Lynfred Meals and Wines

Sherry Mac ‘n’ Cheese, served with a Lynfred 2010 Pinot Grigio!

Well, we’ve been doing this blog for going on four years now (craziness), and I’ve been wanting to switch things up a bit to make it easier on me and to just have some different things on here.   I know, many will say “make a MONTHLY blog EASIER?  Come on, you slacker!” but believe it or not it’s a lot of work to get everything together…I don’t know how you daily bloggers do it.   Anyways some changes:

-no more ingredients pictures.   It doesn’t really add anything and it frees up a picture space..

-gonna try for 6 pictures each recipe, each one representing some part of the cooking process from start to finish.

-keeping the recipes in their original formats.

-we tried one time to post what we were listening to while cooking the meal, gonna start that up again.

OK, so on to the recipe!    This one was relatively simple compared to some others we’ve done.   Standard mac ‘n’ cheese casserole, but adding the sherry (we threw in quite a bit more than the recipe called for) does give it a different taste…you can really taste the sherry.

Just a couple of things to note:  don’t forget to dot the top of your bread crumbs with butter if it’s not already buttered!   I always forget to do that and the bread crumbs don’t crust onto the top like they should.   Also, don’t use low sodium and fat free foods to make your recipes which is what we tried here.  It never works out exactly right.   Other than that not much to say, really good comfort food here!   Also coming this month:  Risotta Alla Milanese.

Listening to:   The Hunter’s Lullaby by Raine Maida

Sherry Mac ‘n Cheese

Recipe from the Kitchen of Diane Koehler, Tasting Room Manager

Ingredients

· 3 T butter

· 2 T flour

· 1/4 cup minced onion

· 1 3/4 cup chicken stock

· 1/4 cup dry sherry

· 2-3 cups grated mild Wisconsin Cheddar

· 4 cups cooked macaroni

· salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

· buttered bread crumbs to top (optional, but tastefully necessary)

Method

Preheat oven to 375. In a large cooking pot, melt the butter & stir in the flour until smooth & incorporated.   Add onion, chicken stock, & sherry.   Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils & thickens, about 10 minutes. 

Add Cheddar, stirring over low heat until melted & smooth. Add cooked macaroni, stirring to coat. Turn into a buttered casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes, topping with the buttered bread crumbs at the last 5 minutes of cooking.

*Can be prepared up to 2 days in advance, keeping the bread crumbs separate until ready to bake. Cover tightly with plastic wrap & store in refrigerator. Before baking, preheat oven to 375 & allow prep to come to room temperature first.  Serve with a glass (or three) of our delicious Petite Verdot!    [ed.note - yeah I know, we didn’t drink it with the Petite Verdot, that’s because we didn’t have any]