Sign of the Times

How fantastic to have the love of Macaroni and Cheese validated by the January 4 food section of the New York Times.  That section's cover story, "Macaroni and Lots of Cheese" not only trumpeted one of the world's most comforting foods, but it called for a return to simplicity with the dish and gave two recipes considered to exemplify this simplicity.

One recipe was creamy, and one crusty, but they both had a few unusual things in common.  One, was that they both called mostly for cheddar, which has sometimes caused issues in my Mac-N-Cheese recipes as it tends to glob up a bit.  The other commonality was that they were both SO simple and had relatively few ingredients that we were pretty sure they would bomb. 

All of this being said, when faced with two recipes in the NYT of my absolute favorite food, of course there is only one option... bake off.

Several of my coworkers who all happen to be on the same client team were overdue for a team off-site.  We decided the best activity was to gather at my house and break into two teams, the creamy and the crusty.  With very little effort, and an 1 Hour 15 minutes, we had two very beautiful Mac-N-Cheese dishes.  After much tasting and little debating, creamy emerged as the hands-down winner.  This was mainly due to the flavor.  We all loved the crusty topping, but the creamy version had both cottage cheese and a bit of dry mustard in it which gave it just the right amount of tang.

I have pasted both recipes here for anyone who would like to try them.  Special thanks to Gina, Kerry, Jennifer, Melika and Mark who sacrificed their Wednesday night to help propel forward the quest for the perfect Mac-N-Cheese!

NYT CREAMY MACARONI AND CHEESE

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

2  tablespoons butter

1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)

2 cups milk (not skim)

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Pinch cayenne

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 table­spoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

2. In a blender, puree cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pep­per together. Reserve 1/4 cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine re­maining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with re­served cheese and dot with remaining table­spoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

NYT CRUSTY MACARONI AND CHEESE

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

3 tablespoons butter

12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

12 ounces American cheese or cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

1 pound elbow pasta, boiled in salted water until just tender, drained, and rinsed under cold water

1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

Salt

2/3 cup whole milk.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Use one tablespoon butter to thickly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Combine grated cheeses and set aside two heaping cups for topping.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, cheeses, cayenne (if using) and salt to taste. Place in prepared pan and evenly pour milk over surface. Sprinkle reserved cheese on top, dot with remaining butter and bake, un­covered, 45 minutes. Raise heat to 400 degrees and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until crusty on top and bottom.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

Comments

[Kerry]

It's all about the creamy. Thanks for having us in your lovely home! xoxo

[kristina]

i saw these recipes and had been planning to try the crunchy - now i will try the creamy instead! how fun :)