Beecher’s Handmade Cheese

A few months back I went to Seattle to visit a friend from undergrad. I asked him to give me a list of must-sees and must-eats in Seattle. He sent me in the direction of the Pike Place Market. His one food recommendation was Beecher’s for their “world’s best” mac and cheese. There was no doubt in my mind that a mac and cheese made in a handmade cheese shop was going to be fantastic.

When I ordered the snack size mac and cheese the cashier told me it might take about 5 minutes because they just ran out and were finishing up a fresh batch. I was very excited about this. Mac and cheese fresh out of the oven is always best (if you remember from previous posts, I hate reheating most macaroni and cheeses as the sauce dries out therefore compromising the overall mac flavor and experience). This mac was creamy, nutty, and had a little kick to it. It exceeded my expectations. One ingredient that really makes this mac and cheese stand out is the Beecher’s Flagship cheese. This is where the nutty flavor originates. Other flavors, such as the garlic powder and chipotle chili powder, do a wonderful job finishing off the dish and creating a great flavor profile.

I recently discovered they posted the “World’s Best” mac and cheese recipe on their website. Although I haven’t attempted my own homemade version of this, if it actually tastes anything like what I ate, I would highly recommend making it yourself.

My Attempt at “Healthy” Mac and Cheese

I was once told that “my diet starts tomorrow” was going to be my epitaph (death will probably be the result of loving food too much). Well, one time my diet actually started the next day. I didn’t want to put my mac blog aside so I was determined to make a healthier macaroni and cheese that still tasted good. Luckily I’m not opposed to bulking up my mac and cheese with veggies, so that helped.

Unfortunately I don’t have an exact recipe for this, but here’s the jist of the dish: first I sauteed onions and mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil until they were soft. I then created a skim milk based roux and added some low fat cheddar and jack cheese. I would have been more creative with my cheeses but I made due with what I had on hand. While I was preping my veggies and cheese sauce my whole wheat rotini noodles were cooking until al dente. I mixed everything together and enjoyed.

The final product was actually really good despite the fact that everything was low fat. I did stir the roux/cheese sauce a little too much and it was a little thicker than I prefer. Fortunately this consistency did not take away from the overall flavor of the dish. I don’t have the exact calorie count, but I remember it was about 300 calories for a portion that was enough to satisfy my hunger.

I’ve seen some other interesting healthy mac and cheese recipes that use pureed cauliflower or summer squash instead of a roux. Until I try those out, this concoction will do.

Goose Island - O’Hare Airport

I’ve heard a lot of great things about the food at Goose Island breweries, but maybe those reviews don’t translate to airport versions of chain restaurants. It wasn’t so much that this macaroni and cheese was bad, it just wasn’t good. Again, like a handful of macs I’ve had so far, it had that gritty tv-dinner macaroni and cheese mouthfeel. The breadcrumbs and green onions that topped the dish did a pretty good job of masking the bland cheese flavor, but they weren’t enough to make me ever want to try this mac again.

I will complement the side salad it came with. It was only a simple greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette, but it was fresh and crisp and went well with the warm, creamy mac and cheese. I do love when macaroni and cheeses are paired with salads as it seems to take away some of the guilt of indulging in such a rich meal.

Santullos

I went to Santullos for cheap, greasy New York style pizza. My sister and friend saw mac on the menu and suggested I try their “homemade” macaroni and cheese and blog about it. It was only $3 so I thought I’d give it a shot. Now it wasn’t as bad as the fest mac that I tried a few posts back, but it was pretty undesirable. I’m pretty sure homemade implied that they melted the velveeta and added some red pepper flakes to it. Voila.

Now it was edible, I guess I should give it that much credit, we did eat it and pretty much finish it, but I’m pretty sure I was starving at the time. Save yourself the calories (and spend them on more greasy pizza, which is pretty good).

Hot Chocolate.

There’s more than just the name at this Bucktown dessert bar. While they do specialize in rich chocolaty desserts and drinks, they offer entrees that are just as rich and delicious. The mac and cheese is on the menu under “in a category all of its own” and it definitely deserves this distinction. This dish consists of elbow macaroni cooked to perfection (al dente) combined with Rothkase gruyere cheese and Carr Valley mammoth cheddar. The inside is smooth and creamy, the top is baked creating little crispy cheese bits (the best).The first word that comes to mind while eating it is RICH. This is very thick and rich. Definitely a mac to split with someone else. Because I was afraid only half of this mac wasn’t going to be enough to fill me I split a light salad also, and this was a very satisfying and filling meal.

I usually feel a little kiddish when I order the mac and cheese at a nice restaurant instead of the seared duck or crispy skin artic char, but when you pair the mac with a “cucumber cooler” cocktail and end it with a desert consisting of salted caramel ice cream and a chocolate lava cake you feel a little more grown up.

This is definitely up there with Kuma’s macaroni and cheese as one of my favorite Chicago macs.