Macaroni cheese

Am I the only person who doesn't like this? I love pasta, love cheese and cheese sauce but just the thought of macaroni cheese makes me want to heave. When I was in hospital after having my youngest son this was on the menu so I had to get hubby to bring me in a sandwich from home instead. Who else has "traditional favourites" they just can't eat?

Tripe and onions. I always have mine minus the tripe!

Yeah well I would have to agree with you there - just the idea of it disgusts me and it smells too!

stews with dumplings .

Roast pork, kumara and pumpkin - with mixed veg, about the only thing I would eat from a good traditional kiwi roast pork would be the potatoes and gravy,

Harden up you lot, you'd all have to go begging if you came to eat at my place. I have never cooked tripe and onions but my mother cooked them for Dad, and I always enjoyed a bite from his plate. I am racking my brains here to think of food that I don't like. yes, banoffee pie, can't stand that

I like most food but my pet hate is food on a buffet line that is meant to be hot but it's been sitting too long hence is lukewarm and the plates offered are cold too. Add the fact that many buffet lines expect you to put your salad on the same plate as the hot dishes and all I can say is YUK!

Coriander

But that is because I ate it when I'll with morning sickness

Now I just want to vomiitt when I smell it,
Olfactory memory - incredibly strong

You havn't seen a football team dip there fingers in to taste? or grab spoons and try everything.

I think that's part of my issue with macaroni cheese - we used to get it for school dinners and I don't know what they did to it but the pasta always tasted sweet and the whole school smelt like vomit on mac n cheese day *bleurk*. I believe some of my children quite like though and so does my brother but he's always had weird food tastes!

I usually like Macaroni Cheese but some people overdo it with the cheese and can be too much. Jamie Oliver has a nice refreshing recipe to which I have done a few times and it is lovely, not over the top, very refreshing actually and love the introduction of the cauliflower, the recipe. just do the cauli macaroni bits only and I used bacon or ham instead of pancetta.

Jamie Oliver Cauliflower macaroni withstewed fruit meal
Jamie puts a British spin on a classic American recipe as one of his 30-Minute Meals
Serves 6IngredientsFor the cauliflower macaroni
8 rashers of pancetta1 large head of cauliflower500g dried macaroni250g mature Cheddar cheese4 thick slices of country breadFew sprigs of fresh rosemary2 cloves of garlic1 x 250g tub of crème fraîcheParmesan cheese, to serve
For the seasonings
Olive oilExtra virgin olive oilSea salt and black pepper
For the stewed fruit
18 ripe plums or a mixture of any stone fruit you like, such as nectarines or apricots1 tsp vanilla paste or extract2 heaped tbsp golden caster sugar1 orange1 cinnamon stickGood splash of brandy, optional1 x 500ml tub of good-quality vanilla ice cream

For the salad
2 large red chicory2 large white chicorySmall bunch of fresh basil1 clove of garlic½ a 30g tin of anchovies in oil1 tsp Dijon mustard2 tbsp natural yoghurt3 tbsp red wine vinegarSmall handful of capers, drained
Method: How to make cauliflower macaroni, chicory salad with insane dressing,lovely stewed fruit
Follow Jamie's step-by-step guide to make this full meal with dessert in just 30 minutes.
To start:
Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the oven onto 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7. Put the coarse grater attachment into the food processor.
Cauliflower macaroni:
Lay the pancetta in a roasting tray (approx. 30 x 25cm, or large enoughto bake the pasta in) and put on the top shelf of the oven. Get rid of any tatty outer leaves fromthe cauliflower, then trim off the tough base of the stalk and quarter the head. Put in a largesaucepan, core down, with the pasta, on a high heat. Cover with boiling water, filling andreboiling the kettle if necessary. Season with a good pinch of salt, drizzle over a little olive oil,then stir and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid askew.
Stewed fruit:
Halve and stone the plums and put them into another large roasting tray with 1teaspoon of vanilla paste or extract and 2 heaped tablespoons of caster sugar. Speed-peel in thezest from ½ the orange, then squeeze in all the juice. Add the cinnamon stick, snapped in half,and stir in a good swig of brandy, if using. Place on the bottom shelf of the oven. They will beperfect after about 15 minutes.
Cauliflower macaroni:
Grate the Cheddar in the food processor and tip into a bowl. Fit thestandard blade attachment, then get your pancetta out of the oven and blitz in the processor withthe bread, rosemary leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil until you have a coarse breadcrumbconsistency.Put a colander over a large bowl to catch the pasta water, then drain the pasta and cauliflower.Tip into the roasting tray you cooked your pancetta in, and put over a low heat. Add 400ml (or just under a pint) of the reserved pasta water from the bowl. Crush in the 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic and mix in the crème fraîche and grated Cheddar, gently breaking up the cauliflower withtongs or a potato masher. Have a taste and correct the seasoning. It should be nice and loose; if not, add another splash of the pasta water.
Spread out evenly and scatter over the breadcrumbs. Put on the top shelf of the oven for about 8minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

