I’ve been a bad cheese-whore.

After professing my love for cheese in this post, I realized I have yet to try the most basic, familiar cheesy dish in America: Mac & cheese. Please don’t judge— I’m Asian, and I’ve only just gotten over my fear of cheese.

Actually, I did try Mac & cheese once. Or should I say, Mac & “cheese.” It was a vegan brand called Road’s End Organics Mac & Cheese, where the cheese was well, not really cheese. And it tasted horrible. This was back in the day when I was hovering at the ED border, and somehow vegan “cheese” sounded less scary to me.

Anyway, ever since that meal on Saturday at the Eighteen Chefs, I’ve been trying to come up with a cheese-baked version of my “mix-it-up” bowl.  And since we’re topping it cheese already, why not go the extra mile and stuff it with even more cheese?

Thus I started entertaining the idea of a cheese-baked mac & cheese. But of course in my hands, any simple dish gets twisted and manipulated into something totally original, and this dish was no different.

I started my brainstorming process by rummaging through the fridge for contents I needed to use up. I had a last portion of cooked barley, a few chunks of roasted pumpkin, the last quarter cup of black beans, and a last spoonful of plain yogurt left in its big tub.

So this is what I came up with in the end:

                        Cheese-baked Pilaf with Pumpkin Cheese Sauce

The base: 1 cup cooked pearl barley and 1/4 cup black beans

The mix-ins: 1/4 cup chopped red onions

The dressing: Pumpkin-cheese sauce (recipe to follow)

The topping: 1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese and 1 tablespoonful Parmesan cheese

First, I sautéed the red onions with some garlic, then added the barley and beans until heated through.

Then I made the sauce:

Pumpkin-cheese sauce

• 1/3 cup roasted and mashed pumpkin
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon plain yogurt
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• salt and pepper

I cooked the pumpkin and milk over medium heat until they turned into this orange mixture, then stirred in the cheddar and Parmesan cheeses. Once they were melted in, I lifted the pan away from the heat and stirred in the yogurt (yogurt will curdle over direct heat), and added the cinnamon, salt, and pepper to taste.

I then mixed the sauce with the pilaf, dumped the whole thing into a bowl, and topped it with more Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Finally, I wrapped the bowl in aluminum foil, and popped it into a 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. Here’s the finished masterpiece:

Look at that! Don’t you just absolutely love the golden-toasted, cheesy crust?

A tiny peek in:

This is a cheese-whore’s dream come true. The cheddar and Parmesan cheese melted perfectly into the pumpkin, while the pumpkin and yogurt really thickened and sweetened the milk up into a thick, creamy pudding-like consistency.
 
Each bite was met with a moan of ecstasy…
Yum…Hot and piping mouthful…

I was already dreading the last bite when I came to mid-dig…

So I guess you can say this is my first experience with Mac & cheese. Is it better than regular Mac & cheese? In my totally biased and one-sided opinion, you bet! But was it better than the Cheese-baked creamy mango rice I had at the Eighteen Chefs? I don’t know. They’re just great in their own individual way. By the way, I’m still cooking up my own recipe for that mango cream sauce, and would appreciate any suggestions or ideas from you!

Oh, and I received even more god news…
Jess and Meg presented me with this award!

FRIENDS… comes with the following description to be added & passed along: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.” It also says : “Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Okay, first of all, thanks, Jess and Meg, for this wonderful award! Virtual hug and kisses you way! I’m honored to be your friend!

But then…only eight bloggers? That’s just not enough, because there are so many bloggers out there whom I appreciate and treasure! All of you have been so amazing and sweet and supportive. You’ve all literally saved my life. I would still be very very far from recovery if not for you continuously feeding me encouragements and hope. So I share this award with all of you!

But I’d like to give special props to some amazing people who have been especially kind, sweet, and loyal to me for a long time. So here’s a special shout-out to:

*In no particular order*

Emily from Health Nut
Jesse from We all go Poopie
Pearl from Fresh and Pure
Jiaying from Brownbread Girl
Emmy from Prop and Pedal
Reeni from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Elyse from Elyse’s Confectionary Creations
Morgan from Dancing to Recovery
Christine from Deglaze Me
Katherine from Smokey Mountain Cafe
Nancy from Un Petit Chou
Heather from Diary of a Fanatic Foodie
Mica from Micapie

Um, how many was that? Probably more than eight, but I still feel like I’ve missed some others! Gah, there’s just too many beautiful people out there! But what a happy dilemma that is.

I’m just filled with blog-love right now, so this is today’s question of the day: What is the [sweetest/coolest/grateful/insert any good feeling here] thing a fellow blogger have ever said/done for  you? If you haven’t felt any blogger love yet, let me know so I can send you a great big virtual hug!

Related posts:

1. Seduced again by the French mistress
2. Sushi on a Pizza
3. Twiddling my thumbs for the Big Event
4. I am Cheese-whore, hear me roar
5. Soup and onion-y breath

Tagged as: barley, beans, blog award, cheese, pumpkin, yogurt