Hands on Kitchen

510dat · 03-30-2007, 04:43 PM

That's right, folks. For our second cook-off, we did that traditional American iconic food-in-a-box, "Just add water and oil" noodly-cheesy goodness called Mac and Cheese. Except we did it the hard way. The expensive way. The way that makes cheese connoisseurs cry and penny-pinchers die from shock. We went to Whole Foods to buy cheese. More on this later.

The first challenge was to narrow down the contenders. Mac and cheese is a theoretically simple dish, so pretty much every chef has their own recipe. A second Alton Brown vs. Martha Stewart face-off was tempting, but we thought that with such a wide selection of options we shouldn't limit ourselves. We eventually settled on two very different recipes from two very different hotties; a fairly traditional baked recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, the famous Italian TV chef

Recipe:
Recipes : Macaroni and Cheese : Food Network

Versus a very non-traditional stove-top Southwest-American style Smokey-Chipotle and Cheddar recipe from Rachael Ray

Recipe:
Recipes : Smoky Chipotle and Cheddar Mac : Food Network

Preparation
Now, the two recipes have some ingredients that are similar, but they do not share cheeses or even noodles. We went to Whole Foods, our local purveyor of high-quality foods. It is sometimes also known as "Whole Paycheck," because if you shop there regularly, that's what it's going to cost you.

Giada's recipe called for three different cheeses; a Fontina, a Mozzarella, and a Parmesan, while Rachael's only asks for Smoked Cheddar. We also collected a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, a can of chipotles and some excellent pork chorizo, all for Rachael's recipe. The cheeses were a tad more expensive than I expected; the Fontina and Parmeseans were about $10 a small block; the cheapest was a whole-milk mozzerella that was *only* $2.80 for four ounces. In all, I paid about $35 for all the cheeses, and another ten or so for the meat, diary and canned foods.

The actual preparation was time-consuming, but generally straight-forward. Giada's was a baked version, so we had to measure out the shredded cheeses, and then split that roughly in half; some to go in the mix, and the rest to go on top. This could be a vegetarian recipe, but it suggests cooked ham as an option. Aargnzarf's husband just recently came back from Ireland, and brought "backrashers," also called back-bacon in the US, so we used that as our cooked ham. They don't have a very strong flavor, and we agreed that a more flavorful ham would work well.

Rachael's was a bit more complicated, requiring chorizo removed from it's casing and cooked in a pan with the tomatoes, and then added to the thickened rue. Her recipe, interestingly enough, called for large egg noodles instead of macaroni. When we added the smoked cheddar (which was excellent), it seemed like either it "broke" (curdled?), or we just didn't have enough. As a result, instead of that wonderful gooey-cheesiness, it had a more granular texture, which definitely counted against it in the final voting. Next time I do this recipe, I will definitely add an extra cup or two of cheese to the mix.

Response
We had a panel of four and a half voters (I'm counting a toddler as the half), and we had a hard time voting. Rachael's Chipotle Cheddar Mac and Cheese has a wonderful smoky flavor from the cheese that blended very nicely with the chipotles and spicy chorizo. Surprisingly, it was not overwhelmingly spicy but instead had a nice warmth to it. Its appearance was definitely lacking, and seems like it needs more cheese or some cooling down time before the cheese is added.

Giada's more traditional recipe came out beautifully, with a wonderful crispy top and many subtle flavors coming through the cheese and ham. It's quite heavy, and in spite of the different flavors it's somewhat plain, especially in contrast to the Chipotle-Mac. The topping really makes this dish, and a couple extra minutes in the oven to get it extra crispy will probably bring you praise. We agreed that this would make a better side-dish than main course.

Voting
We had a hard time with this decision. The two recipes have such a different emphasis that it took a lot of discussion to come to any conclusions. Our eventual vote split down the middle.

Aargnzarf's husband felt that the strong flavors in Rachael's recipe, while tasty and interesting, after a few bites became overwhelming and less interesting.

My brother responded with "Well, I've already finished Rachael's, and I've only had a few bites of Giada's." He felt that the larger variety of ingredients made it more of a complete meal than Giada’s, he loved the flavor, and felt that it had just enough meat in it.

