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"Blamco" Mac & Cheese w/Fried "Cram"
 Moderated by: Vargr, shadowcat-x, boojum
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 Posted: Mon Feb 27th, 2017 09:19 pm
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Vargr
Vargr


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Vrghr′s interpretation of the famous (infamous?) "Blamco Mac and Cheese" and "Cram", found in the Fallout games. This dish intentionally maximizes the use of canned ingredients to imitate the tinned items the Vault Dweller would be picking up in his adventures across the Commonwealth.

Additionally, it takes extra steps to simulate the (rather gross) results of the of box of food laying about for 200+ years in highly irradiated conditions! "Glowing" green ooze and "discolored" pasta keep the appearance "in character" for the game.

In keeping with the ″storage conditions″ of the packages, wuff decided that a ″kinder – gentler″ mac and cheese wouldn′t do. Instead, Vrghr opted for a robust ″basic″ cheese base with a bit of ″funk″ from Amish Bleu cheese, some ″Atomic Warmth″ from Sriracha, Jalapeño, and crushed Red Pepper as well as a nice bit of black pepper, and some nice complexity from a local CO Springs specialty Scottish Ale (Taptoo from Red Leg Brewery) to underpin the cheese sauce. Canned unsweetened Evaporated Milk kept with the ″finding tins of stuff″ gaming paradigm. Several drops of yellow food coloring combine with the red Sriracha to give this a slightly more traditional ″boxed yellow mac″ look, instead of its more natural ′tan, smoky cream′.

The ″Radioactive″ green slime starts with ″molecular nacho″ style origins consisting of more of the Taptoo Scottish Ale, a dash of Sodium Citrate for emulsification, some nice Fontina cheese, and a very healthy dose of hot and kickin' Wasabi! The ″molecular″ version creates a shiny, smooth and glossy appearance with powerful flavors undiluted from the Bechamel cream foundation of the ″basic″ cheese mix, above.

The ″Radioactive Slime″ is added after mixing up the basic sauce with the pasta, then very gently and sparingly stirred and folded in, to create a ripple of ″slime″ throughout the dish, instead of a well-mixed integration.

Tri-colored Penne pasta was used to create more ″200 year old discolored food stuffs″ appearance. The grooves also helped to cling to the cheesy sauces.

The ″Fried Cram″ is a full can of Spam, cut into small dice and fried until a bit crispy. The fat from this creates another layer of flavor in the ″basic″ cheese sauce. And a portion of the little cubes are reserved for garnish to the finished dish.

A touch of Smoked Paprika, Thyme, and garlic with some Spicy Brown mustard (Grey Poupon) bring even more substantial flavors to the more traditional nutmeg of the bechamel sauce. Once again, wuff was looking to create an ″in your face″ dish, not a subtle and refined one.

Despite the somewhat horrific appearance, this turned out to be surprisingly tasty! Each bite varies between a nice, substantial cheese flavor, and a notable ″kick″ of spicy wasabi. Wuffy′s ″test audience″ has declared it to be very good!

If you make this without the ″In-Game″ colors, you could happily serve it in a ″normal″ dinner environment. But, trust wuff, your gaming group is going to LOVE this, for its flavors as well as the cosplay cred!

Ingredients:
For the Pasta:
1 box (16 oz) Tri-Color Penne Pasta
~3 Qts boiling Water
3 tsp Salt
2 tsp Granulated Garlic

For the ″Radioactive Slime″:
~1 C strong, ′hoppy′ beer/ale (Taptoo Scottish Ale)
2 tsp Sodium Citrate
~12 oz Fontina Cheese, cut into chunks
4-6 tsp Wasabi Paste (depending on your taste. Vrghr used ~5)
Neon green or Green food coloring

