Cajun Macaroni and Cheese
- Ready In:
- 1hr 10mins
- Ingredients:
- 21
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 340.19 g macaroni, small-elbow (small shells fine too, about 3 cups)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 29.58 ml olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 29.58 ml all-purpose flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 354.88 ml milk, hot, but not boiling
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2.46 ml yellow mustard seeds
- 2.46 ml fresh thyme leave (1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed, fine too)
- 4.92 ml paprika
- 4.92 ml chili powder
- 4.92 ml prepared mustard (yellow & Creole fine, I love Zatarain's )
- 2.46 ml dry mustard
- 340.19 g sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 15-20 green olives, pimiento-stuffed, sliced
- hot sauce, to taste
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
- 44.37 ml cracker crumbs (breadcrumbs fine too)
- 14.79 ml unsalted butter
directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling water until almost al dente. Reserve cup cooking water, then drain.
- In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan lightly saute onion over medium heat in olive oil until it softens, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, cook for a minute, and sprinkle in flour. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and add bay leaf and milk all at once. Return to heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. If any flour lumps remain, whisk with a wire whisk for a few moments. Remove from heat, discard bay leaf and set aside.
- Combine pasta with sauce and mix in diced bell pepper, mustard seeds, thyme, paprika, chili powder, prepared mustard and dry mustard. Reserve about 1/2-cup grated cheese and add remaining to pasta. Stir in olives and hot sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a 2 1/2-quart casserole. Sprinkle top with reserved cheese and breadcrumbs. Dot with butter.
- Bake 30 minutes or until topping is golden, the cheese melted and the crumbs crispy.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Busters friend
Pleasure Island, 73
<p>First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. <br />He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. <br />There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! <br /> <br />Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 <br /> (10 inchers w/yellow tails) <br /> 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 <br /> (a 24 incher!) <br />Buster woken from beauty sleep - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG <br />Big whiskers - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG <br /> <br />For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 <br /> <br /> <br />I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! <br /> <br />Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! <br /> <br />I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) <br /> <br />I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.</p>