Recipe #5 Mac-n-Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower

It’s my turn to take a moment for an introduction. I’ve been offline recently due to being out-of-town for the holidays. My name is Diane, I live in East Texas, but spent most of my life in California.

As Debbie mentioned, we’ve known each other for something like 23 years. I was the founder of what is called a "local" Barry Manilow Fan Club, and was looking to recruit members, so I put ads in teen magazines, and also contacted the local newspapers. One of these papers put a little blurb with my contact information, and Debbie responded. Looking back, it seemed so "not me" to do something like that (the recruiting and PR, etc.) But, Barry Manilow has been such an amazing tie between us, and I keep in touch with her and other friends I’ve made through that network, more than people I met in high school and such.

Now that I’m home from the holidays, Debbie gets a break from mac-n-cheese. I’ve been a Rachael fan for several years but mostly enjoy watching her on TV and haven’t cooked all that many of her recipes. This dish seemed simple enough but I felt like I was on a game show like "Beat the Clock" in trying to keep under 30 minutes. I didn’t go too far over, it took about 40 minutes. I think I would be faster if I did like Rachael does and pile all my ingredients and bowls and such on the counter, in one trip. The way I cook, I just grab an ingredient, use it, then put it back.

I tried to stay true to the recipe. My straying mostly involved minor things like cooking the macaroni in the microwave. We have propane here and so we try to conserve on the gas by doing as much as we can with electricity (no point having the burner on for 5 minutes waiting for water to boil when it can be done in less time in the microwave). I also steamed the cauliflower because I made some broccoli on the side for my husband, who is a veggie-holic. (That way I could put them side-by-side in the steamer and not have too many flavors going on.) I had planned to sprinkle almonds on top but I guess I’d had them in the freezer too long and when I picked a piece off the cutting board to snack on, yuck, too old. So I had to skip that part.

Anyhow, I was surprised at the flavors of this dish, very complex for something simple like mac-n-cheese. I liked the zing of the cayenne. I don’t normally like smoked cheese but it wasn’t too overpowering and gave the sauce a rich taste. Very sophisticated. I’d give it a 6. I asked hubby what he’d rate it and his reply was, "I’ll take Kraft any day." He isn’t one to follow the rules and wouldn’t give it a rating. He is also very picky and there are not very many new recipes that he cares for. I almost think if I didn’t call it mac-n-cheese, instead something like pasta with cauliflower and smoked cheese sauce, he would have liked it better (and not have had the mac cheese association). He did add that it would be good if it had some ham in it. The cheese sauce would be good with the cauliflower on its own, too.