The LeCheffre "Alternate Theory of the Crime" Macaroni and Cheese

[Troutman]

Well LeCheffre (sounds like La Jeffrey), that's a nicely done recipe. Glad you posted it. Like most kids, mine are rather fond of mac and cheese, I'm going to give your version a try. Thanks for being a recipe poster by the way, give us more Le Chef !!!

[Mosca]

Is LeCheffre a Bond reference pun, changing LeChiffre to LeCheffre for culinary reasons?

[Mr. Bones]

That sounds seriously delicious, amigo!
I'll be givin it a whirl!
Thanks fer sharin yer receipt, an technique!

[Keiferr]

Sounds amazing! I like the no roux part especially . Definitely gonna have to do this .Thanks for posting!

[Potkettleblack]

They were pretty good, but some berkshire shiners... I'm done with berkshire ribs...

[holehogg]

Looks good - like a have to do recipe. Thanks for sharing. BTW ribs look just as good.

[Mosca]

Holy schneikies. That looks awesome. I'm gonna go put my cardiologist on speed dial, then I'm heading to the store for some cheese.

[Potkettleblack]

Shortly after registering here, I started using LeCheffre as my online nickname, rather than PotKettleBlack. My wife made me my own logo and everything, back when I had hair and didn't wear glasses, but since I was already established here as PKB, I decided not to change to LeCheffre, even though that's me nearly everywhere else.

Way back, a decade ago, when I was doing my previous successful round of low carbohydrate living, I used a low carb pasta, and took the roux out of the cheese sauce for baked Mac and Cheese. Turns out, that low carb pasta is not as low carb as they would have had us believe (but I still lost a ton of weight... well, really 3% of a ton, if we're going to be precise), so this is not really a LCHF/Keto recipe, so much as an alternative theory of what M&C should be like.

Aside from getting the roux out, I have traded some level of creaminess off for an increase in flavor. The limitations of roux based cheese sauces are two fold: textural issue (graininess) and flavor ceiling (there's only so much cheese flavor you can load into a roux). As such, the LeCheffre Alternate Theory might be the M&C that best shows off the cheese, so it's worth using the good stuff.

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs pasta (short format... I prefer cavatappi/celantani or rotini/fusili, but penne rigate, macaroni, shells, whatever work... I think orichette would sit too flat)
• 3 large eggs
• 8 oz cream cheese - room temp so soft. Not the spreadable... the real brick.
• 8 oz heavy cream
• 4 oz butter + 2 T reserved (4 oz softened or melted... 2T melted)
• 16 oz grated cheddar (go full flavor here)
• 16 oz gouda or mozz, or swiss (go for meltability and flavor... I think mozz generally melts too much, but if you like that stretchiness, it's what you want... I think gouda provides the best option here, but mild cheddar would work too)
• Tabasco or other hot sauce - to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• Dry white wine (optional... to texture... see recipe)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Panko, crispy onions, corn flakes, whatever crispy to top. I like a mix of about 2:1 panko to crispy onions

Directions:

1. Cook pasta. Salt the water before cooking, like to the 3-5% ocean salinity. Cook 2 minutes short of package instructions for al dente.
2. Blend eggs, cream cheese, heavy cream and 4 oz. butter
3. Working in batches, blend the cheese into the egg/cream mixture. Add garlic, pepper, hot sauce.
   1. It will be very thick. If it gets too thick to blend, add the white wine to loosen it up. It should be looser than spackle, roughly toothpaste texture.
4. Mix cooked, drained pasta into cheese mixture.
5. transfer to casserole or cast iron pan.
6. Mix topping with 2 T melted butter. Top mac and cheese with mixed topping.
7. Bake at 300 convection, or 350 non-convection for an hour. Watch topping. Foil top if it catches.
8. Allow to cool, and serve. It should cut like a lasagna.

I made it on the Grilla last time out, first time I'd made it in several years, and was a huge hit with the guests.