Continued. from above

Stewed fruit:
If the plums look soft and juicy, take them out of the oven and set aside. If not,leave them in a little longer.
Salad:
Trim the bases of the chicory and click the leaves over a serving platter. Quickly pick thebasil leaves and scatter the small ones all over the salad. Put a small frying pan on a medium tolow heat.Put the bigger basil leaves into a liquidizer. Crush in the unpeeled garlic clove, then add a goodpinch of salt & pepper, ½ the tin of anchovies plus a little of their oil, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 2tablespoons of yoghurt, 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and about the same amount of extravirgin olive oil. Add a small splash of water and whiz until smooth.Add a splash of olive oil and the capers to the hot frying pan. Fry for a few minutes until crispy.Taste the dressing to check for acidity, then pour into a jug. Sprinkle the crispy capers all over
the chicory leaves and take to the table with the jug of dressing. You won’t need all the dressing –
keep any extra in the fridge for another day.
To serve:
When the cauliflower macaroni is golden and bubbling, take it to the table and shaveover some Parmesan. If the fruit is still in the oven, take it out and put it to one side. Take the icecream out of the freezer to soften. When ready, serve the fruit in small glasses, layered up withvanilla ice cream.

As a child, macaroni cheese was one of on,y a few things I really disliked. I have memories of having to stay at the table until I had finished it! And having to smother it in tomato sauce and have a large glass of water at hand LOL It is not a dish I really bother to make and yet, I have had a delicious one at friends. I am not an offal fan, so liver or my Mother's steak and kidney pudding is not my bag.

I don't mind most offal - have even had lambs brains - but do draw the line at tripe!

Tripe just like Brussell Sprouts has to properly cooked to get the best out of them otherwise will taste very Blahhhh! .
I love properly cooked tripe finished in a nice slightly cheesy white sauce with onions and seasoned properly.

Never was a huge fan of Brussel Sprouts until I tried them stir fried with garlic and tossed with with flaked almonds before serving. Also good with a touch of honey, ginger and garlic tossed in the pan while stir frying, served with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. As we now like them, we grow them in our garden.

Same, I love steak and kidney and brains, but not tripe! And you can add chokos to that as well (to the hate list I mean).Any food that you have to disguise with sauce to make it edible, is a waste of my palate sorry.

I've never tried chokos but you make a good point about food being disguised

Scotch eggs - hate them.

I don't like it at all. I don't think either of my children have ever eaten it either.

I don't really like mac'n'cheese either. My mother used to make a horrible one when we were kids, and my sister-in-law a microwave version with frozen mixed veges added in which was even worse than mum's. My husband actually makes a really good one but I still don't like it.

Macaroni cheese is a real family favourite here. I make it traditionally, and with sliced tomatoes and breadcrumbs on top. Yumo

What I couldn't ever eat is tripe and onions. My mum would cook and enjoy 'em though.
And I also detested junket. ugh!

I like everything else, lol.

Funnily enough, I have a fondue style macaroni cheese recipe here, that I would more than likely enjoy it has pancetta, fresh breadcrumbs, fontina cheese fresh parsley and it certainly looks a very nice dish.

But I think the same when I see a big dish of mac n cheese in cafes especially over winter and I have retried it but no matter how hard I try I just can't force it down

yep-- coriander, can;t stand it