Mac'in': Round 1- Jungle Cat Short Rib Mac Redux v. Pumpkin Mac with Brussels Sprouts Bread Crumb Topping

The Story

Pumpkin beer braised short ribs. I think this is pretty. But again, I suck at food photography and love meat.

Last year, I feel like Julian and I were robbed of victory- even if it was our own fault. We didn't understand that a key component of competitive cooking is stacking the odds in your favor by inviting your friends.

Number of friends we invited last year: 3

Number of friends who came last year: 0

SIGH. So, I am still very proud of our "dark horse" third place finish, BUT THIS YEAR DEFEAT IS NOT AN OPTION. Tammy has already created a FB invite warning our friends of the cook-off 2 months in advance, but we would prefer to win based on our cooking skills and NOT our popularity....

Enter our experimentation death matches in which our test subjects.... errr, friends..... have to gorge themselves on whatever kinds of mac and cheese we make and provide us with constructive feedback. For round 1, I am re-making our relatively successfully Jungle Cat Short Rib Mac and also experimenting with a fall-inspired (if I am honest, mainly Tammy-inspired) macaroni and cheese with pumpkin beer braised short ribs, actual pumpkin in the bechamel, and a hella crazy Brussels sprouts-parmesan-bread crumb topping.

The process of making a pumpkin bechamel may have caused me to rethink my own culinary genius, but read on for the results....

The Food

STEP ONE: The Meat.

Look, I made a photo collage of meat cooking. Totally normal, right?

This is easy, and smells delicious. I made two pots: one with red wine and stock, and one with Saranac pumpkin beer and stock. First, brown the short ribs in butter in the bottom of large pot (I used a little over 4 pounds total, or 2 pounds per pot).  Season lightly with salt and pepper. When both sides have been browned, add bay leaves, some crushed garlic gloves, a bit of cayenne, and add enough alcohol and beef stock to cover the ribs (I used an entire bottle of cabernet in the wine pot, and 3 pumpkin beers in the beer pot). Bring to a boil, cover the pots, and simmer on low (just barely bubbling), for about three hours, at which point the beef should be falling off the bone. Mmmmm.

Reserve a little liquid in a small container to keep the shredded meat moist, then drain the short ribs (drain the pots separately to preserve the separate tastes). Let the ribs cool a bit, then shred with a fork, and add the pumpkin beer ribs to the container with the reserved pumpkin beer liquid, and add the red wine ribs to the container with the reserved red wine liquid, and let them sit until you're ready to use them.

STEP TWO: The Vegetables. You can work on these while the ribs are braising.

Vegetable One: Caramelized shallots. Cut up a TON of shallots. I thinly sliced four incredibly large shallots- maybe two cups total (they cook down like crazy). I used about 2 tablespoons of butter, plus a touch of olive oil, and added salt and pepper to taste. I cooked at a higher heat setting, stirring every 2-3 minutes, for about 20 minutes, then set the heat setting down to low to let the shallots sit and finish, stirring every ten minutes, until the topping was needed.

Vegetable Two: Caramelized Brussels sprouts. Cut up about a pound of Brussels sprouts. Cut them as THINLY AS POSSIBLE. Again, I used about 2 tablespoons of butter, plus a touch of olive oil, and added salt and pepper to taste. I cooked at medium-high heat, stirring every 2-3 minutes, for about 30 minutes, then set the heat setting down to low and let them sort of get happy and turn very dark brown in places for about 10 more minutes. Then I set them aside until I needed them.

STEP THREE: The Bechamel. While making the bechamel, start the pasta water boiling so that everything is ready to combine at the right time.

I made two bechamels:

Short Rib Bechamel: I started with about 6 tablespoons of butter (photo 1 in the collage). I melted it down until it started to brown, then slowly shook in about 1/4 cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time (photo 2), making sure to stir and combine completely with a whisk between additions (photo 3). You want to make sure the flour-butter mixture browns (like in the photo 4 above), and after the roux had cooked for a bit, begin adding milk, in about 3/4-1 cup increments. When you first add in the milk, it gets a little sticky (photo 5), but just mix until the flour, butter, and milk are thoroughly combined. I added in about 4 cups total of whole milk, making sure to combine completely and bring almost to a boil in between addition. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. While the pasta cooks, let the bechamel simmer (not boil) to thicken the sauce. 

Clearly, there are some steps missing between photos 5 and 6- but you get the idea! Photo 6 is the almost-finished Jungle Cat Short Rib Mac, topped with shallots.

