Featured Question: My Signature Dish

What’s your “signature dish” and when do you usually make it? (Bonus points if you share the recipe with the rest of us!)
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I've never really thought of myself as having a "signature dish," but it might be my baked macaroni and goat cheese. I am unable to eat dairy products made from cow's milk, which excised the good old mac-'n'-cheese from the blue box from my diet around age seven. It wasn't until I was grown that the confluence of such elements as the availability of good goat cheese in my (as Alton Brown would say) local megamart and an increasing interest in cooking led me to try making my own cow-product-free version of macaroni and cheese from scratch. I say this with no pretense at modesty: it is awfully good.

My recipe is adapted from the cow version found in The Joy of Cooking, so if things look familiar to you, that's probably why.

Elisheva Chana's Extravagant Baked Macaroni and Goat Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Cook up two cups of your favorite small pasta shape (I like tiny shells) to al dente in some well-salted water. Drain and set aside.
3. Melt a couple tablespoons of margarine in a pot over medium-low heat, then add a couple tablespoons of AP flour. Whisk constantly for about three minutes. It's going to look ugly during that time, but don't worry, it's all just part of making the roux that will help thicken our sauce.
4. When you have your lovely roux, slowly whisk in two cups of goat milk. (You can use plain soymilk if you can't find goat milk, but it might smell kind of funky and bean-y.) Bring it up to a simmer and add your own special blend of herbs and spices. I am lazy, so pretty much everything I cook that calls for "herbs" gets a healthy shake from my mysterious bottle of "Italian Seasoning." I also like to throw in a dash of ground chipotle powder, as the smokiness plays extra nice with the cheese I'll add later.
5. Simmer your herbed-and-spiced soon-to-be sauce for a good fifteen minutes, stirring frequently.
6. While the sauce is simmering, I take the opportunity (between those frequent stirs, of course) to grate up four ounces of smoked Jack goat cheese. I also get a four-ounce log of chevre (soft goat cheese) out of the fridge to start coming up to room temperature for ease of future incorporation.
7. Take the proto-sauce off the heat. Then, whisk in your grated Jack cheese and the soft chevre. Add kosher salt to taste.
8. Remember the tiny pasta you cooked up earlier? Mix it up with your delicious sauce and pour the whole mixture into a 2.5 quart deep-ish casserole. Cackle maniacally as your disparate parts really start to look like something yummy. Cover the top with panko breadcrumbs, sprinkle with kosher salt, drizzle with olive oil, and stick it into your preheated oven for an agonizing half an hour while the top browns.
9. Cool for five minutes after your dish o' deliciousness comes out of the oven, then devour. Try to save some for breakfast, but that might be a tall order once you dig into this stuff.

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this stuff. We don't make it every week or anything, as the cost of ingredients really does make this a much more extravagant venture than one is wont to think of mac-'n'-cheese as being, but it is one of our favorite comfort food dishes. Yes, I said "our"--take heart, those of you who may fear things goaty, because this stuff has been a hit even with those who were initially suspicious (but too polite to say anything until after they were shocked to find that they liked it). I busted it out for my parents over Labor Day weekend, and it was M's specially requested dinner on the night he finished his last flight prior to becoming a winged Naval Aviator. We also make it when, y'know, we feel like it. 'S yummy.

Comments

[lindag9]

As one of said parents, I can absolutely, unequivocally testify to the truth of this post. That was the best mac 'n cheese we've ever had. Yummy! (I'm starting to drool just remembering it.) 

[Mongo fly airplane!]

Hooray for Monster Mac!  I can't believe we actually manage enough for breakfast most of the time.

[VegDani]

[this is good] oh man!! I can't believe I finally found a totally goat cheese recipe! I am lactose intolerant as well and avoiding the good ol' mac n' cheese is hard because it's my favorite quick food. My boyfriend and I are winging it on making our own macaroni and goat cheese and now we have something to go off of! Thanks so much. (=

[Elisheva Chana]

:-D You're welcome. Let me know how it turns out if you give it a whirl!