ABQ Gold

I know it's been forever since my last post, but instead of making excuses, I'll offer a recipe.

This week, my friend Lawrence got obsessed with recreating a cookie from his childhood that was apparently unique to the bay area: Mother's Flaky Flix. That got me thinking about some of the "treats" I used to eat as a kid, so I asked if he'd ever had the chocolate and peanut butter brick known as a Gold Bar. He had never heard of them, and a quick web search revealed that Gold Bars were (are?) a hyper-localized treasure created by the culinary minds at the Albuquerque Public Schools.

This blog shares a recipe or two and a slew of funny comments by folks raving about eating Gold Bars at APS. I only had the pleasure of enjoying them for one year in the 6th grade at Wilson Middle School before I got shipped across town to Albuquerque Academy (a school with its own unique housemade delectables like Munch Pudding, Nothings, and Veal Birds). I remember my lunch on Wednesdays at Wilson consisted of a Gold Bar (25¢, I think), a giant pickle, and a carton of chocolate milk. Between all that junk food and the cholas wanting to beat me up because I didn't like Michael Jackson, it's a wonder I survived public school at all.

Anyhow, I combined the recipes from the blog and made a few mods to come up with this:

4 tbsp melted butter
2 c peanut butter (I went with crunchy)
2 c powdered sugar
2 tbsp brown rice syrup (this is my hippy substitution for corn syrup, but you could certainly go for light Karo. My other thought was that agave syrup could also work since it's just a small amount to add pliability.)
2 c rice crispies
1 bag chocolate chips

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a big bowl. Fold in the crispies. Press the mixture evenly into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. I actually think you could do them in a 8 x 8 if you wanted them on the thicker side. I also covered it with a piece of parchment and rolled over the top with a rolling pin to smooth it out, but that's optional.

Melt the chocolate chips until they're smooth and shiny. I did this in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds for about 4 min (but your microwave is probably more powerful than mine, so just keep an eye on it). A double boiler would obviously work, too.

Spread the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture. Stick them in the fridge for 10–15 minutes until the chocolate just starts to re-harden, but is not brittle. This is the time to cut them. In my 6th-grader's mind, they were huge, like 4 x 4, but as a reasonable adult, I cut them into 24 smaller squares. Stick them back into the fridge until they feel solid.

 

way-fuls

Did you know that's how you say "waffles" in Brazilian Portuguese? That's one of the many useful things I learned a million years ago when I was a language major… and I always hear my professor saying it that way in my head whenever I eat waffles.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, this recipe came through my inbox, so I got obsessed with getting a waffle maker. Luckily, BB&B had just sent us a 20% off coupon, so I didn't obsess for long.

Despite having only 45 minutes this morning, I decided to christen the new toy with it's first batch of sourdough waffles because I had a surplus of active starter. After a quick search, here's the recipe I cobbled together:

Sourdough Waffles

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1 c. sourdough starter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 c sugar

2 tbsp butter, melted

Beat egg in a medium bowl. Add milk and sourdough starter. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix well. Stir in melted butter.

Follow your waffle maker's instructions. Mine takes about 1/2 c. of batter at a time, so this recipe made 4 waffles with just a smidge of the batter leftover.

I have to say, my first batch turned out pretty great. The sourdough gave them a nice richness, and after toying with the timing, they turned out crispy with a medium density, which is what I like. 

Speaking of waffle-timing, another interesting tidbit I learned at Stanford (while working in the dining hall): don't give too much credence to the ready light on your waffle maker. Instead, keep an eye on the steam coming out of the sides. When the steam slows down to a trickle, your waffle will be light and tender. When it stops altogether, it'll be crispy. 

pizza progress

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I've been working on my sourdough pizza-making. It's been going super-well, and we've been eating tasty pizza every 2 weeks or so. My sister says it's the best in the Bay Area. She is my sister, after all.

Here's the recipe:

Josh's Sourdough Pizza

Note: always use a plastic or wooden spoon when working with sourdough. And non-metallic bowls.

