Homeroom in junior high school was a bust, from what I remember. But Homeroom, the mac and cheese place in Oakland, is a little gem of a restaurant. Co-owners Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade have put out a little gem of a cookbook, too, with tons of recipes.
Tuna Mac
from Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade's "The Mac + Cheese Cookbook: 50 Simple Recipes from Homeroom, America's Favorite Mac and Cheese Restaurant"
for the pasta:
1/2 pound dried elbow pasta
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until a little less than al dente. Drain, rinse the pasta with cold water, and drain it again.
for the tuna salad:
16 ounces canned tuna in water, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp. drained capers
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
To make the salad:
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients until they are incorporated and evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
for the Mac Sauce:
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. kosher salt or 1 tsp. table salt
To make the sauce:
Heat the milk in a pot over medium heat until it just starts to bubble, but is not boiling, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Heat the butter over medium heat in a separate, heavy-bottomed pot. When the butter has just melted, add the flour and whisk constantly until the mixture turns light brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Slowly pour the warm milk, about 1 cup at a time, into the butter-flour mixture, whisking constantly. It will get very thick when you first add the milk, and thinner as you slowly pour in the entire 3 cups. This is normal.
Once all the milk has been added, set the pot back over medium-high heat, and continue to whisk constantly. In the next 2 to 3 minutes the sauce should come together and become silky and thick. Add the salt.
The Mac Sauce is ready to use immediately and does not need to cool. Store it in the fridge for a day or two if you want to make it ahead of time. It will get a lot thicker when put in the fridge, so it may need a little milk to thin it out a bit when it comes time to melt in the cheese. Try melting the cheese into the sauce first, and if it is too thick, then add milk as needed. Makes 3 cups.
for the Mac:
2 cups of Mac Sauce
2 cups grated Havarti cheese
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup crushed potato chips or crushed oyster crackers, for topping (optional)
To make the Mac:
Add the sauce, the Havarti, 1 cup of the tuna salad (save the rest for a sandwich or whatever else you'd like), and the peas to a large, heavy-bottomed pot and cook over medium heat. Stir until the cheese is barely melted, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the cooked pasta, stir, and continue cooking while stirring continuously until the dish is nice and hot, another 5 minutes.
Spoon into bowls, top with crushed potato chips or crushed crackers, and serve. Makes 4 servings.
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