Editor’s Pick
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 9:35AM
Jodi vs. Martha: Mac & Cheese Smackdown (Foodie Tuesday)
I first heard of this recipe through SeriousEats.com. Martha's Mac & Cheese has almost hall of fame status amongst foodies. SmittenKitchen, copykat, Bitten and just about every food blog on earth not morally opposed to the consumption of cheese (?!?) has prepared and photographed this recipe. It has many names. Martha’s original name for it in her Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics was “Macaroni & Cheese 101” but cooks and bloggers since then have dubbed it “$40 Mac & Cheese” for the expense of the ingredients.
It is important to note before you buy your ingredients that the recipe says it serves TWELVE. I reduced the recipe by half and my family of six didn’t eat all of it (yet). So, unless you are cooking for a crowd, cut the recipe in half and use a 1 ½ quart baking dish as I have below. I did not have to spend $40 on ingredients. If you can find smaller chunks of cheese at a non-specialty grocer, you can make it for around $15 if you’re the type that has some bread, pasta, butter and spices already in your kitchen.
The Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
6 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to l/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyère or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
The Instructions:
Before you start - be sure you have all of your ingredients prepped, measured and in place. Bubbling cream sauce does not have time for any foolishness.
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place the bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside.
2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.
3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyère (or 1 cup Pecorino Romano); set the cheese sauce aside.
5. Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.
Note: If you do not have one already, these colanders can be obtained for less than $20 at most mass market stores. They collapse flat for storage and dishwasher loading. I will never have another free-standing colander.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyère (or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano), and the breadcrumbs over the top.
Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.
The Results:
To my great disappointment, Martha does not have a photo of her macaroni and cheese on her website. I will share how mine came out in comparison to SmittenKitchen which is almost as good, if not slightly better than Martha. (Please don’t tell Martha I said that.)
SmittenKitchen:
Jodi:
The Verdict:
We paired it with grilled steak and steamed asparagus. 
The macaroni and cheese is incredible. It is everything that mac and cheese should be - creamy, thick, saucy, well-seasoned and satisfying. I am not usually a fan of crunchy bits on top of my mac & cheese, but the gently toasted buttery bits were a real highlight. I quote from the 4-year-old GirlChild: “This is so much nummier than the orange stuff.”
I concur.
If you enjoyed this article, please visit my foodie blog at http://eatjax.com/blog/?author=6 - where every day is Foodie Tuesday!
Smitten Mac & Cheese - © SmittenKitchen.com
all other photos copyright © 2009 by jodi a. kasten • all rights reserved
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
KD by Demand
tgwalker
Philip Rodgers
Tiger Sonora
Karin Greenberg
Frank K. Sonnenberg
Salon.com
Comments
~Dave Barry
and actually, this sounds wonderful. and your pic of the steak and asparagus had my tummy rumbling...good food!
Julie - I cannot overstate the artery clogging spectacularity of this dish. I hear it's better the next day. Did someone mention breakfast?
It's interesting that the recipe call for you to choose either Gruyere or Pecorino Romano, they're so different!
FTM - I'm seriously considering the addition of a little truffle oil. However, at that point I would have to pass out a release form to anyone eating it.
CC - Thanks for mentioning that. I used Gruyere for the record.
annette - I'm considering a full post about nothing but kitchen gear. It's in my brain's slow cooker.
Julie - I've seen them at Target and Walmart too. For me, it's about not washing the sink germs up into the pasta. It's also nice to be able to pour with both hands when you have a big pot! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Brian - Aww... thanks...
BBE - There isn't much that *wouldn't* be improved with bacon.
Athena - Let me know how it turns out!
Can't wait to make this! thanks!
yours looks just like our friend Smitten. Nice! And probably tastes better than Martha's.
I've had mixed results with the MS101 version over the years - sometimes it's not as creamy as I like. My mom made hers from large blocks of yellow American cheese - lowbrow by comparison, but creamy and delish! Thanks Jodi.
But if I'm going to make a Jodi/Martha recipe, I'm going all out. Or all in, as the case may be. Filed for a winter afternoon.
And I desperately want one of those colanders now. I've never seen one before but can tell how great it is.
Fab - We have plenty of the blue box in our house. I don't think even Martha can afford to do this every night. I make these financial sacrifices for the good of my readers. (Yeah, that's the ticket...)
L&P - I didn't make the dish. Oh, failure...
::gigglesnort::
Bob - Often what is considered "lowbrow" is the best because it's simple. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Back in February I caused quite the commotion when I published my recipe for Shameful Chicken Pot Pie" because it used Velveeta.
floridagirl - From your keyboard to Random House's eyes!
Critical Path - Give it all you've got. Take no prisoners! Huzzah!
Michael - I actually feed most of our leftovers to The Man's office buddies. Last year, I single-handedly derailed their "Biggest Loser" challenge in a fit of chocolate and pastry experimentation.
odette - See, I would just cut a bitch... a slice.
Silkstone - The printed recipe is the full version which feeds twelve. The photos are of the half-recipe.
bob - I strained a lemon curd through a splatter screen once. I'm not proud.
Lea - It really was a fine meal, if I do say so myself!
I love this recipe.
Yet another tour de force!
THANK YOU!