For chefs Erin Wade and Alison Arevalo, macaroni and cheese is more than a food. It’s a way of life.
Wade and Arevalo opened a restaurant, Homeroom, in Oakland, Calif., in 2011. They describe it “a restaurant dedicated to the best food on earth: macaroni and cheese!” And now they’re sharing their secrets in a new book, “The Mac + Cheese Cookbook: 50 Simple Recipes from Homeroom, America’s Favorite Mac and Cheese Restaurant.”
Wade is convinced that mac and cheese is really the perfect dish.
“The beauty of it is … it satisfies every kind of craving you could have,” Wade said. “There’s the richness of the cream sauce, the saltiness of the cheese, and I think there’s something primal about carbohydrates. And so it’s just sort of this perfect package that hard to ever get enough of.”
Wade said she loves deconstructing dishes that aren’t mac and cheese, and then trying to turn them into mac and cheese.
One perfect example? She turned the breakfast staple of bacon and eggs into a weekend brunch favorite at Homeroom.
Here’s that recipe:
Breakfast Mac
Serves 4
- 1/2 pound dried elbow pasta
- 1/2 pound sliced bacon
- 2 cups Mac Sauce (page 9)
- 2 cups grated extra-sharp, aged Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- Freshly ground black pepper
Beer Pairing: IPA
Wine Pairing: Rosé
Lesson Plan:
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until a little less than al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain the pasta again.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Cook the bacon in a frying pan over high heat until crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove extra grease by patting the strips with a paper towel, and then cut into bite-size pieces.
Add the sauce and cheese to a large, heavy-bottomed pot and cook over medium heat. Stir until the cheese is barely melted, about 3 minutes. Add the bacon and stir to combine. Slowly add the cooked pasta, stir, and continue cooking while stirring continuously until the dish is nice and hot, another 5 minutes.
Spoon the mac and cheese into 4 individual, 5-inch-diameter ovenproof bowls. Sprinkle the panko evenly on top of each bowl. Bake until bubbly, 10 to 15 minutes.
While the macs are cooking, fry the eggs: Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Crack 2 of the eggs into the pan, cover, and let cook undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes. The eggs are done when all the egg white is completely opaque, and the yolk is still nice and bright. Slide the eggs onto a plate and repeat with the remaining tablespoon of butter and 2 eggs.
Remove the macs from the oven, and slide a fried egg on top of each one. Top each egg with some black
pepper. Serve immediately.
