I Can Cook: Crabcake Mac & Cheese

Ever since my mum signed up for Singtel's mio TV a couple of years ago and I discovered the awesome channel which is WeTV (channel 259), I've been hooked. Hooked to David Tutera's My Fair Wedding (about real-life weddings with gorgeous themes), Love It Or List It (about renovating/revamping people's homes), Rich Bride Poor Bride (about how couples try to manage their wedding budget) and the crazy awesome cooking shows by Anne Burrell (Secrets of a Restaurant Chef), Bobby Flay (Brunch@Bobby's) and Rachael Ray (Week In A Day).

I've watched countless cooking shows by the abovementioned chefs but never have I had the urge to try something from their shows. Until Rachael Ray cooked her spicy crabcake mac & cheese on Week In A Day. And I knew that I had to try it.


Gorgeous, colourful shell-shaped carbs

I looovveeee mac & cheese. I don't know why, but just the thought of pasta happily soaking in cheesy goodness makes me go crazy. *insert crazy eyes* And marrying that with crab? OMG. I wanted to reach into the screen and snatch the whole pot of pasta out of her hands.

So I searched Food Network for her recipe and though the ingredient list was quite long, I omitted certain stuff such as the celery and hot sauce (since KU can't really take spicy food) and replaced the fresh herbs with dried herbs. And I couldn't find sharp white Cheddar at Jason's, so I had to make do with sharp red Cheddar.


Ready to rollllllll

The original recipe also called for fresh crabmeat, but I used frozen crab leg meat instead. It definitely isn't as tasty and sweet as fresh crabmeat, but for the convenience and amount of time and money saved, I'd say I can live with it.
Crabcake Mac & Cheese (adapted from here)

(Serves 2 generously)

Salt
2500g shell shaped pasta with lines
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small bay leaf 
2 teaspoons dried thyme
About 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 
Ground black pepper 
250g frozen crabmeat
1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning 
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1 1/4 cups milk 
Grated nutmeg, to taste 
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Dried parsley
1/3 cup grated sharp red Cheddar
1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese 
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat, then salt the water. Add the pasta and cook for 4 minutes, (it will be undercooked). Cool, drain well and add it to a large bowl.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion, red pepper, garlic, bay leaf, dried thyme, lemon zest, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook to tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the crabmeat to the vegetables and season with seafood seasoning. Stir to combine, then remove from heat. 

It smelt and tasted as good as it looks!

In a medium sauce pot, over low heat, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and whisk in the flour. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk and bring to a bubble. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg, to taste, and cook for a few minutes, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Add the mustard and the cheese and stir in a figure 8 motion.

Add the vegetables and crab, sauce to the bowl with the pasta and transfer the mixture to individual baking crocks or a large casserole dish.


Bake me, baby!

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Single-portion casserole dishes which I absolutely loved

Combine panko bread crumbs, dried parsley and grated Parmigiano -Reggiano cheese. Top the mac n cheese with the crumb mixture. Arrange individual crocks on a baking sheet or put the casserole on baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake until brown and heated through, about 10 minutes.

Taste-wise, I personally would have preferred it to be really spicy, but that's because I left out the hot sauce. I compensated for that (sort of) by adding an extra tablespoon of mustard, which gave it abit more bite.

And because I couldn't squeeze all 250g of the pasta into the two casserole dishes, I had quite a large portion of mac & cheese left over which I boxed up to take to work the next day. Lunch time came and I dumped it into the office's microwave oven for 2 minutes on High and the mac & cheese tasted better than it was the day before! It was more flavourful and the cheese tasted cheesier (sounds weird but it's true)! I thought I wouldn't be able to finish the whole portion, but not only did I finish every single morsel, I was craving for more.

The next time I make this, I'll use more crab meat, maybe try a different type of pasta, and definitely add the hot sauce. Can't wait!