With the holidays fast approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about doing Thanksgiving on a budget for the next 3 editions of our weekly food budgeting series. You may have already guessed that as a foodie, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! I typically spend the entire week cooking, then recovering from all the frenzy by spending the weekend curled up in front of the TV with a stack of my favorite videos.

One of the great things about Thanksgiving is the potluck nature of the day. You can always count on certain people to bring their best dishes to the table. And when everyone contributes to the meal, you can justify splurging a little on some of your ingredients, since the overall cost of the meal will be shared. This is where my deep dish baked mac and cheese comes in. Normally I can’t afford to go balls out and buy a good Gruyere cheese to put myself in a pasta coma with this dish. But on a day that’s all about giving thanks, I want to celebrate with a big pan of sexy, cheesy goodness. And in that situation, no other cheese will do. Follow me after the jump for my rock star quality mac and cheese, as well as a few budget worthy dishes that taste really delicious.

Mac and Cheese? Yes, Please!
Macaroni has a long and distinguished history. Technically, the term macaroni refers to any semolina pasta that doesn’t have eggs in it. And there are hundreds . . . no, thousands of shapes and sizes to choose from. Although the origin of pasta itself is widely debated, historical records show that the ancient Greeks, Romans and Etruscans were all eating some form of pasta. Pasta made its way to England by the 18th Century, and Thomas Jefferson brought the dish across the pond to America in 1787 when he returned from a trip to Italy with a pasta maker in tow. Jefferson even served his ‘œMacaroni Pie’ in the White House in 1802. Since then, macaroni and cheese has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Kraft Foods International says that it sells over one million boxes of its macaroni and cheese dinner every day.

Given this illustrious past, it is no wonder that everyone seems to have their own interpretation of the dish. Joan Schwartz has issued a book of fifty-two macaroni and cheese recipes that include accoutrements such as spicy mustard, béchamel, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces, sun-dried tomatoes, sausage, peas, or broccoli. There also are recipes that include crispy toppings like bread crumbs, tortilla chips, and cracker crumbs. In my opinion, less is more and macaroni is only about the cheese. I think Julie Moskin says it best in an article in the New York Times when she describes what her ‘œfantasy of what the dish should be: nothing more than tender elbows of pasta suspended in pure molten cheddar, with a chewy, golden-brown crust of cheese on top.’

Consequently, there are two keys to the perfect pan of macaroni: picking the right cheese and selecting the right kind of pasta. Schwartz has an entire section in her book describing the flavors and textures of different cheeses. She advocates using a triumvirate of hard cheese, soft cheese, and Ricotta or cottage cheese. However, for my money it does not get any better than a combination of grated Gruyere cheese, cubed American cheese (a la a box of Velveeta or the generic equivalent), and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (the good stuff . . . not that crap out of the cardboard tube). You will need two cups of Gruyere (or any other sharp flavored cheese of your choice), one cup of cubed American cheese, and one cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

When it comes to pasta choices, I am a firm believer in the traditional elbow-shaped macaroni. Alton Brown explains that the shape of the elbow is at the perfect angle to hold melted cheese inside the noodle without the pasta collapsing on itself. He also says that you must add plenty of water when you boil the macaroni so that the noodles do not stick together, and that you must season the water with salt to bring out the natural flavor of the pasta. Boil the pasta just a few minutes less than the package suggests, because it will continue to cook in the oven. Drain the pasta and rinse it in cold water so that the noodles do not continue to cook. You do not want to end up with soggy noodles. Although I am not a fan of béchamel sauce in my macaroni, I do think that you need a little ‘œglue’ to hold the cheese to the pasta. The trick is a half of a cup of mayonnaise. As Emeril would say, mayonnaise ‘œkicks it up a notch,’ plus it helps round out the texture of the dish.

Once you have all of your ingredients ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees and butter a 13’x9’x2’ baking pan. Add the cooled noodles to the pan. Now add the cheese, mayonnaise, and a little bit of milk. Season everything with a little salt and pepper. Mix all your ingredients together until the cheese is evenly distributed throughout the pan. You could use a wooden spoon for this, but I like getting in there with my fingers to do the job. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven and stir the macaroni again (this time with a spoon!), replace the foil, and bake the pasta for another 15-20 minutes. Remove the foil from the pan and then bake for another 10-15 minutes so that the dish will get a nice, crispy layer of toasted cheese on top. If you’re short on oven space this Thanksgiving, you can pull the dish and wait before doing the last bit of cooking. Just make sure that you’re following food safety procedures to avoid any food borne illnesses.

Green Bean Casserole
Another one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes is Green Bean Casserole. It’s a little white trash, but hey . . . you can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the girl. Am I right?

You’ll need 3 cans of French-cut green beans, 2 cans of mushroom soup, 1 package of onion soup mix, and a can of French-fried onions. If you shop the food sales like I do, with the exception of the onions, these are all ingredients you probably already have on hand in your pantry. Just mix the beans, mushroom soup, and onion soup mix together in a casserole dish, then top with the French-fried onions. Put this in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on how hot the oven is based on whatever else you’re baking. It’s that easy!

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Mashed potatoes are another Thanksgiving staple as far as I’m concerned. They’re cheap, they’re easy, and they’re very filling. Last week we talked about ways to jazz up your mashed potatoes, but on Thanksgiving, I think that less is more. Instead of using milk, reserve some of the cooking liquid to mash the potatoes with butter, margarine, or a little bit of olive oil. Where you’ll really get your money’s worth with this dish is with the gravy. The Food Network has instructions for making turkey pan gravy on their website. It’s a great way to utilize every bit of the animal you’re about to carve up and serve center stage. And who doesn’t love to smother their stuffing, turkey, potatoes, and even their salad, with gravy on Thanksgiving?

Sweet Potatoes
Yams and sweet potatoes are another Thanksgiving tradition. Everyone has their own method for preparing these affordable tubers. Some people put marshmallows or shredded coconut on the top. Some people use pineapple. But I tend to take the great chef Escoffier’s approach to cooking when sweet potatoes are concerned. Escoffier believed that “the greatest dishes are often the simplest dishes.” I like to wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and let them bake while I have my mac and cheese in the oven. When the yams are fork tender, I pull them out of the oven and let them cool slightly before I remove the skins. Cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and put them in a large mixing bowl. Add some butter and cream, milk, or soy milk to the bowl. Sprinkle some ground ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon over the top. Add just a little bit of brown sugar, and then start mashing everything together. When the sweet potatoes are nice and creamy, transfer them to a casserole dish and cover them with the finely chopped nuts of your choice. Done! These potatoes are sweet enough to eat alone, but they also taste great with gravy.

Thankful for Leftovers
Mountains of leftovers are another fun part of the Thanksgiving celebration. Next week we’ll explore just how many ways can you use leftover turkey. Until then, be sure to leave us the recipe for your favorite Thanksgiving dish. And if you’re more of an eater than a chef on this day of culinary days, be sure to tell us some of your favorite gastronomic memories in the comments section.

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