Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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
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

6 comments:

Dawn said...

OH Lucy and I are addicted to Beecher's Mac and Cheese!! My Aunt made it for us the first time, then we went to the restaurant here in Seattle that is owned by them...AND then for Lucy's birthday in September she requested Beecher's Mac and Cheese for her birthday dinner...not all my Boys like strong cheese, so they wouldnt like Beechers, so we found her a frozen Beecher's Mac & Cheese just for her and it too was delicious! I sometimes just crave it! Make Beechers grilled cheese on sourdough..THAT is our new favorite :)

P.s. Glad you got some snow!

catie said...

i knew you would know about beechers, dawn!
they also have a restaurant in nyc ♥

Dianne said...

Loving your snow!

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to try it! Love, Mom

Kurt Dammeier said...

Catie,
I'm so glad you loved the Mac & Cheese recipe! I love to hear about people taking the Beecher's recipe and putting their own twists on it!

catie said...

wow, kurt!
thanks for stopping by my little blog.
i can't wait to try more of the recipes in your cookbook. next up is red, white, and green vegetable lasagne.

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