An American Macaroni & Cheese in Spain

What happens when, while living abroad, you make one of the most American foods ever, which happens to be the most important side dish of the dinner of the second most American holiday in existence¹, for a quantity of no less than 30 people from six different countries, in a house in the mountains, where eating, boozing [repeat and repeat], laughing, hiking, and fighting the dog for stolen turkey bones from the garbage commence for approximately a weekend? You get zero pictures of the finished product in all it's magnificent glory, and are forced to steal any photographic evidence of its cooked existence from other people's facebook albums. And contrary to what you may initially have thought, your Thanksgiving in Spain is pleasingly similar to Thanksgiving at home, with the hilarious exception of the entire "family" getting plastered and the addition of a resplendent mountain backdrop and a pool. Basically, my Thanksgiving in Spain was amahzing, but more importantly my Spanish rendition of Linda's [mommy] famous macaroni and cheese was a success!

For starters, I must talk about the Españification of this American classic, because while the Spaniards are quite fond of cheese, they are not quite so fond of variety or importing good American cheddar. And though my Spanish is still not where I want it to be three months into this adventure, I was still able to clearly communicate with the guy at the carnicería that a gub'ment cheese-looking block of mild cheddar was not hell what I was looking for.

The Pig & the Goat Pizza

So a pig and a goat walk into a bar....and wouldn't you know I googled pig and goat bar jokes and came up with nothing remotely funny? I suppose that doesn't matter because this pizza itself fills the void of a good raunchy joke any day. Besides, is it even appropriate to make a raunchy joke when talking about food? This isn't a rhetorical question, someone really needs to answer that question for me.

Even if I could somehow come up with a funny pig and a goat in a bar joke, it wouldn't apply here because the pig was the sacrificial swine that pretty much makes this pizza worth eating in its entirety [let me be clear, pizza is always worth eating in general, but not always in its entirety by 1 person in 1 night]  so the goat would've been on his own, therefore ensuring whatever joke could result would most certainly be too raunchy for a food blog. So I guess I just answered my own question. Rauchy jokes+food=no bueno.

Meatless Monday: Polenta with Gorgonzola

Have I ever mentioned that I love cheese? I'm sure I have, but really, who doesn't love cheese? This is America! However, I think it's safe to say that my love for cheese may run a little bit deeper than the average American's. As a rule, I keep three different types of cheese in my refrigerator at all times--typically fresh Parmigianno Reggiano, a New York or Irish cheddar and a wild card like goat or blue cheese. There was this one time at band camp that through some cruel twist of fate, my home was completely devoid of cheese and for reasons I'm not really clear on*, I had to wait several days before I could replenish my supply. Those dark days, which are forever etched into my psyche, made me realize just how important a role cheese plays in my kitchen. It also made me realize that I probably consume more cheese than is appropriate, and at some point I will have to reign in my lust for this milk based product--not just for the sake of my arteries, but also because I hope to be married one day, and cheese doesn't always love my occasionally lactose intolerant tummy--a fact I'm sure my future husband won't find too charming. TMI? Naahh...everybody farts.

But the thing about cheese is that it's awesome. And just a sentence after I said I should eat less of it, I present to you a polenta dish that chock full o' cheese. I'm not exactly crazy about polenta, which is essentially the Italian version of grits, but then again, I've never put much effort into making polenta. So last week, I decided to take a crack at it again, using a recipe from my trusty Everyday Italian cookbook.



Giada's recipe originally calls for heavy cream, but I just can't bring myself to cook with heavy cream, and I never keep it in my fridge. Half & half, however, is an excellent stand in for cream or milk, and is a staple in my refrigerator (along with cheese, bacon, and bourbon). I love simple recipes, and as you can see, this recipe calls for minimal ingredients (water not pictured). And just look at that glorious Gorgonzola!