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. w.w. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2–3 tbsp. warm water
1 1/2 c. active sourdough starter*
2 tbsp. olive oil

1. Prepare 2 smallish mixing bowls by spraying with olive oil spray
2. In a medium bowl, combine flours and salt.
3. Add starter and water and combine into a tough dough. Usually, I start with 2 tbsp. water and it's plenty, but you can add a little more if the dough seems too dry.
4. Add olive oil to the dough and work in. This is a weird, messy step, but it's OK.
5. Once the oil has absorbed into the dough, knead it for 5 min. I do it on the (clean) counter with no flour. The oil should keep it from sticking.
6. Once it's smooth and slightly elastic, cut the dough into 2 balls and put them in the 2 bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and set them in a warmish place to rise. After about 2-2 1/2 hours, they should at least double in size.

At this point you can proceed with your pizza making (see below) or stick the dough in the fridge to use later. It should keep for 2–3 days. Just be sure to take it out at least 1 hour before you want to use it to bring it back to room temp or so.

7. Preheat oven to 500° with pizza stone inside. (If you don't have a pizza stone, I'm not sure what to tell you. Go get a bunch of bricks?)
8. While oven is preheating, roll crusts out onto heavily floured boards to about 12 inch circles (or close to circles). Cover loosely with dishtowels to rest while you collect your cheeses and toppings and warm up some sauce.
9. When oven is ready, dust a pizza paddle (again, if you don't have one, hmmm... back of a cookie sheet?) generously with cornmeal and place your first crust on it.
10. IMPORTANT: spray or wipe the entire crust with olive oil all the way to the edges. This will help keep your sauce and toppings from soaking in.
11. Dress 'er up. Try to be moderate with your toppings and cheese because a) a little goes a long way on a pizza with a good-tasting crust, and b) you have to get this thing in the oven in one piece.
12. Optional: if you have some fancy coarse salt, sprinkle a little around the edges of the crust.
13. Slide the pizza off the paddle onto the hot stone. Cook for about 8–10 min. I keep the oven light on so I can watch it. When the cheese starts to brown, it's done. Bring it out and cut it.

TIP: If you're using fresh herbs, don't put them on 'til the cheese just starts to brown. They only need about 45 seconds–1 minute in the oven. You don't want them to be brown and dry.

ANOTHER TIP: Break an egg in the middle of the pie right as the cheese starts to melt. Don't be scared. Num.

* On sourdough: there are literally thousands of books and websites about making sourdough starters, so I can't pretend to be an kind of authority or give much advice other than look up a recipe and try it. You do have to commit to keeping the baby alive which really isn't hard. In a nutshell: put equal parts flour and water in a non-metallic container and leave it loosely covered on your counter for a few days until it starts to smell sour and make hooch (alcohol). Discard the hooch, pour about half of the starter out and add 1 c. flour/ 3/4 c. warm water. Repeat this 2 or 3 times until your starter basically doubles in size when you feed it. It's now "active" and ready to use in a recipe. Then, you stick the remainder in the fridge and feed it at least every 2 weeks. Really, you know, you should just watch this video. I've been maintaining my starter for about 2 years now and it's totally worth it. 

salami, green garlic, red pepper, goat cheese, italian parsley

hot italian sausage, nm green chile, fancy (oyster?) mushrooms

Turkey overload = chile craving

The past couple of weeks have been both busy and off-kilter because of sickness, Thanksgiving, and rainy weather. Time for some updates, yes?

We missed out on trying a turkey trot this year, but Liz and I finally completed our Couch-to-5K program last week (yeehaw!) and are continuing to "train" a couple times a week for an upcoming race in January.

My mom came to stay with us for thanksgiving weekend. We had a nice, mellow visit featuring lots of cooking, eating out, foot massages, holiday madness in SF, Yahtzee, and a shopping day which resulted in Mom buying us a new TV for xmas!!! We had an old 19in CRT which we kept hidden (and dwarfed) in a cabinet in the living room and my mom apparently felt sorry for us and helped usher us into the 21st century with a fancy 32in LCD model. Thanks, Mom! 