Aargnzarf loved the cheesy goodness and texture of Giada's, and felt that Rachael's failed there. She was looking for more cheese texture in Rachael’s.

I really enjoyed Giada's, and by itself I would be very happy with it, but the flavors in Rachael's really blew me away.

Kai the toddler chowed down on Giada’s recipe, and when given the chipotle-mac he threw it on the floor. We don’t consider this conclusive, as it may have just been too spicy for him.

Conclusion: This was a hard-fought tie, but neither one leads to Mac-and-Cheese heaven.

Pictures to come this evening...

aargnzarf · 03-30-2007, 05:00 PM

Yes, pictures when Noah returns from work!

jeff · 03-30-2007, 09:21 PM

BOOOOOoooooooooo

AB would put those girls in their place =)

yes pics please!

aargnzarf · 03-31-2007, 04:08 AM

Hmmm I'm having trouble figuring out how to upload pictures.... Check your gmail box Turtle :]

jeff · 03-31-2007, 11:51 AM

If you want to upload a picture to the gallery (free picture hosting!!!!) just click on the gallery link up top and put pictures in your album.

If you want to upload pictures into this thread only, click on the advanced reply button and click (Manage Attachments) This will let you upload pictures straight into the thread.

510dat · 03-31-2007, 05:28 PM

Jeff, I don't see a way to actually post anything up to the gallery, though I can search what is already there.

Here they are:

Parmesean, cooked chorizo and fire-roasted tomatoes (it smelled so good), Rachaels Smokey Chipotle Mac, Giada's baked Mac and cheese, dinner!

jeff · 03-31-2007, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 510dat

Jeff, I don't see a way to actually post anything up to the gallery, though I can search what is already there.

Do you have this upload button?

jeff · 03-31-2007, 11:38 PM

BTW the left one looks better =)

510dat · 04-01-2007, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeff

Do you have this upload button?

no, just Home, Search, and Profile

jeff · 04-01-2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 510dat

no, just Home, Search, and Profile

HMmmm I'll have to look into that.

