Three-Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese from The Essential Cottage Cookbook by Andrea Buckett.Betty Shin Binon/Supplied
As we close in on May long weekend, Canada’s unofficial start to camping-cottaging-dining-al fresco season, Toronto chef Andrea Buckett’s first book The Essential Cottage Cookbook is hitting store shelves to ensure we are well-fed, whether we find ourselves around a campfire or in the kitchen.
With more than 20 years of experience as a corporate chef, culinary instructor and recipe developer, Buckett is now the resident chef on CTV’s The Good Stuff and shares simple solutions to the dilemma of what’s for dinner – or how to use random ingredients hiding in the back of your fridge – on her social-media channels.
Having grown up hammocking and water skiing in cottage country, Buckett still spends time at her family’s cottage on Kashagawigamog Lake in Haliburton County, Ont., and is well-equipped to address the challenges – and pleasures – of cooking in a basic kitchen or over an open fire.
Even at home, it’s nice to have a go-to mac and cheese recipe that’s as easy as boiling a box of pasta and adding some butter and milk along with the accompanying packet of neon powdered cheese. Buckett’s three-ingredient formula utilizes a much-loved method to make a gooey stovetop (or fire-top) pot of mac and cheese that incorporates the starchy pasta water, allows you to use up any leftover bits of cheese you happen to have and is simple enough to stir together by memory after you’ve done it once or twice.
Three-Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese
Excerpted from The Essential Cottage Cookbook by Andrea Buckett. Photography by Betty Shin Binon. Published by Appetite.
“One of life’s great pleasures is undoubtedly digging into a comforting bowl of mac and cheese,” says Buckett. “This method, inspired by J. Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats, is a genius one, especially when done on the campfire, where fewer ingredients and steps are welcomed. If you want to add a squeeze of ketchup, a dash of hot sauce (my personal favourite), or some pickled jalapenos, I am all for it! A big pot of macaroni and cheese shared between friends at a crackling fire is simplicity at its best.”
- One 16 oz (454 g) pkg macaroni or other small tubular pasta (about 4 cups)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Before heading to the campfire: In a cast-iron pot, combine the macaroni and salt.
Transport the pot, the other ingredients, a jug of water (about 4 cups, enough to cover the pasta) and equipment to the campfire. At the campfire: Set the grate over a medium to low fire.
Add just enough water to cover the pasta by 1/2 inch. Place the pot on the grate and bring the water to a simmer. Cook the pasta, stirring often, until it has absorbed most of the water and is still slightly underdone, about eight minutes – do not drain it!
Stir in the evaporated milk and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, stir in the cheese, a handful at a time, stirring until the cheese has melted into the sauce. Simmer, stirring, for another three minutes or until it’s thick and creamy. If the sauce is too runny, cook, stirring, until it thickens up. Using the heat-resistant glove, remove the pot from the heat.
To serve: This is best eaten straightaway. As it cools, the sauce tends to firm up. Stirring in another splash or two of evaporated milk or water will bring it back to its original state of creaminess, which will be welcomed by those who are a little late to the fire.
Tip: If you are making a single batch, you will have leftover evaporated milk. You can use it as a creamer for coffee and tea, mix it into oatmeal, or use it as a substitute for milk in pancakes or French toast.
Serves four to six.