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome. My sister and Darren, and Cara and Chris joined us and we had your stereotypical overstuffing fest. Here's the menu:

• Appetizers courtesy of Samantha: Spinach/Bacon/Green Chile dip; fancy meat and cheese board 
• Mashed potatoes
• Corn Pudding
• Brussels Sprouts
• Fiery Sweet Potatoes (w/red curry)
• Cara's awesome lemony thymey beets
• Dried fruit and herb stuffing
• Dry-brined, herb-buttered happy, happy turkey
• White wine turkey gravy
• Whole-wheat sourdough cloverleaf rolls (hot damn, they turned out!)
• Cranberry sauce ala Liz
• Weird grapefruit-cranberry relish ala me
• Liz's cranberry-apple galette
• Darren's pumpkin cheesecake
• Cara's homemade french vanilla ice cream
• 3 terrific wines: Borra Member's Reserve Rosé, Dashe Les Enfants Terribles McFadden Zin, Clos Tita La Sierra Azul Red

As a result of that crazy amount of food, we have been eating turkey leftovers for the past 10 days. I'm actually quite proud of the fact that this year we didn't let one speck of our spendy 16+ lb. bird go to waste. In addition to a few rounds of turkey sandwiches, we also made turkey stock to freeze for later, cat food (from the carrots and scraps that came off the bone in the stock), turkey-orzo soup, and turkey cottage pies. 

I finally reached turkey fatigue this weekend, so yesterday returned to the simple, delicious basics of New Mexican food and made a pot of beans, red chile and flour tortillas. Here are some crappy photos of the yumminess:

Mis frijoles vegetarianos

Chile rojo, te quiero

On the topic of beans: I've been eating pinto beans all my life and just recently perfected my recipe for a vegetarian version that's equally as delicious as the traditional pot of New Mexican beans cooked with a ham hock or salt pork. Trust me, I have nothing against meaty beans, but since I like pork in my chile also, I thought I'd make a nod to healthiness and global responsibility and all that by not putting meat in both parts of the meal. Anyway, this recipe works out really well since the chipotles add that same rich, salty smokiness you'd usually get from pork. Here 'tis:

Pocha beans

1 lb /2 c. dried pinto beans, sorted and rinsed* 

7 qts. water

2 large cloves garlic, smashed/minced

3–4 chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped finely (these come in cans and can usually be found in the "ethnic" aisle)

2 tbsp dried oregano

Put all the ingredients in a crock pot and set to high for 30 mins. to an hour until the crock heats up nicely. Switch the heat to low and let the beans cook for 7ish hours. You will know the beans are done when you blow on them and their skins wrinkle. You can then add salt to taste (quite a bit—like 2–3 tsp kosher) and let them continue on low for another 15 minutes. Perfection.

*I have to make one more comment here: I bought my last couple of pounds of beans from a local Mexican supermarket and not only were they dirt cheap, they were perfect. I didn't find one bad bean or rock, and they were so fresh that the the skins and texture of the final dish were flawless. I'd imagine that this is because of heavy turnover and demand, so I highly recommend that if you are anywhere near a Mexican grocery, you try buying your pinto beans there.

Winter Tonics of the Beef and Potato varieties

Last Monday, we headed up to Chico, CA for Sierra Nevada Brewing's 30th anniversary party which was awesome— 30 mostly rare beers on tap in their HUGE and amazingly beautiful facility. I made it through the party, but came home with the icky cold that's going around this year. So, the past week has been all about resting, watching TV (current projects: Being Human, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, maybe Brew Masters and maybe 30 Rock), and soup. Here are the 2 I made to try to kick this bug:

Beef and Barley Soup
1.5 lbs. stew meat (Mine was lean chuck. You could pretty much use any cut, as long as it's on the lean side.)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 large carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced (so they're semicircles, I mean)
3 large stalks celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c dry wine (I had white open, but you could certainly use red)
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
couple dashes Tabasco
1 qt beef broth (I used a natural beef bullion dissolved in boiling water)

