"Mom, I love that the macaroni is kind of sweet."
"Yep, that's the nutmeg, kiddo."
"That's why I love it!"
Thomas Jefferson didn't invent macaroni and cheese, but he was the first person in the US to bring it to the table and surprise his guests with a dish he'd picked up in Europe. He solicited research on "semola" flour, which he learned was used in Italy to make the noodles. Then, using a presumably Italian immigrant in New Jersey, he had the pasta made and began to import/export it.
Monticello.org reports that from an 1888 letter, the guests stated they'd had: "[Among other dishes] a pie called macaroni, which appeared to be a rich crust filled with the strillions of onions, or shallots, which I took it to be, tasted very strong, and not agreeable. Mr. Lewis told me there were none in it; it was an Italian dish, and what appeared like onions was made of flour and butter, with a particularly strong liquor mixed with them."
I'm not sure what the 'strong liquor' was, but seeing this inspired me to make Jeffersonian Mac n' Cheese as pictured above.
Tonight, we made brined, thin pork chops on the grill with the pasta as our side. The 'brinerade' is a short brine-based marinade for thinner chops, which don't absorb as much fluid. I quick grilled them (6 minutes total) over high heat.
Brinerade
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
Now, here's to Tommy J and his fight for the independence we love, that which allows us to have macaroni and cheese for dinner, and the ice cream he brought over from France for dessert!