Pumpkin Bechamel: I started with about 7 tablespoons of butter. I melted it down until it started to brown, and then added in about 3/4 of a cup of canned, unsweetened pumpkin (CRAZY). I cooked the pumpkin and the butter, using a whisk to combine (so weird- see below). Then I slowly shook in about 1/4 cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time, making sure to stir and combine completely between additions (this will be clumpy and weird- just trust me- even if I didn't trust myself). Brown the flour-pumpkin-butter mixture, but don't let it burn, and after the roux had cooked for a bit, begin adding milk, in about 3/4-1 cup increments. Mix until the flour, pumpkin, butter, and milk are thoroughly combined (seriously, at several points, my inner monologue was saying: "What in the f*ck were you thinking?"). I added in about 3-3 1/2 cups total of whole milk, making sure to combine completely and bring almost to a boil in between additions. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (I added a fair amount of cayenne). Again, while the pasta cooks, let the bechamel simmer (not boil) to thicken the sauce. Since I had pre-prepared my beer-braised short ribs, I added them in while the bechamel was finishing to heat them up. 

This could probably be entitled "The Six Steps of a Pumpkin Bechamel Clusterf*ck"- Step 1: Brown pumpkin in butter; Step 2: Mix butter and pumpkin and wonder if you're making pie....; Step 3: Mix in flour and question your own culinary genius; Step 4: Thoroughly incorporate flour into pumpkin butter and pray for a miracle; Step 5: Wonder what in the hell this clumpy mess is; Step 6: Dump in milk and pray some more. 

And this could be called "Pumpkin Bechamel... It gets better"- Step 7: Whisk clumpy mess of flour, butter, pumpkin and milk, and consider cancelling your dinner party; Step 8: Add in more milk and whisk vigorously; Step 9: Add even more milk and wonder if you're making pumpkin soup; Step 10: Add in salt, pepper, cayenne, and short ribs, and have faith it will taste delicious. 

STEP FOUR: The Pasta. While making the bechamel, boil water- enough water to cook the pasta in. Use a pound of pasta for each batch of macaroni and cheese. When the water is boiling, add the pasta, and cook according to directions. Drain thoroughly before proceeding to step 5. For the short rib mac, I used little shells, and for the pumpkin mac, I used traditional elbows.

STEP FIVE: The Cheese (Sauce). Add the pasta pack to the pot. Add about 10-14 ounces of your favorite SHREDDED sharp cheddar (I prefer mine cheesier) to EACH batch of macaroni and cheese, and stir. Then turn off the heat under the bechamel pot and pour in the appropriate bechamel sauce over the pasta and cheese. Stir to thoroughly combine, and then add in the appropriate short ribs (red wine for the Jungle Cat Mac, and pumpkin beer for the Pumpkin Mac), if you haven't already, and mix thoroughly. Adjust seasonings with salt, pepper and cayenne, as needed. 

STEP SIX: Putting it ALL together. Pour each batch of the macaroni and cheese into a large baking pan. 

For the Jungle Cat Mac, top with the cooked shallots, and then sprinkle on about 4 ounces of crumbled goat cheese. Cover with tin foil until you are ready to bake.

For the Pumpkin Mac, thinly spread the cooked Brussels sprouts on top of the mac. Mix about 4-6 ounces of freshly grated parmesan with about 1 cup of bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the sprouts. Dot the top with small amounts of butter.

Photo 1: Pumpkin Mac in the pan; Photo 2: Brussels sprouts on the Pumpkin Mac; Photo 3: Pumpkin Mac topped with sprouts, parmesan-bread crumb topping, and butter, in the oven.

STEP SEVEN: Bake. And Serve. Bake the Pumpkin Mac for 18-22 minutes at 375 degrees. When there is about 10 minutes left, put the covered  Jungle Cat Mac in the oven. For the last 5 minutes, set the oven to broil, and broil the tops of the casseroles for extra "crunch." The Jungle Cat Mac may need to broil for about 5 min longer, and should be removed just when the goat cheese stars to brown a bit.

On the left: Pumpkin Mac. On the right: Jungle Cat Short Rib Mac.

I may need some food photography/ plating classes...

The Verdict?

This doesn't look pretty, but I swear it tasted delicious. Again, food photography skill deficit....

Some Mac and Cheese testers. 

If you ate, please leave a constructive/ critical comment so Tammy can read- THANKS!

A Special Note from the Tammiest:

I can be selfish, I admit it-- so I've posted my entry at my own blog and linked here. 

Another version of Fall-tastic Mac, if you will.  This is what happens when we don't live near each other but have somehow decided to cook together... across space and time.  Also, dramatically.

~The Tammiest