Macaroni Cheese with a twist & Schiacciata bread

Good morning all on this cold, wet & windy bank holiday weekend. Did we really expect anything else? I don't know about anyone else but I am usually very much a seasonal foodie.  Casseroles and stews in Autumn/Winter and lots of salads and lighter meals in the Spring/Summer.  All that said you get a cold, wet & windy weekend and I am more than happy to revert back to stodge if it will keep me warm both on inside and out. 

Even though the weather has not been on our side I still wanted to get a couple of jobs done in the garden and I'm afraid  I didn't give a thought about food for later until the hale storm came and it was retreat back into the warm. On these occasions its look in the fridge and hope there is something that you can put together to make a meal as the nearest takeaway is a half hour drive.There was a half a head of cauliflower and a bit of broccoli and as the two human males of the household think they are mice there is always cheese. Macaroni cheese it is then. 

When the children were little they loved macaroni cheese and it was always so quick to rustle up.  I was always looking for ways of getting vegetables into them and when one of them told me they only liked broccoli and cauliflower if it had cheese sauce on it, it was a real light bulb moment and the next time I made macaroni  cheese I boiled some cauliflower and broccoli and added to the macaroni cheese. I waited for the protests of there being something green in their macaroni cheese but none came and plates were emptied. Win Win. I'm afraid after that I got a little carried away. As an alternative I would cut tiny bits of bacon and fry and then drain on kitchen paper. I would make up a quantity of macaroni cheese and then stir in the bacon bits.  I would heat up a tin of chopped tomato's and add to an oven proof dish add the macaroni cheese mixture topping off with fresh breadcrumbs and 2 teaspoons of grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkled across the top and then popped under the grill until it the breadcrumbs were golden brown.  There were times when I went completely mad and if I had Cauli and broccoli, and bacon left over in the fridge as well as the tin of chopped tomatoes the whole kit and caboodle went in. Oh my goodness when it comes to stodgey goodness it was heaven on a plate.  

The one tip I passed on was how to get a smooth cheese sauce.  When I was shown how to make it at school I was told to melt the butter in a saucepan add two tablespoons of plain flour and  a pint of milk. Wait until this had come to the boil and add the cheese. If you were lucky it didn't split but invariably it would be lumpy and didn't look very appetizing.  It was only through trial and error of making it as an adult that I found my own way.  The way I taught my children was to heat the milk through first before adding as this prevents the sauce from splitting or becoming lumpy. I  melt 2-3oz of butter in a saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of plain flour to the melted butter and let this cook out for a few minutes. Then I add the warm milk and stir until it starts to thicken and comes to the boil. I then remove it from the heat before adding 4-6 oz of cheese and stir until the cheese has melted and it never splits and never gets lumpy and is always silky smooth.

The bread is a Schiacciata or Italian flat bread and it goes so well with the soups, cheeses and salads but also goes very well with pasta dishes. Its very easy to make and apart from kneading and baking you can leave it alone to prove whilst you get on with other things. You don't need a bread tin just a baking sheet.

To have a go sift 350g of flour into a bowl, add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt to one side and a 7g sachet to the other, they don't like to get acquainted too soon. Make a well in the centre and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 200mls of lukewarm water and bring together to form a soft dough. Turn this out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes.  Lightly oil the bowl and return the dough to it, cover with a little oiled cling film and leave to prove for an hour. After an hour the dough should be twice the size. Knock back down and turn out onto the floured surface and knead gently.  

 

I then cut a piece of baking parchment to the size of the baking sheet and lightly oil. Then place the dough on top and roll out to a rectangle to approx 12 x 8 and then place onto the baking sheet. It makes it much easier than trying to lift the dough once its rolled out. I then brush with a little olive oil and cover with oiled cling film and leave it to rise for another 20 minutes. At this point I preheat the oven to 200C and whilst you're waiting for the oven to get hot remove the cling film prick with a fork and brush with olive oil and at this point you can add your topping.  I vary the toppings I use. Sometimes it rosemary and sea salt, sometimes it crushed black pepper and sea salt , sometimes it red onion and sea salt. This one was sprinkled with mixed herbs and sea salt. You will need to leave for another 15 minutes to rise, by which time your oven should be nice and hot and bake the bread for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. 

I have switched this one round a bit too. It has been known that if I have a jar of sun dried tomatoes in the cupboard that I will use four tablespoons of the oil from the jar instead of olive oil and add chopped up sun dried tomatoes to the dough. It gives it a gorgeous colour and flavour is fabulous.

Unfortunately there wasn't any bacon lurking in the fridge or any tin toms in the cupboard  (must sack the housekeeper she's rubbish) but we still enjoyed our macaroni cheese with cauli and broccoli with toasted bread crumbs on top with a slice of freshly baked warm bread.

We have talked a lot about childhood memories over the last few weeks and I hope we will do more of that as its been quite cathartic laughing at the good times and expelling a few demons of the not so happy. School was not a happy place for me, but there have still been lots of childhood memories stored  away to share and hopefully give us a few laughs a long the way. If you do have a go at jazzing up your macaroni cheese or making the Schiacciata bread I do hope you enjoy it.

Mx