A little more browning would be nice, but maybe It’ll surprise us

Time:1 Hour

Ingredient Availability: 5/5

Difficulty: 1/5

As many of us know, Mac & Cheese is one of those foods that some people are very particular about. So far, I’ve analyzed two macaroni and cheese recipes, but one is a little more involved than the typical dish, so I won’t be comparing this recipe to that one. I will be comparing this recipe to Snoop Dogg’s Mac & cheese, so hopefully this can help you choose one of you happen to be on the fence (I know you aren’t).

Key Ingredients & Omissions:

This recipe really doesn’t have that many ingredients. I feel like most Mac & cheese recipes tend to have a little more to them than this one. With that being said, I didn’t omit anything from this recipe. I will say, as with most recipes of this nature, the cheese you choose is key, so pick one that is good quality and you like. Oh, I also used cream of chicken and mushroom soup instead of regular cream of chicken. I thought I picked up the regular can at the store.

Tools:

• Big Pot

• Big Bowl

• Cheese Grater

Cooking Review:

Prep: 6 minutes

Depending on what tools you use, this step may go a little faster or slower than mine did. I decided to use my food processor with the grating plate, which made grating quicker and easier than doing it by hand. The only trade off here is that It’s harder to clean the machine than a box grater.

Cooking Pasta and Making Sauce: 20 Minutes

After bringing a pot of salted water to a boil, I cooked the macaroni for 4 minutes and transferred it to a bowl of cold water before draining and setting it aside. To make the sauce, the butter, cream of chicken, milk, and cream were added to a pot and brought to a boil, which took about 12 minutes. The cheese was then whisked in and the sauce was seasoned with salt and pepper.

Mixing and Baking: 25 minutes

I mixed the noodles with the sauce and transferred the mixture to a baking dish. I topped it with the remaining cheese and baked it for 20 minutes. At this point, the dish is done, but it is recommended that you let it cool for a bit before eating.

Analysis:

As promised, I’m going to compare this recipe to Snoop Dogg’s. If I remember correctly, Snoop’s wasn’t all that cheesy. In a great contrast, this Mac is very cheesy. I think smoothness is the best way to describe the texture, with the sauce being thick and creamy. The noodles were well cooked, too. I was a little skeptical of the 4 minute cook time initially, but It worked out just fine. Snoop’s recipe had more textural contrast, with some crisp edges to add some interest. The seasoning is perfect, toeing the saltiness line perfectly. Overall, I think this recipe is great. The ingredient list is slim and the final product manages to deliver something better than you might expect. I’m giving this recipe a 9/10. It’s only really missing some textural contrast to make it more interesting, which may be achieved by either cooking it longer or broiling at the end, yet the recipe only calls for 20 minutes and doesn’t specify any doneness indicators.