Recipe review- “Deceptively Delicious” macaroni and cheese #1
I received this cutie cookbook (written by Jessica Seinfeld, comedian Jerry’s wife) for Christmas from Brian’s brother, Scott. The premise is “sneaking” various fruit and veggie purees into foods so your kids will get more of them in their diets (especially helpful if you have picky kids). I have no kids, but a picky Brian. 
I can’t say I’ve done much cooking since then, mostly tacos/enchiladas, that sort of stuff. I’ve been meaning to try out the recipes within the pages, and what better place to begin that macaroni? You’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t love those noodles in cheesy sauce. In my heart, it’s tied for first with mashed potatoes as the ultimate comfort food.
This particular macaroni recipe called for 1/2 cup cauliflower, broccoli, or butternut squash puree’. I have had a bag of cauliflower in the freezer for…a bit, so I figured now was as good a time as any to use some of it. I began by boiling about a cup of it in about a cup of lightly salted water, while boiling 1.5 cups elbow macaroni in lightly salted, lightly oiled water (for about 7 minutes). While you’re waiting for the boiling to commence, spray a large skillet with non-stick spray, heat it just a tad over medium, and brown a tablespoon each of olive oil and all purpose flour (about 3 minutes). When it is barely browned, add 1/2 cup skim milk, and cook, stirring often, until mixture thickens (I believe it went a little quicker than the book said; our stove is a little wonky on the controls). After that has thickened, add 1.5 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar, stir until melted, and add 4 oz. of reduced fat cream cheese. Keep stirring until all is well incorporated, and add salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, and paprika to taste. It’s a really thick mix! Hopefully by now, the pasta is perfectly al dente, and the cauliflower is boiled and smelling like butter (it helps to follow the advice of the book here- keep pre-made, frozen purees on hand. It’s a wee time saver, and worth it). If you haven’t yet, mash or process the cauliflower by hand or with a food processor or blender (I used a blender, kind of a pain, but ok if it’s all you have). Add the puree to the cheese mixture, drain the pasta if you have not by now, and add the sauce to the pasta. Serves four.
At first glance, I thought “At last! A healthy, super-creamy macaroni Brian and I can both enjoy!” It was a lovely shade of light yellow-orange, and looked generally perfect. I called him in for the taste test, and his first words were “too much cream cheese.” 
I am a big fan of the Philly, but I have to agree- there was something distinctly non-macaroni-ish about it. It wasn’t the cauliflower, and I followed the recipe to the letter (which is pretty abnormal here). Brian did wind up eating a sizable pile of it, as it wasn’t terrible, and I decided that next time- and there will definitely be a next time- I will slightly up the milk and use half the cream cheese. I had the leftovers for lunch today, with an added sprinkle of regular shredded cheddar, and it was so much better. The cream cheese taste was barely noticeable. But I don’t always want to wait overnight for my precious noodles n’ chee. The worst part was having no idea where the camera is; I served the macaroni with some Italian breadcrumb and Parmesan crusted chicken strips and a side salad. I had a nice looking plate going, but no evidence b/c there’s no telling where Brian left the camera…