5 Cheese Doritos Mac & Cheese

It is said that America has no culture and Americans are described as "bland" outside of the USA, but I beg to differ. Have you ever noticed that you can travel to nearly any country on earth and find millions, probably billions, of people wearing effectively the same pair of blue denim pants? Thanks America.

With the holidays just around the corner, I wanted to reflect on all the holidays I came to embrace when I arrived in America. Having come to this country in my teens and being dropped literally into an apartment community where 80% of the residents were not only Indian but also had the same last name as mine, was a cultural shock of another kind. Furthermore, I came from East Africa where my upbringing was diversely influenced by people not only from all over India but also from all over the world. My Indian heritage and culture was already embedded in me by my parents and the community I came from, but the new Indian incomers I lived amongst now had a different lifestyle, vision and values too. It was hard to be the new brown girl who was less conservative and perhaps a tad bit more carefree. I had to face the other side of this immigrant experience also, the one where I was very exotic, and that's a nicer way of saying unfamiliar - the American community. As a young 16 year old, from my hairstyle and clothes to my language and accent, I was different from everyone around me and it took me roughly a year to acclimate, be accepted and make friends. Along with the new connections, fashion sense, fast food introduction and teenage freedom came greater happiness, new traditions and lots of growing up.

I learned about and celebrated the 4th of July, Labor Day,  Halloween and Thanksgiving within the first 6 months here. Initially we lived with family and my parents took a little bit to settle down, so all this was enjoyed as available outside the home and for free. I have been fortunate enough to have built my life here where I was given the opportunity to learn new things and become more than what I had envisioned. I am still that little girl at 16, and I am also a woman of 45 who continues to have stepping stones to grow.

Thanksgiving traditions started for me when I met my husband an incomer himself, approximately two years after I came to the USA.  For the first several years, we celebrated and followed all the customary traditions with his best friend's extended American family. Year after year, the Kildeas were our Thanksgiving family, you just showed up. After we got married, we started creating our own holiday rituals and through the years as our family has grown, we had added to our the scene. Why do we do this?  We do this because we are thankful for the opportunities and because our real tradition is gratitude. If anything deserves more credit to our being Americans, it is not the naturalization process alone, it is in these traditions we have created with an amalgam of our background.  This is my immigrant Thanksgiving — a blend of old and new, a combination of cultural interpretations and scrappy ingenuity and usually spurred by insistent longing to belong. 

Food is huge through al the holidays and I will speak more of this in my next blog. Here is a  recipe inspired by my son's gourmet 5 cheese mac which is a mandatory and popularly requested staple on our Thanksgiving spread every year. My added twist was a request by my niece Jaida to use her favorite cheese flavored nacho chips.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces – ½ box of macaroni (elbows) – cooked 2 minutes under directions, drained and run under cold water.

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour

• 1 medium onion, finely diced

• 4 large cloves garlic, minced

• 3 cups whole milk

• 1 cup reserved pasta water

• 1 teaspoon paprika or chili powder

• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning or Old Bay seasoning

• ½ cup each of any 5 of the following cheese: cheddar, swiss, emmentaler, mozzarella, fontina, gruyere, parmesan, gouda, asiago, monterey jack, pepper jack, habenero jack or colby jack, Mix and set aside.

• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

• ½ teaspoon salt

FOR THE TOPPING

• 2 tablespoons of melted butter

• 1 cup crushed Doritos chips

• 1 cup of reserved cheese from the above mixture

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  

• Add onions and cook until transparent for 3-4 minutes.

• Whisk in the flour, until well combined and cook for 2 minutes.  

• Add garlic and spices and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.

• Gradually whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently.  

• Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes, whisking frequently.  

• Stir in 4 cups of the cheese blend into the saucepan.  Use reserved pasta water if required.

• Turn heat off and add the cooked elbow macaroni to the cheese sauce and stir well to combine.  Don't be tempted to eat that cheesy creaminess just yet! P0ur pasta into a baking dish.

• Mix all the topping ingredients in a bowl and evenly top the pasta with the mixture.

• Bake for 20-25 minutes covered. Bake for another 10 minutes uncovered. Serve.