March 14, 2014 New Recipe - Mac and Cheese and steamed asparagus

I took Robert Mueller to lunch today at Azuma and we had the usual Chirachi Donbori to celebrate the closing of a sale of a property I have an interest in. 

Tonight Suzette made the best Mac and Cheese I have ever tasted.  

While I was detained in a meeting out of the house until approximately 6:00 p.m., Suzette used several PPI ingredients to make a delicious version of Mac and Cheese.  She chopped up about 1 lb. of PPI blueberry glazed smoked ham (Costco) and sautéed the ham with ½ chopped red onion, while she boiled about ½ pound of cassarecca pasta . 

Then she made a Béchamel sauce and added grated French Gruyere, Irish Cheddar and Italian Romano Pecorino cheese (Costco) to the Béchamel sauce to make a Mornay Sauce. 

She then combined the Mornay Sauce and the sautéed ham and the boiled pasta in a large soufflé dish and topped it with more grated cheese and baked it in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the top of the cheese melted and browned a bit and began to bubble.

When I arrived home she steamed a handful of asparagus and I fetched a bottle of 2012 Chateau St. Michelle Washington State Pinot Gris and we fired up the fireplace and had a wonderful meal by the fireplace as a cold rain fell outside.

We enjoyed the slightly sweet pinot Gris with the saltiness of the ham and the creamy cheesiness of the Mac and Cheese.

I ate a piece of the fallen cloud cake for dessert with a scoop of lemon curd after dinner and decided to throw the rest away, because it is unpleasantly laden with a cornstarch and egg yolk flavor.

Bon Appétit