It runs on oil. I don't really understand that part. It's on constantly and warms up the kitchen. The left top plate is for boiling, the right top plate is for simmering, the top oven (under the towels and oven mitts) is for roasting, the bottom oven is for simmering, and the little door on the bottom left is a warming oven. If you have an Aga you have to have a special Aga kettle and you can even make toast on the boiling top plate! Downside to the Aga is you can't smell when things are burning... Otherwise it's pretty awesome! It also de-wrinkels clothes when you set them on top of the closed top plates. In short, I fell in love and may need to have one shipped to wherever I end up settling! Ok back to cheesy-goodness.
My mac and cheese is adapted from a few of the Queen PW's recipes.
What you need:
-4 cups macaroni noodles
-1 cup cheddar
-1 cup gruyere
-10 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped
-2 medium onions
-1/4 cup flour
-1 egg
-2 cups milk (whole or 2%)
-1/2 cup double cream (or whipping cream in the US)
-6 tbs butter
Chop two onions and brown or caramelize with 2 tsb butter (this all depends on how much patience you have/how hungry you are). They can look pretty but they don't have to, mine never do. Here's the proof:
This was really fun on the Aga! Maybe because I wasn't preoccupied with adjusting the temperature..
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| I found normal bacon in Stratford-Upon-Avon! |
Like pancakes! About this time you should start your pasta. Cook one pound (4 cups) according to the package instructions. The PW says do for 1/2 the times suggested, but my noodles never get soft enough during the baking so I always cook them to an edible point. Then strain and set aside. Try not to let these get done too early or you'll end up with a sticky, messy glob.
I use almost exactly 1 cup mature cheddar and 1 cup gruyere. Feel free to experiment with other cheeses! Sometimes I use swiss instead of gruyere because gruyere is crazy expensive in America. In the UK it's much more affordable and I much prefer the taste! So if you see gruyere on sale or if you're in Switzerland, stock up!
Melt 4 tsb of butter in a large pot and whisk in 1/4 cup of flour. Do this for a minute of medium heat. Then add 2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup cream. I usually just buy cream and use whatever milk I have on hand. So if I have skim milk, I'll buy a little more cream and add 1 1/3 cup milk and 2/3 cream plus the 1/2 cup cream. You can judge this for yourself or just buy whole milk or 2% and don't worry about it. Let this cook up for 3-5 minutes and let it thicken. Turn down the heat until low. Add two cups of cheese and stir. Now here's a tricky bit involving an egg. Crack an egg and whisk lightly. Then takeout a scoop of this lovely cheesy mixture and add it to the egg. Stir this all together and add to the big pot of the cheesy mixture. If you're a risk taker you can crack it straight into the cheesy mixture, but you might end up with a cooked egg in your sauce... Add some pepper to taste (you can salt it too. I think the bacon takes care of this though). Now add the onions and bacon. Give it a good stir, maybe a taste. Then add your noodles and stir until all the noodles are coated with CHEESE!
This goes in the top oven of the Aga for 20 minutes or until your toppings are nice and brown and and gooey and crispy. In a normal oven this goes in at 350F, 176C, or gas mark 4.
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| This is Jess's veggie version with just onions. You can put bacon grease in the rue (flour and butter) with the butter, but skip this if you're making a veggie version for someone! This meal gets a 5/5 wooden spoons! If you want to find any of the PW's original recipes you can find the two I adapted into 1 here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/fancy-macaroni/ http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/ |
Oh and this is Molly. She loves the Aga too! Especially when it's cold and she can snuggle up to it's warmness!
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