Macaroni and cheese

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Artisanal-Macaroni-and-Cheese

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mac-and-cheese-recipe2/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/addictive-mac-and-cheese/

Serves 6 to 8, or 10 to 12 as a side

INGREDIENTS

Bread Crumb Topping

• • 6 slices white sandwich bread (good-quality, about 6 ounces), torn into rough pieces

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese

• • 1 pound elbow macaroni

  • 1 tablespoon table salt

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

  • 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

  • 5 cups milk (see note)

  • 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , shredded (2 cups)

  • 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (2 cups)

  • 1 teaspoon table salt

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. For the bread crumbs: Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

  2. For the pasta and cheese: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

  3. In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

  4. Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

Martha Stewart:

A genius recipe for perfectly creamy baked macaroni and cheese, adapted slightly from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics. Note: You can easily divide this recipe in half -- use a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish instead of a 3-quart one.

Serves 12

• • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish

  • 6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn or diced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces

  • 5 1/2 cups milk

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

  • 4 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)

  • 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces) or 1 1/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 5 ounces)

  • 1 pound elbow macaroni (or other small pasta shape)

Method:

• 1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside.

  3. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter (alternately, melt butter in the microwave).

  4. Pour butter into bowl with bread, and toss. Set breadcrumbs aside. Pull out 1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar, and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and reserve.

  5. Fill a large pot with water; bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer's directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Set aside.

  6. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. In the same pot you used for boiling the pasta, melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute.

  7. While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

  8. Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup Pecorino Romano. Stir reserved macaroni into the cheese sauce.

  9. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and breadcrumbs over top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. If after 30 minutes, it's not browned to your liking, broil the topping rather than leaving it in the oven, which may cause the pasta to overcook and sauce to dry out. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes; serve hot.

Amanda, FOOD52

BAKING SHEET MACARONI AND CHEESE

I've always thought macaroni and cheese's 20% crunch to 80% soft ratio was all wrong. The ratio should be more like 50:50. The soft part, delicious though it may be, wears you out. You need lots of crisp bits to stay interested in the dish. In an effort to realign macaroni and cheese, I brought together three concepts: a baked pasta technique from Cucina Simpatica, a potato gratin method from Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue's food columnist, and a similar method used by Melissa Clark for kugel. In Cucina Simpatica, pasta is par-cooked, then combined with cream, cheese and other seasonings and baked at 500 degrees. The high temperature finishes the pasta quickly and toasts the tips on the top layer -- a memorable detail. Steingarten's gratin involves roasting thinly sliced potatoes and cream on a baking sheet so that the entire gratin is crisp and handsomely browned. And Melissa Clark spreads her kugel in a baking sheet achieving a predominantly crunchy texture. Back in the macaroni and cheese lab, I combined these three ideas by par-cooking the pasta, folding it together with a few cheeses, spreading it on a baking sheet, and finishing it in a 475-degree oven. The result was total success -- the muffin top of mac 'n cheese! Major world issue solved, at last. Here I've used Julia Moskin's recipe for Crusty Macaroni and Cheese and applied my cooking method to it.

Serves 6

• • 3 tablespoons butter

  • 12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

  • 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

  • 1 pound pasta spirals (or other small shape)

  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne

  • Salt

  • 2/3 cups whole milk

Method:

• 1. Heat oven to 475 degrees.

  2. Use one tablespoon butter to thickly grease a 11-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Combine the grated cheeses and set aside 2 heaping cups for topping.

  3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 6 minutes. Drain.

  4. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, cheeses, cayenne and salt to taste.

  5. Spread the mixture in the baking sheet and evenly pour the milk over the surface.

  6. Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top, dot with the remaining butter and bake, uncovered, until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.