Nothing new at all...

So, I realize it's been a very long time since I blogged, but sadly, there's not much going on in my world right now. I know. Sad. This past weekend was exceptionally low key, but we did have a visitor, which was fun for a change. My cousin, Blake, came down on Friday night and, because of the snow, ended up staying until late Tuesday morning. We did manage to bundle up and go for a walk on Saturday, which led us to The Old Spot in Salem, a great English pub with some great beer, an amazing four onion soup, and probably the best curry fries I've ever tasted. Later on, we met up with some friends at O'Neill's and listened to some live Irish music, had some more drinks, and then stumbled home.

The rest of the weekend, we watched a lot of movies bundled under our blankets, fire blazing in the fireplace, and a few more beverages at our fingertips. On Monday, I'd had enough of the snow (we got probably a little over a foot) and desperately needed to get out of the house. So, Blake and I went shopping for some ingredients for chocolate chip cookies (Alf was having a serious craving), as well as Croque Monsieur Mac n Cheese. The Croque Monsieur was a huge hit (both Alf and Blake agreed it was a 4.6 out of 5 stars).

The chocolate chip cookies came out pretty decent (I made them with applesauce instead of butter, so the texture was a bit odd), but not nearly as good as the Croque Monsieur. It took a while to prep (chopping and grating the cheese), but I think the outcome was well worth it.





Ingredients

* 1/2 pound ziti
* 2 cups milk (I used fat free)
* 2 cups coarsely grated gruyere cheese (about 6 ounces)
* 1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
* 2 large eggs
* 3 slices wheat sandwich bread, roughly diced
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing (instead of using butter for greasing, I used Pam)
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* Pinch of cayenne pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* Kosher salt
* 8 ounces thinly sliced deli-boiled ham

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ziti and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl; toss with 1/4 cup milk.

Meanwhile, combine both cheeses in a bowl. Beat 1/4 cup milk and the eggs in another bowl; fold in the bread and add half of the cheese.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until just brown, 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, cayenne, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt; cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Slowly add 3/4 cup water and the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk; bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk to cool slightly. Whisk in the remaining cheese, then add the pasta and toss.

Butter a shallow casserole dish. Add half of the pasta, top with some of the ham and cover with the remaining pasta. Top with the remaining ham, then cover with the bread mixture. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Let rest a few minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine