The Cold Snap

There isn’t much to report around here, except that it has been cold. Very cold. Without, for the time being, any sign of the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The forecast for this weekend looks worse than it was last weekend, if that’s even possible.    

When I go out these days, I am one of those old ladies commenting on the slightest atmospheric mood swing. “It’s so cold! The afternoons have been better this week, but the mornings are still freezing! And look at all that ice. It’s hard to even board the bus. Certainly the harshest winter in the past ten years.” All elevator and school drop-off conversations have been quite limited, let me tell you. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up, just so I can stop hearing myself uttering these platitudes to random strangers.

It will be nice, also, to get a break from ensuring that children are properly dressed in the mornings. With the teenagers, I have all but given up. They both came back with bleeding knuckles yesterday but assured me they had been wearing their gloves all day. The two different black scarves I purchased for my seventeen-year-old are still on his dresser with the tags on. But he swore he had a hat and scarf with him every day this week – one of these mysteries that are better left unexplored.

I will not win the teenager battle. But for the ten-and-under age group, I still try. Long underwear and a thermal layer under the school polo are required. But if I don’t monitor the dressing process I will univariably find those dreaded items tucked behind their beds – or sometimes the toilet – when I tidy up after they have left.

While base layers are too warm, the gloves are not warm enough, I’m told. At least this is what I hear every day upon discharge from the school bus.         

Always too much or too little. The story of our lives as mothers.

I remember being quite exasperated when my grandmother insisted I wear my hat and gloves in Biarritz in the winters, when temperatures rarely dipped below 10° C. In other words, tropical weather. She would also chase me around the apartment with a blow dryer after my every shower.  There was always a chance I could catch a cold with that wet hair of mine, even in the summer.  As a teenager and an only child already feeling smothered by her parents, it brought me to the brink or rage. Now of course, I miss her dearly and wish someone would share the same concern for my health and well-being. I would give anything to be in the same room with her again.  

I thought of her this week as we celebrated “Chandeleur” on Groundhog Day. I already wrote about the French tradition of eating crepes that day, and my grandmother’s crepes in particular. How glorious they were and how I have failed, so far, to replicate their ethereal lightness and perfect dosage of Grand Marnier.      

I failed again this year. But while we are weathering this cold snap, it was so comforting to just be standing in my kitchen, pouring batter in the pan while the kids were bickering about who would eat the first one. While I flipped the crepes with the help of my spatula, I could picture my grandmother using her bare hands and cooling them off on a clean wet sponge that she kept nearby.

Looking back, her technique seems mystifying. I can understand not trying to flip the crepe. My grandmother was the most reserved, discreet person I have ever met, and the notion of risking an accident with the crepe must have been unbearable to her. I do not understand, however, not using a spatula or some other tool that would have helped her. I guess those crepes nights must have been her Golgotha of sorts, the hill on which she ritually sacrificed herself every year during February break.

I ended up using my bare hands myself, in the end. It was my small way of being with her, for that one short moment in my messy kitchen.

We all need comfort these days, and my grandmother was the one person in my family who was truly comforting, and would never judge. She truly just wanted what was best for the people around her.

I will not post her crepe recipe again; you can find it in the link above.   

But the next day I did make a version of Mac and Cheese that the children approved. Since we have been in an urban winter wonderland of sorts for a while now, I have been craving those meals I would have in the mountains. The black, dirty-looking mounds of ice that adorn our sidewalks are not quite the Colorado vibe I’m after, to be quite honest. But turning my kitchen into a chalet of sorts has been the next best thing.       

If I were to make that dish again, I might substitute mimolette – like in this Mimi Thorisson version I once made and loved- , or comté, for the hefty dose of cheddar that is being used here. Or buy a fancy British cheddar. Something that doesn’t have a subtle aftertaste of supermarket cheddar. That is the only reservation I have about this dish, which otherwise made me a convert in the Panko breadcrumbs department. I had my doubts about using Japanese breadcrumbs on mac and cheese, but it was oh so much better than the cheap Progresso crumbs that have been sitting in my pantry for longer than I want to admit.       

So go ahead. Crepes, mac and cheese, gratins, cookies, you name it. It is cold out there and we all deserve to cook our way through the cocoon that we need.         

Classic Mac and Cheese, with Japanese Panko Breadcrumbs

Adapted from Mom Time Out.

Ingredients

• 1 pound / 500 grams elbow macaroni, cooked (or other tubular pasta)

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 6 tbsp/85 grams unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup /145 grams all-purpose flour

• 3 cups/710 ml whole milk

• 1 cup / 240N ml heavy whipping cream

• 4 cups / 450 grams GOOD sharp cheddar cheese, or mimolette, or comté, shredded

• 2 cups / 225 grams GOOD Gruyere cheese, shredded

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 1/2 cups / 90 grams panko crumbs – this is key in my opinion, so much better than regular breadcrumbs

• 4 tbsp / 55 grams butter melted

• 1/2 cup / 45 grams Parmesan cheese shredded

• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika , or regular paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C. Lightly grease a large baking dish and set aside. Combine shredded cheeses in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Cook the pasta one minute shy of al dente. Drain, and place in a large bowl.

3.  Drizzle pasta with olive oil and stir to coat pasta. Set aside to cool while preparing cheese sauce.

4.  Melt butter in a deep saucepan, dutch oven, or stock pot.

5.  Whisk in flour over medium heat and continue whisking for about 1 minute until bubbly and golden.

6.  Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream until nice and smooth. Continue whisking until you see bubbles on the surface and then continue cooking and whisking for another 2 minutes. Whisk in salt and pepper.

7.  Add two cups of shredded cheese and whisk until smooth. Add another two cups of shredded cheese and continue whisking until creamy and smooth. Sauce should be nice and thick, with a bechamel texture.

8.   Stir in the cooled pasta until combined and pasta is fully coated with the cheese sauce.

9.   Pour half of the mac and cheese into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese, and then the remaining mac and cheese (I didn’t see that part and mixed all the cheese in the milk in the previous step, I’m not sure this layering of the cheese makes a difference in the final result).

10.  In a small bowl, combine panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese, melted butter and paprika. Sprinkle over the top and bake until bubbly and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately, with a nice green salad on the side.