mac and cheese : comments [Usually called the doctor. Or the caretaker.]

The cheddar was good, but I think it needs some more strongly-flavoured cheeses, or else something that's just cheese on crack like edam. Possibly some jack or something. The cheddar gave it a lovely colour though. Maybe also pine nuts in the bread crumbs, finely chopped.

I am getting the hang of bechamels and really proud of myself for it. I made my first bechamel perfectly and then consistently broke them and had to rescue them for the next six years. Quite suddenly about a month ago I found the knack.

Our building repair guy will worry about that; luckily we're on what is euphemistically called the "garden" level so our floors are concrete, and the nearest carpeting is a good six feet away in any direction. The daniel is having trouble with his dishwasher lately too; 'tis the season, I suppose.

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So, what, do you think, is the knack to bechamel?

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I think it's the timing. I'm getting a feel for when to put the flour in, when to add the milk and how much milk to add at a time...I think that's most of it, to be honest. I believe my bechamels usually broke because I put the flour in too late, when all the water from the butter had already boiled away, and then when I added the milk I did it too tentatively and scalded it, and between the milk flash-boiling away and the roux being more like half-burnt wallpaper paste, when I finally grew a pair and added enough milk that it didn't just instantly boil away, the roux would break and the sauce that resulted after I'd managed to rescue it would be grainy.

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Usually called the doctor. Or the caretaker.

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June