For the ″Basic″ Cheese Base:
~12 oz White Cheddar Cheese, cut into chunks
~5-6 oz Amish Bleu Cheese (or Gorgonzola) (crumbles or chunks)
~4 oz Cream Cheese
3-4 Tbs Cheddar Cheese Powder + 2/3 C Cold Milk
5 Tbs Butter
4 Tbs Flour
2 cans Unsweetened Evaporated Milk
½ C strong, hoppy beer (Taptoo Scottish Ale)
Rendered fat from the fried Spam
2 Tbs Sriracha Sauce
1 Tbs Brown Mustard (Grey Poupon)
1 Tbs minced Garlic
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 tsp crushed Red Pepper
1 tsp dried Thyme
½ tsp minced dried Jalapeno Pepper
¼ tsp ground Nutmeg
1 tsp Sodium Citrate
Optional - Yellow food coloring (and red?)

For the fried Spam:
1 can traditional Spam, small diced
1 Tbs Butter

Directions:
Make the Pasta:
Bring the water to a strong boil in a large pot, adding the garlic and salt. Add the pasta, stir, and allow to cook until the pasta is al dente (about 12 minutes). Drain.

Fry the Spam:
In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 Tbs butter. When it stops foaming, add the diced Spam. Spread into an even lay and allow to fry until crispy on one side (about 3 minutes or so). Toss/stir to expose more surface to the heat and fry for another couple minutes.
Remove fried Spa, retaining the fat, to wait in a heat-proof bowl.

Make the ″Basic″ Cheese Sauce:
Pour the rendered Spam fat into a large sauce pan. Add the butter and melt over medium-high heat. Wait until the butter stops foaming, and wait a bit more until it begins to just turn a bit brown and smells nutty.
Whisk in the flour. Continue whisking until fully combined and smooth. Add the peppers and spices. Add the Brown Mustard.
Add the beer and the unsweetened evaporated milk, and whisk together. Continue whisking until the mixture regains its temperature and smooths out. Add 1 tsp Sodium Citrate to aid in combining and smoothing the cheeses.
Add the chucks of cheese and crumbles. Stir until melted and combined.
Whisk together the cheddar cheese powder and cold milk to make a slurry. Add to the hot cheese mixture and stir in.
Add the Sriracha Sauce and stir in.
(optional) Gradually add drops of yellow food coloring until the combo of the red Sriracha and yellow dye create the desired orange color. If necessary, add a drop of red coloring.
Reduce heat to low to ″hold″ the sauce.

Make the ″Slime″
In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the Ale until steaming and starting to show small bubbles.
Add the Sodium Citrate and whisk in
Add the chunks of Fontina cheese, and stir until melted and combined.
Stir in the desired amount of Wasabi paste.
Gradually add drops of Neon Green or Green food coloring, stirring to combine, until the sauce is an alarming green color.

Note: ″Molecular Nacho″ sauce such as this is HIGHLY temperature dependent! There is no milk/cream and flour base to stabilize it. It will go from a milk-cream consistency, to a very thick, nearly solid paste depending on the temperature. Basically, it′s a sauce when hot and it tries to revert back to solid cheese when cold. Keep the sauce steaming, just at the verge of boiling, prior to adding it to the bowl at the end, and add it quickly so it doesn′t cool off and solidify.

Assemble the dish:
Pour the cooked pasta into a large bowl. Add the ″Basic″ cheese sauce and stir to combine. Reserve a couple tablespoons of the fried Spam for garnish, and stir the rest of the Spam into the cheesy pasta.
Quickly pour about 2/3 of the ″Slime″ onto the pasta, and return the sauce pan to the heat. Carefully fold the ″Slime″ into the cheese pasta but don′t stir it in completely. You want swirls and ribbons of green among the rest.
Drizzle the rest of the ″Slime″ over the top of the pasta to create runnels and dribbles.
Garnish with the reserved fried Spam.

Present your masterpiece at the table, and dish into individual serving bowls.
Optional – Sprinkle a dash of Smoked Paprika and a bit more Spam garnish on top of each bowl when served.

!!DEVOUR!!

Last edited on Mon Feb 27th, 2017 09:32 pm by Vargr



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