1 can (14 oz?) of diced tomatoes

3–4 c water
1 tbsp dried marjoram
1 tbsp dried parsley
2/3 c pearl barley
(optional) 3/4 c fresh green beans cut into 1 in pieces

1. Cut beef into bite size pieces if not already done so by your butcher. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When oil's shimmering, add beef and spread it into an even layer. Don't touch the meat for a few minutes so it gets a bit of a sear, then stir it around to cook through.
3. Add onions, carrots and celery to meat and cook until onions soften, about 4 min. 
4. Add garlic, wine, worcestershire and Tabasco and cook another 2 min.
5. Add beef broth, tomatoes with their juice, and water (enough to cover everything by 1 in). Cover and continue to cook on med high until it comes to a soft boil.
6. Reduce heat to a simmer, but keep covered. Add herbs and cook for about 30 min. 
7. Add barley and cook (still covered) for another 20–25 min until barley is tender/toothy. Note: DO NOT use more barley than called for even if it seems like too little. It'll absorb all your liquid and puff up. I promise.
8. If you're using green beans, you'll want to add them about 10 min. before barley is done. 

This next one is one of my favorite old standby meals. My mom taught me how to make it when I left for college, so it's really comforting. Plus, it's easy and super-cheap, but surprisingly hearty and warming with lots of black pepper (you may want to put in less… Liz and I both have an unusual fondness for the stuff). It's especially solid with a bit of bread and cheese to accompany it.


Potato Soup
3 tbsp butter
4 stalks celery, sliced
onions of some sort: this time I had 1 smallish leek, which didn't seem like enough so I also used 1 medium shallot. Usually, I use a small yellow onion, diced. Basically, you want about 1 c. of onioniness.
4 large russet potatoes, diced, skin on

1 tbsp dill seed (This is important as it gives the soup a nice dry herbiness.)
1 tbsp black pepper
32 oz chicken or vegetable broth
2 c (or so) milk
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill weed or 1 tsp dried

1. Melt butter in soup pot over medium heat. 
2. Add celery and onions and cook until softened.
3. Add potatoes, dill seed, and pepper. Cook another 2 min,
4. Add broth. It should just cover the potatoes. If not, add a bit of water. Cover and bring to a low boil. Cook until potatoes are soft and you can smash them with a spoon.
5. Add milk and cook uncovered about another 5 minutes until milk warms up. If you're using dried dill weed, put it in now.
6. You have many texture options here. I like to just stand over the pot and smash a bunch of the potatoes against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon to give the soup some thickness while leaving several chunks. You could also ladle 1/2 or all of the soup into a blender, puree it and return it to the pot. Or, if you've got a handy immersion blender, you could attack it that way. Or, just leave it alone—up to you.
7. Garnish with fresh dill, add salt to taste.

Not beautiful, but that's OK for us peasants.

Sunday = (sometimes misguided) project day

Every Sunday when Liz goes to work at St. George Spirits, I get to have an afternoon at home to myself— a "me" day in daytimeTV-speak. Usually, I end up filling the day with cooking projects I've been ruminating on all week, and/or my ongoing yeast and bacteria enterprises (sourdough and yogurt, that is).

Here's what this past Sunday had in store:

1. Sourdough english muffins.
2. Maple yogurt
3. Pulled pork
4. Sourdough rolls for #3 and as a test for Thanksgiving dinner

My inspiration for making pulled pork was the fact that every time I order pulled pork at a restaurant around here, it's only OK— not smoky or spicy enough for my taste. It's disappointing because Oakland is supposed to be a BBQ mecca, and my experience is that east bay BBQ is on the sweet, not too challenging side. Plus, Oaklanders love them some hot links which are usually cooked to the point of mush in a casing, and that's just gross. We won't even talk about the sad state of the sides I've tried.

