Hey, it's Marquette. I've got a great Pinstrosity for you from Becky...un-revolutionary mac & cheese. She says, "First off, I'd like to say that I am a HUGE macaroni and cheese fan. It's undoubtedly my favourite food and to this day my mother still calls me Beckaroni; a proper nickname given to me as a child. So when I saw a pin about a "Revolutionary Mac & Cheese," I repinned it immediately, blindly believing this truly could be the most amazing macaroni and cheese."
The Original Pin
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| From http://www.macaroniandcheesecake.com/2011/09/revolutionary-mac-cheese.html |
The Pinstrosity
I sat here trying to paraphrase Becky's email, but in the end, her words are just perfect. Here's what she said about this adventure:
"I thought the title of the blog was clever [Macaroni & Cheesecake], and figured the writer must love macaroni & cheese (and cheesecake!) as much as I do. I followed the directions, dotting all the I's and crossing all the T's. I didn't skip a beat."
"I'm not going to lie. When I saw the finished product, I was already skeptical. It didn't look right. But I am the last person to judge macaroni and cheese. So I eagerly tried my first bite and BLEH! GROSS. What did I ever do to deserve this nastiness? Okay... that might be an overreaction, but thinking back on it, I was pretty disappointed with the results. It was very bland and the texture was awkward."
"I can't say if there is necessarily a "fix" for this pinstrosity. The only thing I can think of is tossing it out and replacing it with an old friend: the blue box of Kraft mac & cheese. You just can't go wrong there."
"If anyone would like to tackle finding a solution, pray, do so! Maybe it was just a sour coincidence that I was unable to create this supposed "revolutionary" dinner. Good luck to all that try it!"
I so want to try this! There's a ton of comments on the listing of the recipe claiming it a success so I'm taking that challenge!
ReplyDeletePatrick, that would be fantastic! Let us know how it goes.
DeleteI have never heard of a pasta recipe that called for cooking the pasta for 20 minutes. That seems like a crazy long time for some poor little noodles to be boiled. I'd suggest shortening the cooking time (maybe even cut it in half!). If they have you cook it for that long to reduce the milk it seems like you could just use less milk in the first place. Also, you could try using dry ground mustard instead of prepared dijon mustard for a more subtle, but still yummy, flavor. Maybe I'll try this for my lunch today and let you know how it goes...
ReplyDeleteThat'd be awesome. Do let us know how it goes. I'm really curious.
DeleteSo I made this for my lunch today and posted my thoughts on my blog. I got a little long winded there though, so let me sum up. Basically I think it's just a poor recipe to begin with. There is a woefully small amount of cheese, the pasta has a funny texture, and it's just plain bland. Contrary to my original thoughts though, it did need to cook that long, and the Dijon is definitely the way to go, so if there's anyone who still wants to make this than I suggest sticking to the original recipe. If I haven't scared you away with this "short" comment and you'd like to know more about my experiment with this, than you can go to my blog at www.mississippimowers.blogspot.com.
DeleteI tried this recipe as well and found it to be a little bland, which could be fixed easily enough, but I couldn't get past the texture... too grainy. We ended up throwing a lot of it out.
ReplyDeleteDiedre, I had the same exact experience. I added about twice as much milk as the recipe called for. I may make it again sometime, but I will definitely add more cheese. I thought the texture was a little strange but my husband really liked it.
ReplyDeleteI made this and we thought it was GREAT. Unfortunatley I have SS pans so it took about 3 days to get the burned layer off the bottom, I've considered buying a non-stick pan just to make this again, but now I'm worried my results were just a fluke!
ReplyDeleteI do buy a pretty high end cheddar, like english or irish import in the deli section because I am a cheese snob. I think it makes a huge difference in flavor.
I turned a SS pan black with this...whoops! The only thing that worked was the comet scrub in a squeeze bottle. It got rid of all th burned on black stuff and shined the pan to look like new!
DeleteI've made this a few times and it turns out delicious! First, ignore the timeline on how long the pasta should actually cook. I taste it every now and then, when it's tender enough to my liking then it's done! Second, I just used store bought shredded cheese, so much easier and I'm far too lazy to shred that much anyway. I usually use a tad bit more milk than the recipe calls for since I don't like it too thick (just my preference). I also add more mustard (again, it's a preference thing). I hate that this recipe didn't work out so great for you, it's so yummy when it works!
ReplyDeleteI made this and put in more pasta than it called for (reducing the milk). But instead of using shredded cheese I used Velvetta and it was wonderful. Very rich and creamy! I also didn't use the mustard. I took it to a potluck and it was a hit.
ReplyDeleteI attempted a version of this twice. First time was great but the second time the bottom of the pan was black! Be very careful with the heat! I blame it in using an electric range the second time because I'm used to using gas ones. I tried soap &water, baking soda, vinegar, nd nothing would clean the pan so I got creative and finally used liquid comet( i think it was comet soft cleanse) anyway, filled the bottom of the pan and left it or 15 minutes. When I came back 80percent of it rinsed right off! The rest came off with a little more comet and a scrub brush and the pan looked brand new! After a quick scrub with dish soap I threw it in the dishwasher to make sure the comet was gone. -Carly
ReplyDeleteMine turned out great. My Hubby loves it and I've made it for other family members who all loved it. Defiantly not your regular Mac&Cheese from a box, but in our opinion much better and it feels great to know what we're putting in our bodies than the unknown ingredients from boxed mac&Cheese.
ReplyDeleteI've made this successfully quite a few times - always with high quality chunk cheese, usually a combo of white cheddar and Gruyere. You should never use pre-shredded cheese for any mac and cheese, soup, etc. - it's coated with an anti-caking powder that makes it grainy when melted. Smoked cheeses also turn out grainy for me (in any recipe, not just this one). I also used dry mustard since that's just how I always make my mac. I do still prefer a basic bechamel but when I'm feeling to lazy to wash two pots, this works!
ReplyDelete