We’re eating corned beef and sharp cheddar sandwiches on freshly-baked flaky croissants dressed with whole grain mustard, watercress and caramelized onions deglazed with balsamic and cider vinegar.

Sandwiches can be the most simple thing to cook and often times one of the most satisfying things to eat. At least that’s the p.o.v. in our house. That’s definitely the case with this sandwich! It was a breeze to make yet soul satisfying to devour. Tyler said it was ranked right up next to the Father’s Office burger – his favorite burger of all time. Damn high praise indeed! Caramelizing onions takes quite a long time but you can make the onions several days in advance and store in a sealed in the fridge until ready for use. We hope you guys make this sandwich and enjoy it as much as we did!

Recipes in this post:

• Ultimate Corned Beef Sandwiches
• Caramelized Onions with Balsamic & Cider Vinegar

Related posts:

1. Bacon Wrapped Fig & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
2. Hearty Red Wine Braised Short-Rib Beef Stew
3. Chipotle Glazed Meatloaf

Inspired by the Mac-n-Cheese Off, we’re eating an earthy ode to mac-n-cheese. This dish is made with a bechamel based sauce that’s filled with herb goat cheese, sharp cheddar, parmigiano reggiano, sauteed shitake and crimini mushrooms deglazed with sherry vinegar, truffle oil, fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage. Since the actual macaroni and cheese is extremely rich, we went with a crispy top-layer made from panko and parmigiano reggiano rather than the standard ooey gooey cheesey top layer.

this is not from a box

T: I gotta say, Amanda, this mac and cheese was out of this world. I believe it came from another planet. it was outrageously tasty.
A: why thank ya, mister T! mac and cheese happens to be one of those foods that i find totally decadent and just absolutely love (when it’s made well).
T: you know, i grew up eating boxed mac and cheese like 95% of the time. i never had much real mac and cheese. And when I did, it was not creamy at all. Then along came mandy. Mandy, mandy.
A: hehehe honestly, i grew up with a similar mac-n-cheese experience. On occasion my dad would make mac-n-cheese and throw in some tomatoes and some good cheddar, but it was always dry and kind of gritty. a common outcome when you don’t use the bechamel based cheese sauce and just try to toss the macaroni with some cheese and bake it.
T: yeah that’s the way I would have thought to do it… make some box mac & cheese and throw some cheddar on there. or…. boil some macaroni and then just put cheddar on it. Either way I’d be sucking.
A: i’m sure if you did any research before you made the macaroni and cheese you wouldn’t just do that. there are tons of recipes out there.
T: if I did any research. Chances are if I were doing this it would be 2 in the morning I and would have had a few ice-cold Natural Light beers and I wouldn’t be sensible enough to “do research”.
A: heard that! fortunately you have me. and i tend to make macaroni and cheese out of what ever happens to be left over. it just seems to go with everything. this was an unusual mac and cheese for me because nothing was left-over. it was all made just for this meal.
T: i want more of this mac and cheese.
A: i actually wasn’t sure if you would like this one as much as previous ones, since you still aren’t mushrooms’ biggest fan…and my inspiration for this one was the earthiness found in mushrooms (and truffle oil).
T: I don’t know, I like mushrooms in the right scenario… just don’t want to sit around and eat them raw or something. But I was a massive fan of this mac and cheese. Like, OMG, Mandy. That was the best mac and cheese I’ve had. I give it a 4.9/5. You’ve got mac and cheese nailed.
A: damn, yo! that’s a crazy high score! i was a huge fan of the dish too. maybe not a 4.9/5 fan, but still…. I give this one a 4.75/5, which happens to be a pretty damn high rating.
T: if I’m not mistaken that’s the highest score we’ve ever given anything on this blog.
A: hmmm… i feel like i remember 1 other meal that might have scored higher, but i can’t think of what it was exactly.
T: i don’t remember either. But I’m sure it had plenty of cheese in it. Cheese helps anything get a higher score. Cheeeeese. Back to the Mac n Cheese…
A: yeah, so there is only one thing i would do to this dish if i could afford it – use real truffle and not truffle oil! but… seeing as how i’m currently in search of new employment!!!! that can’t really happen.
T: how much is a truffle, anyway? Or I guess I should say… how much is the amount of truffle that you would need for this dish?
A: well, since you can’t really buy just part of a truffle, i would need to purchase a whole one.
T: ok google-master mandy, what’s that going to run us?
A: well, from mirepoix usa you can get an eighth of a pound for $225 usd. on boots in the oven, they went to a at a truffle festival in italy and they had smaller ones there for about €20 each. and they don’t particularly weigh a lot. i hate money! i wish i could just barter for products in my time off. i’m gonna make a sign and go stand in front of a specialty store that says “Will Work For Truffles… (and/or an aussie rack of lamb)”
T: Dude that is a great idea! You should totally do that! It might just pan out!
A: hehehe you never know. it might just be outrageous enough…
T: maybe you could dress up as a truffle… is that going too far?
A: uh… maybe so and where on earth would we find a truffle costume!
T: we would construct it out of paper mache of course!
A: or maybe i could just wear a chef’s coat or something…
T: ok, yeah… that’s more like it. so where in the San Diego area can we do this?
A: i dunno. i’ve not looked into who carries truffles around these parts. i don’t imagine it would be too terribly hard to find out though. you never know guys. maybe we’ll really do this.
T: quizas, quizas, quizas.

mac-n-cheese-off

Recipes in this post:

• Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Three Cheeses with Truffle Oil

Related posts:

1. Knorr Homestyle Stock Bad Boy Macaroni and Cheese
2. Baked Rigatoni with Turkey Bolognese
3. Wild Mushroom Gratin w/ a Wildly Delicious Topping