Anyway, I rubbed a pork shoulder with a Tarheel rub I had picked up at this awesome spice store in Seattle (+ brown sugar, salt and NM red) and let it sit overnight. Then, I got it in my head that I had to smoke it in the Weber despite the fact that it poured rain for most of the day. No matter— I just brought the grill up to our fabulous porch and slow-cooked the roast for 4 hours over hickory chips. I finished it up in the oven for about an hour, then pulled it and stuck it in the crock pot with this crazy creation:

Everything in the Kitchen BBQ sauce

2 tbsp butter
1 medium shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 heaping tsp red chile powder
1 largish chipotle in adobo, minced
1 1/2 c tomato sauce
1/2 c cider vinegar
2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 tbsp molasses
2 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp strong brewed coffee or espresso
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 oz. whiskey or bourbon
hearty pinches of thyme, oregano, parsley, and black pepper

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until it's soft, about 3 min.
2. Add garlic, chile powder, and chipotle and cook until fragrant.
3. Add everything else, and stir well. Bring to a low simmer, and cook for 30 minutes. You may want to add a little bit of salt, but it depends on what you're putting it on. The BBQ sauce will still taste pretty vinegary, but don't worry— that will dissipate as it cools and/or when you add it to meat.

I may work on refining this concoction so that either the whiskey or the coffee stands out more, but it's got a deep, dark, tangy hotness as is.

Chilling Turkey Chili

This Sunday, Liz made a request for Halloween chili of the sort that we New Mexicans sometimes call "Texas chili." (Nevermind that we were watching the World Series and rooting for the SF Giants to trounce the Texas Rangers…) You might know it as Chile con Carne or Chili Beans, but basically, it's the yummy meaty, beany, tomato-saucy stew that is distinctly different from NM chile (with an "e"). At some point, I'll expound on the whole New Mexican chile taxonomy, but for now, I'll just share the recipe I came up with. I have to say it was pretty great considering my prejudice against Texas and that I made the decidedly California move of using turkey instead of beef. Ah, regionalism… Anyway, this is how it goes:

1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 largish onion, diced
4 or 5 jalapeños or other hot peppers, diced (so about 1/2–3/4 c. depending on how hot you want it)
5 cloves garlic, minced

Saute all of this in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until veggies are soft.

Add to the pot:

2 lbs. ground turkey (I used 1 lb. each of white and dark meat for the best texture and flavor)

3 tbsp. red chile powder (NM red is, of course, the best…)

2 tbsp. oregano

2 tbsp. ground cumin

1 tbsp. green chile flakes if you've got 'em, otherwise red will do (I also like to grind these up in the spice grinder a bit)

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa (yes, cocoa)

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 chopped up cilantro stems

Turn up the heat a bit, and mix all of this together. Break up the turkey as much as possible, and cook until spices are fragrant and turkey is cooked through. 

Now add:

3 c. chicken broth

1 c. beer (I used Eel River's Porter, which has a pretty strong coffee flavor that works well in the chili. In fact, next time I make this, I may throw some finely ground coffee in, too.)

28 oz. can of diced tomatoes in their juice

1/2 can of tomato paste (I think that's about 3 oz.)

Cover and bring to a boil. Remove the lid and let simmer over medium heat for about 10 min. 

Finally, add:

4 c. cooked, drained beans—I had cooked up a batch of beautiful nightfall beans earlier in the day (it was Halloween, after all), but you could use canned beans or a combo of different kinds of beans—whatever suits your bean fancy. For more on cooking beans, please pop over to Aly's blog for her definitive bean treatise at the end of this recipe.

You may need to add more chicken broth at this point—just make sure everything's covered with liquid. Simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes or so until the liquid reduces a bit. Add salt to taste.

Serve with grated cheese and cilantro.

I also made a spooky blue cornbread to go with, but stupidly neglected to take a photo of it. Another post  on that will undoubtedly show up soon.

Mac 'n' Cheese Exhibition Match

Friday night we hosted what we were touting as a "Macaroni and Cheese Off" between myself and Liz's coworker Paul. It turned out to be more of an exhibition event because 1) macaroni and cheese makes everyone so happy that the competitive spirit really can't find a foothold, and 2) the entries were so disparate in style, yet equal in deliciousness, that the judging was impossible.

