Comfort Food

Do you remember that children's book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Well that's the kind of day Rob had on Friday—a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day—one of those days in which everything seems to go wrong. Being the wonderful girlfriend and roommate that I am, I decided to make a whole bunch of really fatty foods for dinner. You know, comfort food. So I made chicken for Rob (yes, I handle raw chicken. According to our favorite bartender, Sheila, this makes me "a keeper.") and tofu for me.

On the side, I made scalloped potatoes and the best homemade macaroni and cheese I have ever had. The potatoes were a combination of a few recipes I saw online and my preferences, and the mac-n-cheese was straight from an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats on the Food Network. And oh my god, was it good.

Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded


In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

I followed this recipe pretty closely—the only substitution I made was a squeeze of Sriracha for the 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce. The key to this recipe is good quality cheese. Somehow I don't think it would be as good if you just threw in a bag of shredded Kraft cheddar. Go the cheese counter and buy some good, sharp cheddar and grate it yourself. I promise it's worth it. Besides, good cheeses are fun, and buying something from the cheese counter always makes me feel like a foodie. For this one, I used a big block of Tillamook.

It even looked like heaven. This recipe makes a LOT, so prepare for leftovers. Luckily, it reheated really well. Thanks, Alton Brown. I'd marry Alton Brown, if only he'd reply to the daily fan letters I mail him. Sorry, Rob.




Next up, the potatoes. I think when most people think of scalloped potatoes, they think of a big browned cheesy mess. Which is good, but probably not that great when you're already eating a big cheesy mess (see above.) So I decided to do a more traditional French preparation with the addition of some herbs I had in my fridge. Still pretty fatty, still delicious, just no cheese.

Scalloped Potatoes

2 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (I used Yukon Golds)
2/3 quart of whipping cream (oooh, fat!!)
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Small amount of butter

Layer the slices of potato in a buttered glass baking dish. In a bowl, mix together the cream, garlic, salt and pepper and pour over the potatoes. Dot the top with butter and place in oven for 50 minutes while it gets all brown and delicious. Simple as that. Take it out and sprinkle with any herbs you might want (I used parsley and chives, because they both pair with potatoes so well.) Let it rest for about 15 minutes and then dig in.


(Please note the Sur La Table chef kitchen timer that Rob gave me for my birthday peeking over the dish. Sweet moustache!)

Rob's reviews:
The potatoes:
8.5 out of 10 hot dogs



The macaroni and cheese:
A whopping 9.5 out of 10 possible hot dogs! Seriously ladies, the way to a man's heart is by clogging his arteries.