1.04.2006
macaroni and cheese
At the time that I write this, the New York Times' Dining & Wine section is about six hours old. And there's a lovely article about the joys of macaroni and cheese. Now, I haven't made mac & cheese in a couple of years, and then only out of the Kraft deluxe boxes with the little squeezy tube of what was supposedly a multi-cheese sauce. They weren't bad (I actually have rather fond memories of them), but I have never, ever made macaroni and cheese from scratch. It terrifies me. I tried making a cheese sauce for Welsh Rarebit once. Never. Again. And I've made a spinach and artichoke dip one time, which requires quite a lot of cheese. It was great until I had to clean up.
Bottom line is, I am terrified of cooking with cheese. I love cheese. And I'll put it on sandwiches or eat it off of a cheese board. I miss the great English cheese boards that Keble manages to whip up. Great goat cheese, a big wedge of stinky stilton, a nice tangy cheddar and a melty brie... I've been eating a lot of stilton here in Boston, but there's something about the haughty and ancient air of Oxford that does lend a little extra to each bite of stilton and sip of port. But I digress.
I bring up the time that I'm writing this because it'll be interesting to track for today, and possibly tomorrow, the relative popularities of two recipes which are already on the Times' Top 25 Emailed List. That is, a recipe for creamy macaroni and cheese, or a recipe for crusty macaroni and cheese. I have always prefered creamy to crusty, though I counted myself lucky to get a nice crunchy edge piece when mac & cheese day rolled around in high school. So what's it going to be, you epicurean readers of the New York Times? At the moment, it's creamy ahead of crusty (#12 and #13, respectively).
By the way, I just realized that the posting times still reflect British time, so I have gone back to the previous two posts and edited the timestamps.
Bottom line is, I am terrified of cooking with cheese. I love cheese. And I'll put it on sandwiches or eat it off of a cheese board. I miss the great English cheese boards that Keble manages to whip up. Great goat cheese, a big wedge of stinky stilton, a nice tangy cheddar and a melty brie... I've been eating a lot of stilton here in Boston, but there's something about the haughty and ancient air of Oxford that does lend a little extra to each bite of stilton and sip of port. But I digress.
I bring up the time that I'm writing this because it'll be interesting to track for today, and possibly tomorrow, the relative popularities of two recipes which are already on the Times' Top 25 Emailed List. That is, a recipe for creamy macaroni and cheese, or a recipe for crusty macaroni and cheese. I have always prefered creamy to crusty, though I counted myself lucky to get a nice crunchy edge piece when mac & cheese day rolled around in high school. So what's it going to be, you epicurean readers of the New York Times? At the moment, it's creamy ahead of crusty (#12 and #13, respectively).
By the way, I just realized that the posting times still reflect British time, so I have gone back to the previous two posts and edited the timestamps.
