Taco-less Mexican Tuesday

Last night Jim was already gearing up for Taco Tuesday at Rubio's, so when he walked into the kitchen today and asked me where I wanted to go to eat, I was slightly shocked. I initially chalked it up to Jim forgetting what day of the week it was. Then I thought that maybe he was more interested in the mac n' cheese that I was in the middle of making. But it ended up that he really wasn't in the mood for Rubio's.

That isn't to say that he didn't want Mexican, because we ended up going to La Cabanita. We've affectionately dubbed the restaurant Cheap Mexican because it used to be in the Napa Solano Express book, which meant that on top of it being a hole in the wall place with dirt cheap prices, it was buy one get one free. It's an added bonus that the food is actually really good.

Jim got a super chicken burrito without the sour cream and we split the nachos. I really like the guacamole, which is mixed with tomatoes and slightly chunky. Yum-o! The beans are what makes the nachos for me--they're amazing. They're probably terrible healthwise, but they're super creamy and flavorful. Jim didn't agree with me, but it seemed to me that his burrito was extra big today. He managed to not only eat the enormous thing but also devour most of the nachos.

Back to the mac n' cheese, it's his mom's recipe. Over the years, I've tried unsuccessfully to get him to try other mac n' cheese recipes, but he always wants to go back to the original. It was the first (and I believe only) thing Jim's cooked for me. Well, he does make a mean fried egg sandwich. Does that count? Anyway, I've made it so many times that I could do it in my sleep. And I've even got the timing down to a science, too. I immediately fill the pasta pot with water and set it to boil. While waiting for the water to heat up, I start grating the cheddar cheese. I finish grating right around the time the macaroni is ready to go into the water. Because the body of the dish consists only of mac, cheese, and milk, I find it important to salt the water beforehand. I know I'm always supposed to salt the pasta water, but I try to avoid it because it's not the healthiest to do. But in this case, I make an exception because I think it makes a noticeable difference. While the pasta is boiling (7 minutes--just under al dente), I prep the baking dish and cut up the butter, which tops the dish. Putting the dish together is super simple. All it is is a layer of pasta topped with cheese and then repeated. Milk gets poured over the dish and then it comes together with a topping of corn flake crumbs and butter. Again, real butter (versus low fat margarine) makes a huge difference as far as flavor goes. Usually I start pre-heating the oven before I start assembling, but today I was strictly thinking ahead for tomorrow night's dinner since I never have time to make dinner on Wednesdays. This way all Jim has to do is pop the thing into the oven and bake it off. He likes his mac n' cheese with applesauce, which is very odd to me, but I've gotten used to it. This is another one of those cultural differences, since I've never eaten applesauce with dinner and didn't know people did so until I started dating Jim.