Snippets: Recipe Review - Sweet Corn Mac & Cheese

   

   

I cooked!! From scratch!! Hey – don’t be so shocked – I do that sometimes. Last year during The Food Network’s Next Food Network Star competition a contestant, Yvon Lemoine, used a recipe for one of my favorite dishes: Mac & Cheese. It sounded really tasty and it seemed fairly easy to make, so I tried it out. In my own, not-quite-following-the-complete-recipe kind of way.

   

   

Yvan’s Sweet Corn Mac & Cheese

 

 

Ingredients

• Two 8-ounce cans creamed corn
  
• 1 cup milk
  
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, optional
  
• 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
  
• Pinch ground nutmeg
  
• Salt and ground black pepper
  
• 3 dashes hot sauce, optional, plus more for serving
  
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
  
• 8 ounces grated mild yellow Cheddar
  
• 12 ounces grated mozzarella
  
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1 cup croutons
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  

   

  Directions
  

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Move one rack to the top of the oven.
  

  In a saucepan, simmer the corn with the milk and onion powder, if using, for 5 minutes …
  

You can find the complete recipe here, with my attempts below the photo.

   

Photo by Jerzygirl45

   

   

ATTEMPT # 1 – 8/9/12

   

   

My variations:

• used an entire bag of elbow macaroni (approximately 2 cups. Note: I find elbow mac to be kind of the boring nerdy runt of the pasta family)
  
• vanilla almond milk (it was all I had in the house)
  
• 8 oz extra sharp cheddar (Mild cheddar is boring)
  
• 1 can creamed corn (I don’t like creamed veggies, so why use 2 cans?)
  
• no nutmeg (never buy it, what am I – The Pie maker?!)
  
• a little grated (from the jar) parmesan & romano (why not?)
  
• cheddar not grated, just slivered (no grater, just easier to knife it)
  
• no croutons
  

   
   

ATTEMPT # 1

My results:

   
   
   

The dish was extremely cheesy and gooey and melty, which I liked. However I feel the mozzarella in the original recipe made it a little bland. I didn’t really taste the hot sauce or the onion powder.

   

   

ATTEMPT # 2 – 9/11/12

   

   

My variations:

• entire bag pasta rotini pasta
  
• vanilla almond milk
  
• no nutmeg
  
• 2 cans creamed corn (as originally directed)
  
• 8 oz extra sharp cheddar + 8 oz pepper jack
  
• cheeses not grated, just slivered
  
• a lot more onion powder
  
• added garlic powder, italian seasoning, red pepper flakes
  
• crushed spicy nacho Doritos on top instead of croutons
  
• sprayed the casserole dish w/ nonstick butter flavored spray
  

ATTEMPT # 2

   

   

My results:

   
   
   

I loved the crunch of the Doritos as I dug my serving spoon into the top of it. I was a little heavy-handed with the black pepper, hot sauce, and red chili pepper flakes, so the spicy Doritos just added fuel to the fire in my mouth. I had been thinking of using Rotel green chiles, but thank goodness I didn’t.

   

While the dish was definitely spicy there was still some level of blandness. I may have to just use 3 bricks of extra sharp cheddar. Also, I’m wondering if the continuing blandness is a product of using the creamed corn as a roux. One option might be to maybe just make a standard roux and add regular (non-creamed) corn. Ultimately I do like the addition of corn to mac & cheese. It adds a nice little bit of sweetness, and also a different texture to give you a break from all the creaminess in your mouth. (Get your mind out of the gutter, people)

   

   

ATTEMPT # 3 – 12/2/12

   

   

My variations:

• no nutmeg or mozzarella or croutons
  
• finally added the rotel green chiles
  
• 2 bricks of cheddar, extra sharp
  
• used rotini pasta
  

ATTEMPT # 3

My results:

   
   
   ;

It tasted quite good but it was a too creamy. It would have better if the dish was tighter (more set) and less loose. Maybe I didn’t drain the noodles enough and they were too wet. I still might use 3 blocks of sharp cheddar next time, more rotel, and non-creamed corn with a traditional flour-based roux.

   

   

OTHER VARIATION IDEAS

• actually use nutmeg
  
• bacon
  
• cubed or shredded beef, pork or chicken
  
• ground beef, pork or chicken
  
• mushrooms
  
• pepperoni
  
• imitation crabmeat (I’ve used flake-style imitation crabmeat in a makeshift mac & cheese*, and cheap boxed mac & cheese and it is soooooo good!)
  

   

   

Overall I would definitely recommend this recipe for any lover of mac and cheese. And by all means – experiment with ingredients to get your own variations..

   

   

*Makeshift mac & cheese: I take cooked pasta, a little bit of milk, grated parmesan & romano, any other cheese I might have on hand and imitation crabmeat. Mix in one pot on stovetop until melty. Grab a fork. Nosh.