Paul's wife Amie did the actual cooking for the visiting team. Their entry was a layered concoction with 4 or 5 different cheeses—smoked gouda being the dominant player—and proscuitto sprinkled about.

My entry was a more standard baked mac and cheese that I've been perfecting for a few years. I confess: I did make a practice round last weekend in preparation, and I'm glad I did because I needed to make a few risky last minute adjustments to achieve optimal cheesiness.

Young Brad and Shannon did their best as our impartial judges, giving me points for breadcrumbs and creaminess and Paul and Amie points for overall flavor and the inclusion of meat.

Here's my recipe. Don't worry about the fat content—it's good for the soul.

Macaroni and Cheese
1 lb pasta of a shape that cheese can grasp onto all over (rotini, conchiglie, chiocciole, etc)
4 c milk
1 stick/8 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1 tsp ground mustard seed
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp black pepper
7–8 c shredded cheese: my current favorite combo is fontina/gouda/aged gouda
1 c breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Melt 2 tbsp butter and stir into the breadcrumbs to coat them. Set aside.
3. Bring salted water to a boil to cook pasta. Put the pasta in.
4. While pasta cooks, melt remaining 6 tbsp butter in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. 
5. When butter is bubbly, add flour, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. 
6. Cook flour/butter roux for about 3 minutes 'til it starts to brown. Whisk.
7. Slowly pour in milk. Whisk.
8. Add mustard, nutmeg, cayenne, and black pepper to sauce. Cook it until it thickens to a gravy-like consistency, whisking often so that it doesn't stick.
9. Your pasta should be al dente around this time. Drain it.
10. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in all of the cheese minus about 1/2 c until it's melty and smooth.
11. Add pasta to cheese sauce and stir until it's all covered with cheese. 
12. Spread the breadcrumbs in an even layer over the top. Also sprinkle the remaining cheese over the breadcrumbs.
13. Put it in the oven and bake for about 20–25 minutes until the breadcrumbs brown slightly and the cheese sauce bubbles. 

Spaghetti and Meatballs Beta

Last weekend for our little dinner soiree, I got a bee in my bonnet about making a big spaghetti and meatball Sunday dinner. Now, I can do a pretty decent tomato paste-based red sauce with sausage, or a basic fresh tomato/basil marinara. My history with meatballs is my mom's recipe with carrots and potatoes and a can of Campbell's tomato soup (which is delightful it its own way). But, alas, I had never made the archetypical tomato sauce and meatballs completely from scratch.

I decided to go with the America's Test Kitchen recipe as a good, basic place to start. The tomato sauce was easy: oven-roast tomatoes and puree them; saute garlic, onions, and red pepper flakes; add tomatoes, simmer; add salt, pinch of sugar, parsley. The meatballs were also pretty simple: the trick is to soak some white bread in buttermilk, then add beef, pork, egg, parsley, garlic, parm, salt, pepper; shape, brown in olive oil, stick in the sauce. 

The meal was successful: meatballs were moist, sauce had good texture, everyone was happy and full. Of course, this was only a beta test: it was a little on the bland side for my taste. I actually find that to be generally true with the ATK cookbook: foods turn out technically sound, but not too exciting flavor-wise. Next time I will:

• Increase the amount of ground pork in the meatballs (instead of 3:1 beef:pork, I might go 2:1. I might even use a little sausage... or bacon/pancetta!)
• Put way more herbs and spices and some finely chopped onion and green pepper in the meatballs
• Put a touch of tomato paste or sauce in the meatballs
• Not bother with fresh tomatoes for the sauce unless I can find a bunch of REALLY good ones. The romas I used didn't have a ton of flavor, so it wasn't really worth the hassle. My usual thick red sauce with canned tomato paste usually has a better tomatoey flavor, so that's probably what I'll fall back on. And, of course, more herbs, spices (definitely more red pepper flakes)...

Not bad for a first try, but with lots of room to improve. I foresee Sunday spaghetti and meatballs as a possible regular event... but not tomorrow. Tomorrow is training for the Mac and Cheese-off coming to our kitchen next week. Report on that TK!