cooking comfort food on the hottest day of the year...
Last night I made macaroni and cheese with bacon and roasted butternut squash. It was very yummy. I used a mix of sharp Italian Cheddar and sharp Provolone, along with some good Parmigiano-Reggiano (all from DiBruno of course), some fresh bacon from the butcher and DeCecco whole wheat rotini. Sauteed a mess of shallots in a little of the bacon fat, which gave it a wicked taste. The creamy squash gave it a great flavor and let the dish get by with a lot less cheese than it would ordinarily need texture-wise. It seemed like I might be able to get by with just one squash, but while eating a bowl found myself craving of that sweet butternut flavor, so I roasted up a second squash to doctor up the leftovers with.
Hilariously, the drunken cake once again reared its ugly head. While roasting the squash, the kitchen filled with smoke as the oven burnt away lots of spilled caramel. I suppose you could say the first batch of squash was actually smoked rather than roasted. This morning K. said our hair still smells slightly of burnt sugar.
