Here it is. I found a recipe for macaroni and cheese and tinkered with it. Unfortunately, my tinkering ruined the recipe.
Oh it looks good enough. What dish doesn’t look scrumptious with lots of cheese, eh? Shesh, even a criminal background check looks better with a little cheese, right?!
But for starters– it’s the wrong kind of cheese. I used cheddar when I should have used Monterey Jack. I was out of Monterey, though.
And the tomatoes. I should have sliced them up. I thought that perhaps grape tomatoes would be small enough. Nope. When you popped one of these babies into your mouth, it was a surprise squirt– too shocking.
I don’t like macaroni and cheese very much. It’s too bland and too… I don’t know…. mushy. The reason I tried this recipe was because it called for cottage cheese! Quite a surprise. Maybe it would taste better with the cottage cheese?
I am delighted to say that I thought the flavor and texture was improved with the cottage cheese. But I used too little. I just didn;t have the right ingredients.
1. Wrong kind of pasta. Used ziti when shells or elbows would have been better.
2. Too little cottage cheese.
3. Tomatoes, which were a nice touch, were too large.
4. Don’t use cheddar cheese. I hate cheddar cheese. Why didn’t I just go out and get the Monterey?!
5. I added leftover broccoli to the recipe. That was a terrific addition, it was my favorite part of the dish!
So my quest for the perfect macaroni & cheese dish continues… stay tuned, lol.
February 11, 2012 at 10:42 am
um, that just looks wrong with tomatoes and you should use cheddar in my book lol
February 17, 2012 at 6:04 pm
Blueyes– lol, yah the grape tomatoes were a little over the top.
Rena– thanks for the tip! I think I will add canned tomatoes to my mac & cheese from now on.
February 16, 2012 at 12:47 am
I have tried a few recipes and some I followed exactly and others I tinkered with. They didn’t come out right. We can’t always be Paula Deen right? haha.
When I make mac and cheese, which I haven’t made in a very long time, I use 3 different cheeses. Sometimes I add a 4th. I use cheddar, muenster, velveeta and sometimes cottage cheese or ricotta. If I use cottage or ricotta then I use less milk. I add stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce. For the pasta I mostly use elbows. I add butter too which makes it nice and rich. Of course this is not a healthy recipe but its a stick to your ribs meal when you crave one. I layer all the ingredients like you would do with lasagna then bake it. Its very good.
I don’t have the exact recipe right near me but will give you this link which is very similar. If you try it, let me know if you like it.
Instead of using the cheeses listed, I use the cheeses I listed above. I also add tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, I don’t measure, I just put enough in to make a tomato flavor.
http://www.recipe.com/four-cheese-classic-mac/