As part of the Fiona Beckett's Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese challenge, I’ve worked my way though countless cheeses to find the best artisanal cheese (In my opinion) to make the best straight up Mac and Cheese.
The guys at Neil’s Yard dairy must think that I’m a right cheese nutter! I have been going in day after day, trying all sorts of wonderful cheese's (after all I was looking for the femme fatal of cheese to star in my Oscar quality macaroni and cheese) and then proceeding to buy copious amounts of the stuff. Had I of tried any more of the stuff I would of been pretty cheesed off - excuse the pun!I experimented with a Macaroni and Stilton, which blew my head off it was that strong! A Mac and cheese from Gruyere Coolea was gritty and made for a weird texture. I Tried to coax a smooth sauce out of a red Caerphilly but failed! I then tried a tangy goat cheese which was good, but not a real Mac and Cheese. but I always came back to cheddar. A Montgomery Cheddar to be exact.
The Montgomery family are third generation farmers in South Somerset, producing world-class unpasteurised cheese by hand to ensure that each and every cheese is worthy of the accolade West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. They Produce 60 truckles of unpasteurised farmhouse cheddar each week with the milk produced by their 140 Friesian cows.
Mac and Montgomery Cheddar
750ml milk
50g unsalted butter
50g all-purpose flour
1 bay leaf
400g Montgomery Cheddar
Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
100 ml Dry White wine
1tbs Dijon mustard
400g dried macaroni
75g brioche, pulsed in a food processor to produce medium crumbs.
Directions:
Combine the milk and bay leaf in a small sauce pan. Warm the milk until bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat and allow to infuse for 30 minutes. After it's infused, strain into a handled jug.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter a shallow baking dish. A trick I like to use is to pour the weighed out dry pasta into the potential baking dish, this give you a guide at to the size of dish you need.
Before you grate the cheese remove about 1/2 an inch from the rind end. Typically this bit of the cheese is a a bit firmer in texture and stronger in flavour. Grate the rind on a fine micro-plane grater to use in the topping. Grate the rest of the cheese on a coarse cheese grater.
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| Removin the rind and a 'Bit; | Grating the Rind | Two parts of the cheese |
To make the roux, using another medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When the foaming subsides, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon, until the flour and butter thicken into a paste, keep cooking it until it takes on a nutty brown colour and fragrant smell, this should take around 3 minutes.
Whisk in the wine, it will turn the roux into a paste, fear not with the right amount of coaxing you will produce a smooth sauce.
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| Making the roux | Adding the wine | After the wine, it begins to 'Paste' |
Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth and blended. Bring the sauce to a boil, over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent lumping and scorching, then reduce the heat to low. If your sauce is lumpy and you have an immersion blender at hand fear not! You can use the blender to disperse any lumps. Cook this for about 20 minutes to thicken.
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| Incorporating the milk | Mixing in the Montgomery Cheddar | Grating the nutmeg |
Stir in the mustard. Add the coarse grated cheese and stir until blended. Season with a hefty pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, salt and white pepper stir until blended.
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the package instructions minus about 3 minutes. this will take it to just before until al dente (tender but firm to the bite). Drain well and rinse.
Transfer the macaroni to the cheese sauce and stir to combine.
Place it in the prepared dish. Combine the reserved 'rind' grated cheese and bread crumbs, generously scatter over the top. Bake in the preheated over for 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the edges are bubbling with goodness.
It's best to let this set for about 20 minutes before serving to let the sauce 'firm' up a bit. 
