I suggested vegetable pasta for dinner one night. Mack suggested macaroni and cheese. He won.
We headed to the Italian Centre to load up on asiago, romano and cheddar, the cheeses that form the base for a recipe in the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives cookbook. And though we searched high and low (read: the Italian Centre and Superstore) for panko bread crumbs, it just wasn’t our night, so we gave up and used homemade breadcrumbs we had in the cupboard instead.
As expected, this is not a low-cal recipe. The sauce was the colour of Cheese Whiz and had the texture of Velveeta, and lovingly enrobed the macaroni, with a lot to spare. After 15 minutes in the oven with the breadcrumb topping, we really felt like we could have been sitting at the counter of a diner. Super-cheesy, with the crunch of the breadcrumbs and just a hint of cracked black pepper, even a small bowl was almost too rich.
Three-Cheese Macaroni
We both had seconds.
Only Here for the Food 
God, that looks good! But there’s something equally appealing about the fluorescent orange glow of Kraft Dinner too, you know. However, I don’t like their rebranding effort. Every time I hear K.D., I think they mean k.d. lang.
The perfect meal for the weather this week! How’s the rest of the “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” cookbook?
You can find panko breadcrumbs at T&T supermarket. Most Korean stores carry them too.
Hey – that looks delish! I put it in my “to make” file! Thank You!
And to add to Poh’s comment – I saw that Bulk Barn also has panko crumbs (though Bulk Barn was probably way out of your search range).
Debra – your comment reminds me of a post on Food Network Canada not too long ago, about how people “dress up” their KD: http://www.foodtv.ca/blog/blogs/food_for_thought/archive/2009/8/10/question-of-the-week-how-do-you-dress-up-your-kd.aspx
Michelle – this was only the second recipe we tried (the other was Captain Crunch French Toast). Many of the recipes look good, but involve either a lot of time, or ingredients we don’t have on hand…many dishes that I would enjoy at a diner, but not duplicate on my own :).
Poh and ck – thanks for the tip!
You can typicaly find panko breadcrumbs at Save-On Foods. They are located throughout the city and are the most reliable for having lots on hand.
Thanks for the tip, Kathryn! I’m often at Save-On, but have never actually looked for panko there.
We made this recipe for our the main meal last sunday. The whole family adored it, I most certainly will be cooking it frequently from now on, it’s always lovely to find innovative suggestions for recipes also straightforward techniques to prepare them. Thanks for posting them.