I confess right here and right now — I love to eat. The aromas and flavors of meat, cheese, vegetables, fruit, grains, spices, herbs, cakes, pies, bread are as delightful as a walk through a scented flower garden. But not only do I love to eat, I also love to cook. Consequently, food appears in some shape or form in all of my novels and many times in my stories.
Undoubtedly, one telltale sign I’m a foodie is my cookbook collection — hardbacks, paperbacks, and ebooks. I also have bookmarks on a wide variety of internet recipe sites. Another indicator is the near ecstasy that is evident when I venture into a grocery store or a cooking supply store. When I write, a cookbook is always nearby.
Harry Wright is private detective Justinia Wright’s brother. He is also her majordomo, chef, and assistant. With the alacrity of a juggler, Harry turns out fabulous gourmet dishes on a daily basis. Dishes such as Porcini Parmesan, roasted veggie with goat cheese sandwiches, caramelized onion tartlets, ratatolha niça, and Cock-a-Leekie.
At times, though, Harry will take a walk down the comfort food aisle and then we see dishes like NuNus and Hot Dogs and Mac and Cheese. Sometimes Harry leaves the dish simple and sometimes he fancies it up.
Today I thought I’d give you his Mac and Cheese to Die For recipe, which appears in the forthcoming Justinia Wright, PI novel But Jesus Never Wept. He doesn’t call it that. For him it’s simply Mac and Swiss Cheese with Bacon Crumbles.
The recipe below is a composite, he tells me, of several recipes out there on the World Wide Web. Let me know if you think it is to die for. Enjoy!
Mac and Swiss Cheese with Bacon Crumbles
Ingredients
Macaroni – 1 pound (Harry uses elbows)
Butter – 5 tablespoons
Flour – 1/4 cup
Milk – 3 cups (Harry uses whole milk)
Salt – (Harry uses about a 1/2 teaspoon)
Black Pepper – (Harry uses fresh ground and about 3/4 teaspoon)
Mustard – 1/4 teaspoon dry (Harry prefers a good English mustard, such as Coleman’s)
Swiss Cheese – 3/4 pound shredded
Monterey Jack – 3/4 pound shredded
Bacon – 6 slices, cooked crisp and crumbled (Harry’s been known to add a couple more slices)
Parsley – for garnish
Basil – for garnish
Rosemary sprig – for garnish
Directions
- Cook pasta according to package directions and your liking. (Harry only cooks his pasta al dente.)
- Warm milk on stove or in microwave.
- Melt butter over medium high heat and whisk in the flour. Continue to whisk to make sure there are no lumps and to cook flour, about 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add the warm milk and whisk the mixture until smooth. Reduce heat and gently simmer for four minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the sauce has slightly thickened, add salt, pepper, and mustard.
- Add cheese and stir until sauce is smooth.
- When pasta is cooked, drain, and reserve a 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
- Add sauce to pasta. If sauce is too thick, add a little of the water to thin.
- Top with the bacon crumbles and parsley, basil, and rosemary sprig.
Good eating!
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Haha! I love it when author’s do this. Not only does it make the story come to life, but it also encourages a reader beyond the book itself.
I know that when I first read Weis & Hickman’s classic “Dragonlance Chronicles”, I really wanted the recipe for Otik’s Spiced Potatoes (from the Inn of the Last Home). I eventually found it in a publication and loved the fact that I could enjoy something that my favourite characters had talked about.
I haven’t done that in a story as yet, but I do like to mention real places (like the pubs in my novella). I’ve always enjoyed visiting the places where someone wrote something or to a place mentioned in a book. I’ve stayed and written in the room next door to where Burroughs wrote most of “Naken Lunch” (the Hotel el-Muniria in Tangier – they have (had) a really interesting ‘bar’ underneath with a parachute covering the ceiling. Great.)
I do too. I try to populate my tales with real landmarks. I think it helps to make the story more believable. And there is nothing like eating your way through a book. 🙂
It’s is fun to add an author’s tastes and pleasures to a story. I have a hard time having my characters travel by anything besides a bicycle. The trouble with the Justinia Wright’s tales is that they make me hungry.
Me too, Alice. I get the munchies writing them!