Rooftop Gourmet

 Over the weekend, a bunch of my college friends flew into town for their annual Boston trip. I know how these guys like to eat so I had to come up with some affordable meal ideas that could feed an army.

My initial thought was a baked pasta dish because I can assemble everything ahead of time and just throw it into the oven when they start to get feisty. I am a cheese fanatic, so I decided to make a five cheese (the more the better) casserole and top it with chopped, buttery cashews. I had to bring out my monster, lobster pot just to boil enough water to cook five pounds of rigatoni.

The rich, cheese sauce started out with a simple bechamel sauce; one of the classic, French mother sauces. Equal parts butter and flour get whisked frantically over medium heat to create a light roux. Once the flour taste was cooked out, I added a ton of scalded milk and brought it to a simmer.

The roux is what thickens the milk and creates the base for the cheese sauce. One by one, I added the different cheeses; first the Gouda, then the Fontina, then the Gorgonzola, then the Parmesan, then more Gorgonzola, and lastly some Mozzarella. By the time I was done whisking, and all of the cheeses slowly melted into the sauce, my arm was exhausted.

The creamy sauce was like glue but insanely rich and decadent. After the pasta was strained, I gave it a cheese bath with some fresh peas and folded it into an industrial, tin foil baking sheet. I added some breadcrumbs, chopped cashews, and grated Pecorino cheese on top to give it a buttery crunch; my favorite part of baked mac and cheese is the crispy crust.

After about thirty minutes in the oven, the crust had formed and the inside was gooey and bubbly.

The contrast between the crunchy cashews and the creamy cheese sauce was a hit, but after everyone had a brick of the casserole it was time to start the main course. I’ve found that one of the best ways to feed a ton of people on a budget is to buy large, inexpensive cuts of meat and cook them slow and low (braise them).

Once the meat gets tender enough to pull it apart with a fork, I shred it all up and serve it in tacos; this is also perfect because people can eat standing up (I don’t have enough chairs for everyone anyway). I bought a five pound beef top round that I cooked over low heat on the grill, inside a tin foil tray. I filled the tray with a mixture of fresh ginger, limes, garlic, Thai chilies, beef broth, and soy sauce.

The huge, caveman cut of beef braised in this liquid for over three hours until it was falling apart on its own. I put some of my friends to work shredding it while I prepared the accompaniments for the taco bar. I made carmelized shallots, sliced green onions, a Siracha sour cream sauce, and a purple cabbage slaw that was tossed with rice wine vinegar and sesame oil.

Even though everyone was stuffed from the cheesy casserole they still managed to wolf down a few tacos. The five pounds of beef goes a long way; I still have about half leftover. This would be a great idea for a Super Bowl party a few weeks down the road even though it will be tough to decide who to root for.  

Tags: baked mac n cheese, beef tacos, braise, cashews

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Beef, Beer, Pasta. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.