beecher's "world's best" mac and cheese

a couple months ago,

i saw this in a holiday gift guide

{best of beecher's handmade cheese}

i followed the link to beecher's,

where i found this

{world's best mac and cheese kit}
{and, may i just say that i adore the idea of a gourmet dinner "kit"}

and after a quick search,

i found the cookbook at my library.

i have made this recipe twice, and,

while our family will always love

jan's mac & cheese,

this recipe from beecher's is crazy-good.
you really must give this one a go.
{click on the images for a readable close-up}

as usual, i didn't follow the recipe to the letter.
my first recipe deviance was to quantity:
i used a full pound of penne 
{the recipe calls for only 6 oz},
and used the whole batch of sauce
{the recipe calls for 2 cups, or half a batch}.
{they recommend this as a side dish - um, not at my house}
my second recipe deviance was to ingredients:
i didn't have chipotle chili powder,
so i used a combination of
regular chili powder + cayenne,
which worked out deliciously.
my third recipe deviance was to the method:
since i was using the entire batch of sauce,
i just added the cooked pasta to my saucepan
{it's le creuset, so it's oven safe}.


the recipe calls for some "semihard" cheese
and some "semisoft" cheese
there is a list of cheese categories on page 23.
my semihard choices were:
cheddar, gouda, and gruyere.
my semisoft choices were:
jack and fontina.
after using this combination, i would say that
my results were good enough to repeat.

amazingly good.

♥

p.s. we woke to this