Deep Fried Mac n Cheese

When we first started our kitchen adventures, most of them involved something with cheese... baked brie, cheese fondue, cheese-based dips, cheese in a pumpkin. Over time, we experimented with other ingredients but have always seemed to come back to cheese-based recipes. As cheesy as it sounds, we just love cheese.

So in a twist to the traditional mac n cheese we know and love, we decided to try making deep fried mac n cheese--- if anyone is familiar with the origins of deep fried mac n cheese (we suspect the Calgary stampede, or some Southern state) please leave a comment!

Mac n cheese: 
Ingredients:
200g gruyere cheese
200g marble cheddar
3 cups macaroni
500mL 2% milk or half n half cream
Half a stick of butter
5 TBSPS flour
Seasoning of choice
Salt and pepper


Procedure:

1. Boil water in a pot and add the macaroni. While this is happening, combine cheese by grating them in a mixing bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour to create a rue. 
3. In medium-low heat, add the cream, salt and pepper and cheese and mix until it becomes thick, creamy and velvety.
4. Add your seasoning of choice (we used garlic powder and a mix of parmesan and herbs).
5. Once the macaroni is cooked, drain the water and combine with the cheese mixture until everything is well coated.
6. Set aside to cool in a sqaure pyrex.
7. Cover in cling wrap when warm, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

The mixture is ready! Try not to eat it... 

Then we wait..... 

The next day.... 

To fry the mac n cheese: 

Ingredients:

3 eggs beaten

Flour

Panko bread crumbs

Seasoned bread crumbs 

Olive oil (or any oil used to fry)

1. Cut the mac n cheese into little cubes (we used cubes, balls are hard to form) and set aside.
2. In three separate bowls, prepare the eggs, flour and  mix the panko and seasoned bread crumbs in even proportions in the third bowl.
3. For each mac n cheese cube, cover the surface evenly with flour, eggs and then bread crumbs.

   

   You can build some sort of tower that looks like this...
   

   
   

   4. Deep fry until golden brown. We didn't want the extra hassle of cleaning the deep fryer, so we just used a nonstick pan with oil and fried each side until golden.

These mac n cheese cubes/bites would have been great with a cheese sauce with truffle oil, but truffle oil is expensive. Other options include marinara sauce or maybe some roasted tomato soup, which we COINCIDENTALLY have a recipe of right here. 

Check out that gooey cheese melting into the tomato soup.... A proud moment right there. 

S'mores Pie

Pie is not normally in our arsenal of baking recipes, and since it's camping season, we decided to make an easy s'mores pie care of Entertaining with Beth. This recipe was easy enough that (almost) nothing went wrong, except maybe the part where we couldn't wait to eat it so it was hard to slice. Here is a recap of this kitchen adventure:

Pie Crust 

Ingredients:

2 cups ground graham crackers (we found them ground at the grocery already which saved time)

6 tbsp melted butter 

1/8 tsp salt

1. (Preheat oven to 350F) Combine ingredients in a bowl until the graham crackers stick together 
2. 2. Place the mixture in a round baking pan. We used the bottom of a glass to form the crust evenly on the bottom 
3. Set aside for later 

Chocolate filling: 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream 

2 eggs and 1 egg yolk 

1 tsp vanilla 

1. Place chocolate chips and butter in a heat proof bowl. 
2. Heat cream and bring to a boil
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and butter while stirring with a whisk making sure everything is well incorporated
4. Add the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla extract 
5. Pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust and bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center

Marshmallow Topping: 

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1 cup corn syrup 

pinch of salt 

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

2 tbsp sugar 

1. Beat all the ingredients until stiff peaks
2. Use a spatula to cover the (cooled down.... don't be impatient folks!) top of the chocolate filling, adding some peaks and ridges to give it a rustic look
3. Bake under a full broil or 500F for 1-2 minutes. WATCH CLOSELY as the marshmallow topping can burn REALLY FAST, unless you're into burnt marshmallows, we respect that. 

The peaks of the marshmallows should turn brown first, giving it that rustic look

 4. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving

There is a lot of chocolatey goodness inside, perfect to serve at a summer BBQ