Waffled macaroni and cheese

Really, this isn't so much a post about how to make macaroni and cheese as it is a post about what to do with leftover macaroni and cheese. So I will let you find your own path to macaroni and cheese. If you make the macaroni and cheese specifically for this purpose, that's fine too, of course. But you're going to have to let it cool in the refrigerator for a while. It needs to be easy to handle. Because you're going to abuse it. 

There were a lot of false starts on waffling macaroni and cheese. At first I tried just waffling the cooked and cooled chunks, but after a few minutes in the waffle iron, the cheese had melted away and the macaroni stubbornly refused to conform to the grid of the waffle iron. It had all of the easily imaginable drawbacks of waffled macaroni and cheese — cheese melts easily, after all — and none of the advantages (i.e., no discernible waffle form). 

Then I decided to get clever which, as you may suspect before you even move beyond this clause, didn't lead to anything good. If the noodles were refusing to bend to the will and the weight of the waffle iron, maybe I could cut them down to size. 

So I dumped a batch of cold macaroni and cheese into the food processor and gave it a whirl. I envisioned the resulting pellet-sized bits of macaroni and cheese conforming easily to the grids of the waffle iron, fusing together into one magnificent macaroni and cheese waffle. 

Not so much.   

And I made a loaf of macaroni and cheese, which had a slightly different texture to it — one that didn't charm me but which I thought would at least hold up in the waffle iron. I let it cool, cut off a slice, and waffled it.

No.

This was all months ago. Since then, I avoided the topic by waffling abut 20 other things. And that worked well for a while. Until it didn't.

Macaroni and cheese popped up again.

I appealed to Ask.Metafilter for ideas.

Bread it, they said.

That's what worked.

First, I spread the prepared macaroni and cheese into a thin layer on a sheet pan and put it in the refrigerator. (If I had wanted to be more careful about it, I could have rendered it flat on both sides by pressing it between two sheet pans.)

The next day, I took it out and cut a block about the size of a small waffle. 

In three shallow dishes, I set out the following ingredients:

• flour
• an egg, beaten with a bit of salt and pepper
• bread crumbs (I used Japanese-style panko) and grated cheese (I used pecorino romano)

I coated the block of macaroni and cheese first in the flour, then dunked it in the egg, and then coated it with the bread crumbs. It held together, though it certainly benefited from a delicate touch.

 

Into the greased (Belgian) waffle iron it went for about three minutes.

The extraction process was a bit tricky, but with a silicone spatula and some patience it was possible to get the waffled mac-and-cheese out in one piece — OK, two pieces.

The bread-crumb coating and the heat from the waffle iron may tend to make it a bit dry. Melting a little cheese on top of it, drizzling some cheese sauce over it, or sprinkling some olive oil on it can help with this.

Really, if you can nail it, the presentation is pretty much unbeatable, even if it does come out in pieces.

 

* * * 

This is answer No. 29 to the question "Will it waffle?".

I picked macaroni and cheese from a short list of ideas with the help of a poll — a poll that really went off the rails when some people frantically and comically stuffed the ballot box. (Who knew the stakes were so high?) 

As in a lot of editing, in the process of winnowing the blog to 30 entries, some good ideas got swept aside, chief among them perhaps bacon (though Alton Brown certainly has that covered), gnocchi (which, fortunately, we do not have to wonder about; it can be done) and pierogi (which have been done at least a couple of times — with enough people it's even a party). 

I'm certain there are more that I'm missing, some that were part of the poll but didn't finish first and some that didn't make that short list to begin with. If an idea that you were pulling for didn't make it onto the blog, I'm sorry. I try not to disappoint people but sometimes it happens anyway.

I can only say that there is one more post after this one. Maybe it will be the one you were hoping to see on this blog.

Though I rather doubt it.

* * * 

With the blog heading off into the sunset, I answered a few questions for Michael Gebert over on Grub Street.

Comments

[DotatDabbled]

Well, I'm totally sad to think we're on the verge of completing the experiment... this has been one cool blog!

And the mac-n-chz looks great!

[Samantha Angela @ Bikini Birthday]

Thankfully you were able to perfect the wafflized mac 'n' cheese!
I'd have to make mac and cheese solely for this purpose because I can't recall a time when I actually had leftovers.

[Wei-Wei]

Noooooooo! Don't go! Come baaaaack! Save us with your waffling genius!

[penelope]

Loved the blog--guess I'll have to figure out waffled matzoh brei on my own.

[Sarah]

Wow - that looks amazing! Next time I come visit, can you host a 30-course tasting menu of all these waffled concoctions?? That would be great. Thanks :)

[Marie]

Oh my, I absolutely love this idea! You've combine my two favorite foods, waffles and cheesy pasta.

P.S. - I have enough trouble getting plain Belgian waffles to come out of the iron, so I can certainly imagine how much more difficult a waffleized pasta was to remove.

[Elizabeth]

Okay his waffle craze is driving me nuts!! I need a waffle maker!! If not just for regular old waffles, then to make crazy things like this! Yum!

[Evie]

Holy macaroni and cheese, Batman. You waffled macaroni and cheese. This looks magnificent! Bravo.

[Frank]

I, like so many other devotees of the waffle iron, will be sad to see you go. But, I deeply respect your self imposed limit of 30 posts about waffles. Well done all around, oh that so many other food blogs would handle their subject with your brevity, good humor and originality.

[nd]

I'm confused. Why are the cherry tomatoes not waffled?

[Paige]

This is amazing! I didn't think macaroni and cheese could get any better! Found your blog through TS... now off to see the other creations you have made using a waffle iron.

[Melissa of Lovely Android]

I will miss your posts! I look forward to seeing the final waffled item but I know in my heart that there is no limit to the waffle maker. <3

[Abbey]

Wow, this is the most McFattiest thing I have ever seen. Simply Awesome!

[A Tuscan Foodie in America]

why not waffle a blend of everything you waffled in your 29 previous posts? Just use a blender, put in a bit of the 29 previous plates, and see what comes out, and then waffle it. Who knows, you may be inventing the new top dish for the future (or maybe not).

[The Food Hunter]

Cool Blog! Glad I found it.

[Dawn]

I found an easier way. Spread bread crumbs on a sheet pan. Spread hot mac and cheese on top and another layer of crumbs. Press gently and refrigerate for 24 hours. Cut into squares and waffle. And let me say I love your blog and regularly waffle (v), falafels, quesadillas, french toast, and mac and cheese thanks to you.

[Daniel]

Oh wow. Great idea. If you know ahead of time that you're going to waffle it, this sounds like it might be the way to go.

[Shyla Batliwalla]

This is brilliant! I JUST got a waffle maker and used it for the first time last weekend, this blog entered my life at the perfect time. I'll be back often ...

[Martha Shea]

Hey, Waffleizer,
Just found your blog. I have a genius idea...Thanksgiving/turkey dressing. I could really see that. What say you?

[Daniel]

There's always next year. 

[Malou Klidmoster]

Hi Dan

I just made this with great succes. The trick is to make the mac'n'cheese i a high dish so it can be sliced when it is cold.

Tjeck it out: http://klidmoster.dk/2011/11/sprd-vaffel-af-macncheese.html

It's in Danish, så use google translate ;-)

Regards, Malou

[RWC]

"Leftover macaroni and cheese?" I don't understand this concept...