dark brown plates. I wish I had more photos (uh, better photos) for you, but the troops were literally standing over me wanting their servings. This mac and cheese is WONDERFUL! Very creamy and that crunchy topping was a perfect match. I served ours with magnificent sauteed chicken medallions and a side of broccoli. Mmmm ... Sooo good. Of course, since it was guardian angel inspired, what else could it be? How about you, what has inspired you lately?

Easy Peasey Mac and Cheesy

Do you have funny names for everyday things? Perhaps you mispronounced something, and then henceforth and forever the item was known by the mispronounced version? For example, when I was a wee newborn baby myself, my mom called me “dumpling” a time or two, and my late sister, a mere two years older than myself thus making her only two years old, mispronounced my nickname as “dumpy”. Can you see where I’m going with this? You guessed it, that LOVELY moniker stuck with me forever. I picked up a couple more along the way, but “dumpy” was the leader of the pack. Yep, I can just hear my witty sister laughing her head off in Heaven. Somehow, even though she was only two when she branded me with it, I suspect she had a plan all along ... little stinker.

Now a days with my own kids, I’m quite careful that their nicknames are something they wouldn’t mind me calling out through the neighborhood or from the sidelines during a game. We do, though, have some quirky names for food that we eat. For example, Macaroni and Cheese is never called, well, macaroni and cheese. Instead, it’s usually called “Easy Peasey Mac and Cheesy”. That catchy phrase is something special shared between my oldest daughter and myself, as she’s the mac and cheesy lover in the family.

Just check out this gorgeous version of mac and cheesy. I’m on a comfort food kick lately. Surprisingly, my daughter absolutely LOVES this. I say surprisingly because it has “stuff” in it. She is a serious food separatist, except for a couple things ... mac and cheesy being one of them.

Look at how creeeeaaaammmy this is! Ooooh, I want to snatch that big bacon piece right off of there and eat it! This version is based on a dish we had ordered eons ago at Red Robin Restaurants. They no longer have this on the menu, but it was a hit with my daughter and sooooo easy to recreate at home. Basically, just make your favorite homemade mac and cheese, and jazz it up with a couple of ingredients: Cooked diced chicken, crisp smoky bacon, creamy luscious goat cheese, and savory crunchy bread crumbs. C.O.M.F.O.R.T. Yum!


Couple things before we begin ... When making this, feel free to substitute your favorite basic mac and cheese recipe. Be sure, though, to make ample cheese sauce. Elbow shaped macaroni, as well as other shapes such as rotini, really need a LOT of sauce. Don’t skimp on the sauce quantity. Next, since my daughter’s palate has yet to fully appreciate highly seasoned foods, this dish is really quiet in the spice department. It could take more heat if you like spice. I’d stick to adding spices though, and not actually add chopped onions or green peppers, etc. This dish already has a lot going on in the three c texture department ... creamy, chewy, and crunchy. Adding more texture might actually take away from the dish. Of course, though, that’s just my humble opinion ... if you crave more stuff inside, by all means please your palate! There's that bacon piece again. I want it! To experience this comfort food for yourself, here’s what you do:

Easy Peasey Mac and Cheesy

½ lb Cooked Macaroni (or your favorite shape)
1 T olive oil
4T butter
2 T flour
2 ¼ cups 2% milk
1 cup cream
3 cups shredded co-jack cheese
Couple shakes of garlic salt and onion powder
Quick small shake of red pepper and white pepper
½ cup diced cooked chicken (I used left over roasted chicken)
5 slices bacon – cooked crisp and crumbed
2 Tablespoons goat cheese – crumbled in large chunks

2 sliced white bread, crumbed
1 Tablespoon butter
Season salt

2 Additional Tablespoons goat cheese for garnish
Additional bacon for garnish
Snipped parsley

Start off by buttering a 2 quart casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and toss with olive oil. Keep warm. While pasta is cooking, in a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over med high heat. Wisk in flour and cook for a couple of minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Gradually wisk in the milk and cream, a little at a time. Cook for a couple minutes, then wisk in the cheese. The mixture should thicken up, but remain very creamy. Season with the garlic salt, onion salt, and peppers. Combine with the cooked macaroni. Stir in the chicken and bacon. Gently fold in the goat cheese. Pour into prepared casserole. In a skillet, melt the remaining butter on med high heat. Add the breadcrumbs and season salt, and toast the breadcrumbs until golden and crispy. Sprinkle on top of the casserole. Put the casserole into the oven, and bake for about 15 minutes. Let sit for just a couple more minutes, then serve. Sprinkle each serving with additional goat cheese crumbles, crispy bacon, and snipped parsley.

At last, the bacon piece is mine! Take a bite. Sigh. Make yummy noises. Henceforth and forever, refer to mac and cheese as Easy Peasey Mac and Cheesy.