03-30-2007, 04:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
510dat Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 72	Super Hotties of the Food Network do Macaroni and Cheese "Round Two: Fight!" That's right, folks. For our second cook-off, we did that traditional American iconic food-in-a-box, "Just add water and oil" noodly-cheesy goodness called Mac and Cheese. Except we did it the hard way. The expensive way. The way that makes cheese connoisseurs cry and penny-pinchers die from shock. We went to Whole Foods to buy cheese. More on this later. The first challenge was to narrow down the contenders. Mac and cheese is a theoretically simple dish, so pretty much every chef has their own recipe. A second Alton Brown vs. Martha Stewart face-off was tempting, but we thought that with such a wide selection of options we shouldn't limit ourselves. We eventually settled on two very different recipes from two very different hotties; a fairly traditional baked recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, the famous Italian TV chef Recipe: Recipes : Macaroni and Cheese : Food Network Versus a very non-traditional stove-top Southwest-American style Smokey-Chipotle and Cheddar recipe from Rachael Ray Recipe: Recipes : Smoky Chipotle and Cheddar Mac : Food Network Preparation Now, the two recipes have some ingredients that are similar, but they do not share cheeses or even noodles. We went to Whole Foods, our local purveyor of high-quality foods. It is sometimes also known as "Whole Paycheck," because if you shop there regularly, that's what it's going to cost you. Giada's recipe called for three different cheeses; a Fontina, a Mozzarella, and a Parmesan, while Rachael's only asks for Smoked Cheddar. We also collected a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, a can of chipotles and some excellent pork chorizo, all for Rachael's recipe. The cheeses were a tad more expensive than I expected; the Fontina and Parmeseans were about $10 a small block; the cheapest was a whole-milk mozzerella that was only $2.80 for four ounces. In all, I paid about $35 for all the cheeses, and another ten or so for the meat, diary and canned foods. The actual preparation was time-consuming, but generally straight-forward. Giada's was a baked version, so we had to measure out the shredded cheeses, and then split that roughly in half; some to go in the mix, and the rest to go on top. This could be a vegetarian recipe, but it suggests cooked ham as an option. Aargnzarf's husband just recently came back from Ireland, and brought "backrashers," also called back-bacon in the US, so we used that as our cooked ham. They don't have a very strong flavor, and we agreed that a more flavorful ham would work well. Rachael's was a bit more complicated, requiring chorizo removed from it's casing and cooked in a pan with the tomatoes, and then added to the thickened rue. Her recipe, interestingly enough, called for large egg noodles instead of macaroni. When we added the smoked cheddar (which was excellent), it seemed like either it "broke" (curdled?), or we just didn't have enough. As a result, instead of that wonderful gooey-cheesiness, it had a more granular texture, which definitely counted against it in the final voting. Next time I do this recipe, I will definitely add an extra cup or two of cheese to the mix. Response We had a panel of four and a half voters (I'm counting a toddler as the half), and we had a hard time voting. Rachael's Chipotle Cheddar Mac and Cheese has a wonderful smoky flavor from the cheese that blended very nicely with the chipotles and spicy chorizo. Surprisingly, it was not overwhelmingly spicy but instead had a nice warmth to it. Its appearance was definitely lacking, and seems like it needs more cheese or some cooling down time before the cheese is added. Giada's more traditional recipe came out beautifully, with a wonderful crispy top and many subtle flavors coming through the cheese and ham. It's quite heavy, and in spite of the different flavors it's somewhat plain, especially in contrast to the Chipotle-Mac. The topping really makes this dish, and a couple extra minutes in the oven to get it extra crispy will probably bring you praise. We agreed that this would make a better side-dish than main course. Voting We had a hard time with this decision. The two recipes have such a different emphasis that it took a lot of discussion to come to any conclusions. Our eventual vote split down the middle. Aargnzarf's husband felt that the strong flavors in Rachael's recipe, while tasty and interesting, after a few bites became overwhelming and less interesting. My brother responded with "Well, I've already finished Rachael's, and I've only had a few bites of Giada's." He felt that the larger variety of ingredients made it more of a complete meal than Giada’s, he loved the flavor, and felt that it had just enough meat in it. Aargnzarf loved the cheesy goodness and texture of Giada's, and felt that Rachael's failed there. She was looking for more cheese texture in Rachael’s. I really enjoyed Giada's, and by itself I would be very happy with it, but the flavors in Rachael's really blew me away. Kai the toddler chowed down on Giada’s recipe, and when given the chipotle-mac he threw it on the floor. We don’t consider this conclusive, as it may have just been too spicy for him. Conclusion: This was a hard-fought tie, but neither one leads to Mac-and-Cheese heaven. Pictures to come this evening... Last edited by 510dat : 03-30-2007 at 04:59 PM.

03-31-2007, 05:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
510dat Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 72	Jeff, I don't see a way to actually post anything up to the gallery, though I can search what is already there. Here they are: Parmesean, cooked chorizo and fire-roasted tomatoes (it smelled so good), Rachaels Smokey Chipotle Mac, Giada's baked Mac and cheese, dinner! Attached Thumbnails

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03-30-2007, 05:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
aargnzarf Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 79	Yes, pictures when Noah returns from work!

03-30-2007, 09:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
jeff Administrator Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 797	BOOOOOoooooooooo AB would put those girls in their place =) yes pics please!

03-31-2007, 04:08 AM	#4 (permalink)
aargnzarf Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 79	Hmmm I'm having trouble figuring out how to upload pictures.... Check your gmail box Turtle :]

03-31-2007, 11:51 AM	#5 (permalink)
jeff Administrator Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 797	If you want to upload a picture to the gallery (free picture hosting!!!!) just click on the gallery link up top and put pictures in your album. If you want to upload pictures into this thread only, click on the advanced reply button and click (Manage Attachments) This will let you upload pictures straight into the thread.

03-31-2007, 11:38 PM	#8 (permalink)
jeff Administrator Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 797	BTW the left one looks better =)