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Cookbook #9 - NYDMC (Not Your Dad's Mac and Cheese)

Imagination

Entry posted by Imagination

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Well hello there!

You're here either because you love me, awful food, both, or you hate me, awful food or both.

Regardless of the reason, you're here now, and that makes you an accomplice whether you like it or not! Our bond is unbreakable, because this dish will astound and terrify! It's not safe to go alone!

 

I present to you, NYDMC (Nidmac, if you prefer!)

I came up with this while experimenting with Mac and Cheese. Just the same old junk is too generic. Too predictable.

BOOOOOOOOORRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

So I made it better! With this delicious, heart-stopping dish, you won't know which way is up! Will it send your tastebuds on a creamy, cheesy journey? Build some tastebuds character with a bacony crunch? Or will it sucker punch you in your stupid jaw with surprise buffalo fire? Always expect the unexpected!

Its a love hate relationship you'll always crawl back to.

 

Here's what you need:

-Macaroni (Obvious! Any will do)

-Cheeses: I used velveeta and ground pepper jack, but if you like a runnier cheese you can always use those kraft cheese powder packs. You can get creative here, really. Use your favorite!

-Blue cheese (crumbled would be best)

-Bacon (Canadian, turkey, whatever you have on hand or prefer)

-Chicken (raw would be best, though if you're not sure of yourself I won't tell if you use pre-cooked)

-Buffalo flavoring (I use Frank's Red)

-Mixed veggies (Once again, preference! I used shredded carrots and celery)

-Pepper (If desired) 

-A strong soul (Yours, champ!)

 

Its a lot of multitasking, so make sure you have a good amount of space.

First, you'll want to cut up your veggies and prepare your cheeses. Easy! Just don't cut yourself. Blood has an iron-y taste and ruins the flavor. 

You should start with the chicken. If it's pre-cooked, follow those boring instructions instead. If not, you'll want to get cutting again. Have a pan hot and ready to go so once you get the chicken into small enough cubes to eat whole, you can toss them in. Once you do, make sure to keep an eye on them! You want to get all the red cooked out, but don't over do it! Once you feel you have it at a point you're comfortable with (and fully cooked, don't mess around) you can put the chicken in a bowl and save it for later.

Once that's done, you can turn up the heat! Of your stove! Bring some water to a boil and toss your macaroni in there. Bonus points if you slam dunk it without burning yourself! Make sure to constantly stir and watch it to make sure you don't burn them, which would suck. If you have to, turn the heat down.

When they're finished, drain the macaroni and set it aside. Add your cheeses and stir until they're thoroughly melted and mixed!

Next, the bacon! Bacon is fairly quick to cook, and to what point is by preference. HOWEVER. If you want an easier time cutting it for the Mac and cheese, you'll want it crispy. Once it's done, turn off the stove! Collect your bacon and crumble it up into little pieces. As small as you can manage, or to whatever you prefer.

The last steps are simple. Add the buffalo to your chicken, then add the bacon and veggies and chicken to the macaroni! If you need to, throw the whole thing back on the stove real quick to melt the cheese again and give it all a quick stir.

Then, you're done! Wahoo!

 

Analysis: No this is not good for me. It might be good for you but not for me. It IS delicious though. I just need to keep in mind to have the hospital on speed dial. And I need to look up US law to see if it's legal to marry food anywhere.

Would you be shocked? I wouldn't.

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MR4Y

The recipe would be easier to follow if you quantified the ingredients (1 cup of this, 1 table spoon of that, etc.) instead of just listing them.

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Imagination
3 hours ago, MR4Y said:

The recipe would be easier to follow if you quantified the ingredients (1 cup of this, 1 table spoon of that, etc.) instead of just listing them.

I never use exact measurements when I cook, and I always encourage others to do the same. Following exact measurements is fine, but it doesn't create the dish YOU might enjoy. Besides, experimenting is half the fun of cooking!

People can add or subtract as much as they want of an ingredient, or even add or subtract an ingredient entirely to fit their particular tastes. The only thing I ever even slightly specify on is meat, because undercooked meat is bad and I don't want folks blaming me for their salmonella!

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MR4Y
4 minutes ago, Imagination said:

I never use exact measurements when I cook, and I always encourage others to do the same. Following exact measurements is fine, but it doesn't create the dish YOU might enjoy. Besides, experimenting is half the fun of cooking!

People can add or subtract as much as they want of an ingredient, or even add or subtract an ingredient entirely to fit their particular tastes. The only thing I ever even slightly specify on is meat, because undercooked meat is bad and I don't want folks blaming me for their salmonella!

I understand. But that creates a problem:

What if someone following your recipe doesn't know how to make mac and cheese to begin with? How will they learn if they'll have to eyeball all the ingredients? 

Or in a more broad concept:

How will they know the difference if they don't know the difference?

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Imagination
5 minutes ago, MR4Y said:

I understand. But that creates a problem:

What if someone following your recipe doesn't know how to make mac and cheese to begin with? How will they learn if they'll have to eyeball all the ingredients? 

Or in a more broad concept:

How will they know the difference if they don't know the difference?

A catch-all question, really.

How does a baby know how to walk if it doesn't know how to walk?

Babysteps! Cooking is the same way, really. Experimentation doesn't always end well. People are going to make mistakes, but then they'll learn from those mistakes and have a better experience for it. You never have experience til after you need it, they say.

If people don't know how to make Mac and cheese, or cook in general, that's perfectly okay! It's something people can work on and get better with as they go. Start with something easy, even something you can follow a recipe on a box for! Over time you can get comfortable with amounts, temperatures, times, textures, and flavors.

I don't expect people to have the same comfort level in the kitchen as I do, and I still expect myself to be pretty amateur. I just try to give people an outlet to believe in themselves and work on a personal skill that they, over time, won't need instructions for.

tl;dr: It's a learning process!

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Zealot
13 hours ago, Imagination said:

I don't expect people to have the same comfort level in the kitchen as I do, and I still expect myself to be pretty amateur. I just try to give people an outlet to believe in themselves and work on a personal skill that they, over time, won't need instructions for.

tl;dr: It's a learning process!

Unfortunately, nobody knows how to cook anymore. In my experience, they're scared of ovens and hobs and whatnot, they microwave things or get takeaway because it's easy. I'm a novice myself, and if I'm learning a new recipe, I don't eyeball it. In fact, I just flat out ignore recipes that don't give me exact measurements. Because, I'll start with those measurements and ingredients, then learn how I want it. Then when I've cooked it a few times I'll start to wing it. Even after doing it for a few years, I'm still terrified of the thing. I'll cook what I know before trying to cook something else, and if that thing isn't clear on what I should do, I'll abandon it and try and make something else out of it.

I would advise putting suggested measurements in your recipes, and just noting down that is just what you think it should be. That should be enough to give some folks confidence enough to try it.

Just something to think about. Cooking is hard, and people are scared of cooking nowadays. I feel making stuff easy and approachable is the way to go.

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Zealot
21 minutes ago, Imagination said:

This is solemn my promise to start including measurements in my recipes!

Indeed, like I said. Gives people the confidence to try them.

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