summer recipe #2

Also known as: Agatha Christie Curry Mac-and-Cheese

(this recipe is entirely my own and rather tasty)

Today was all about small unexpected turns of event (events? hmm)

I started an Agatha Christie novel I picked up yesterday, expecting a visit with dear old Miss Marple. Alas! It is  Tommy and Tuppence.  Turns out to be a good read anyway. I went out to get the mail, not much good, but it was such a lovely day I decided to get some exercise.  After this I realized that I was rather hungry. The idea of macaroni and cheese really appealed to me, but all we have by way of the boxed kind was rather icky looking. I scrounged around and eventually this recipe was born:

1) Finish a good mystery novel. It is not critical that it be "N or M?" by Agatha Christie, but it might help if it is something else by her. 

2) Cook some pasta in your smallest pot.

3) Roughly chop two large button mushrooms, 1/4 of a small yellow onion, and six fresh green beans (I trimmed the ends off the beans, but if you are opposed to this practice then by all means - leave them on) 

4) To two decent sized dollops of sour cream (in a small bowl) add salt, pepper, and yellow curry powder to taste (if your curry powder is as old as ours, it will take rather a lot).

5) Drain the pasta. In the same pot saute the veggies in a bit of oil until the onions are transparent and the mushrooms are brown. If you prefer that the green beans be entirely limp and lifeless I would suggest steaming them separately, as they don't cook very much this way. 

6) Decide that washing the food processor is easier than grating off your fingers (still a bit tender from the artichoke event of yesterday) and shred a good lump of sharp white cheddar. Another cheese might be better, but this is all we had.

7) Add some of the pasta to the veggies in the pot.  If you're me (and I am) you made far too much pasta. Put the remainder in the fridge. To the pasta/veggies add the spiced sour cream and the shredded cheese. Mix well and cover (off heat).

8) While you wait for the cheese to melt, wash the dishes.

Eat while watching the rain roll in. Eat out of the pot with a small green salad and a glass of water (while secretly wishing it was half a glass of decent white wine. shhh don't tell). Serves one-ish (I wasn't all that hungry after all). 

Once I get better at curry, dishes like this will taste better, but for all my lack of skill it wasn't too bad. I think I will add the rest of the pasta to the leftovers to thin out the sour cream, it was a bit rich. In the end = tasty and worth trying again.