Macaroni & Cheese

By Marlena Spieler and Noel Barnhurst

“Sure to please even the most dedicated mac and cheese purist, while delighting anyone with a soft spot for comfort food.” —Publishers Weekly

From the three-time James Beard Award nominee and author of Grilled Cheese, this cookbook puts a variety of delicious spins on the kid-friendly favorite. More than fifty recipes range from the tried-and-true Yankee Doodle Dandy Baked Macaroni and Cheese and quick-to-prepare specialties such as the yodel-worthy Alpine Macaroni with Appenzeller and Crème Fraiche to international specialties like Giuvetchi, a Greek dish of orzo in a cinnamon tomato sauce with lamb and kasseri, myzithra, and feta cheeses. There are even a few dessert versions like Falooda, a traditional Indian treat, this one using ricotta and sweet vermicelli, with cherries and a touch of cardamom.

Recipes for side salads and soups help round out a balanced meal. Mac & cheese—it’ll always please!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452125077

Book preview

CHAPTER 1 MAKING MACARONI AND CHEESE: The Basics

Macaroni and cheese is one of life’s perfect couplings: chewy, supple pasta and hearty, flavorful cheese. Each is delicious on its own, but together, as mac and cheese, they form a delicious whole so much larger than the sum of its parts. Mac and cheese is basically a simple dish: Boil the macaroni, grate the cheese, toss them together. And that’s it. Well, almost. We might want a creamy sauce to bind it all, which could be béchamel or, even simpler, a bit of melted butter or crème fraîche, or we might want something zesty and wild. Tossed with the right size and shape of pasta and the right cheese, these enrichments help create a macaroni and cheese dish that is seductive and suave or lively and exciting.

THE CHEESE LOVER’S MINI-GUIDE

Since each one lends its own unique flavor and melting qualities to the bowl, here is a mini-guide to choosing your cheese, or combination of cheeses. Often it is a combination that makes the best macaroni and cheese: Mostly Cheddar with a hint of blue and Parmesan is the best combo I know for a classic rendition with some oomph. On the other hand, fewer combinations are more luscious than mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan, or Appenzeller and crème