My 20th "30 Minute Meal" is finally what seemed like a more normal everyday family dish which I thought Jamie would "pimp up" like he does most of his dishes. I was looking forward to this one as it seemed really straight forward; Cauliflower Macaroni with a Chicory Salad and Stewed Fruit...what could be easier?
My first concern was the quantities of the very small list of ingredients. A full packet of Macaroni, a full head of Cauliflower (stalks and all), a full block of cheese and a container of creme fraiche! Yikes...there goes the diet!
But too often I have worried and been surprised and I am trying to "trust" Jamie and his recipes, so I went for it! With Cauliflower at $1.99 a head, this one was going to be a cheap meal for a change. I opted to drop desert, as stone fruit is not really in season at the moment and I had many other fresh ingredients that I needed to use up (fresh pears and figs from Mt Gambier).
So I proceeded and while I continued to be concerned about the lack of flavour components, I made the dish exactly as I was instructed. Somehow I ended up with Macaroni and Cauliflower all over the kitchen and the baking dish was overflowing. In the end I had enough food to feed a small village!
As for the salad, well I was unable to obtain the chicory even though I had seen it in the supermarket the week before, apparently it is hard to come by and is sold out within 24 hours of it hitting the shelf! Can't imagine why as it is really bitter and not what I really enjoy eating as a salad leaf. I bought some mixed salad leaves instead which included a few pieces of chicory, so I figured that would be close enough as the hero was the dressing rather than the type of leaves used.
The dressing was a taste sensation..awesome. Made with fresh Basil, yoghurt, anchovies and Dijon Mustard it would make any salad a stand out. So ten out of ten for that component. As for the "Mac & Cheese" itself, well it was ok, but for me, a bit on the bland side. It needed so many things such as; mustard, paprika, lemon juice, fresh herbs and about half the amount of pasta. Some base flavours such as onions, garlic, chilli and bacon would also have given the dish some flavour. Sure there was flavour in the topping, but with so much pasta, the flavour of the topping was lost.
We have since been eating this dish over and over again and I am pleased to say that it is finally all gone and I have stepped up my exercise a notch to work it all off!! Unfortunately, the meal does not taste much at all when reheated in the Microwave but I am not one for wasting food although I came very close to throwing the 3rd and 4th left overs in the bin.
So with 20 meals down I still have a long way to go (50 in total) and while I have been discouraged along the way, I still feel I am learning a lot (along with Masterchef) and still want to continue. The next meal on my list is "Tapas" and that looks really interesting and a great one for sharing with friends with a couple of bottles of wine!! Any takers??
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