Mac and Cheese

A classic dish gets a quick makeover. Some flavor combinations never go out of style!

The key to good mac and cheese is gooey cheese and the perfect creamy sauce. Here, I’ve simplified things to create this twist on a classic. Instead of thickening cream or milk, I grabbed a natural cheese sauce, then simply added a Mexican cheese blend to give it that must-have gooeyness.

Pat: When I was growing up in Memphis, everyone had their own special mac-and-cheese recipe. Traditionally, the matriarchs used elbow noodles, but my girls love experimenting with different pasta, and we fell in love with cavatappi, because its tubular spiral shape holds plenty of cheese sauce, making every forkful a delight (of course, old-fashioned elbows will also work just fine). A piquant, cheesy white sauce and a crispy topping made from potato chips and bacon creates the best—and most indulgent—version of mac and cheese that we have ever tasted. Served alongside roast chicken, or with a simple green salad and a glass of great red wine, this is the ultimate comfort food.

Though I haven’t lived on Cape Code since I was eight, this dish proves I’m not just a Red Sox fan but a true New England Patriot. With Chowda and Mac ’n’ Cheese in one dinner, you can get to Massachusetts in 30 minutes or less, even if you live in Michigan.

I know it sounds odd, but my girl LOVED butternut squash! This dog might even go for it before a steak, especially if there were also pasta and cheese involved in the deal.

Yet another favorite of ours, this appears on our table in various guises every few weeks. The evaporated milk may seem like an odd choice but it serves a purpose, helping to stabilize the sauce. Evaporated milk is manufactured by exposing fresh milk to high heat in order to evaporate up to 60 percent of its water content. The resulting milk is concentrated in both flavor and nutrients. It usually has added stabilizers in the form of disodium phosphate and carrageenan. Although it is marketed as a substitute for fresh milk, it has a noticeably caramelized flavor that works nicely in sauces and soups. It produces an incredibly creamy sauce without the use of heavy cream or eggs. We’d like to say that we pair this mac and cheese with a salad or a vegetable, but truthfully, we tend to just savor the pasta with a glass of rich red wine or deep red berry juice depending on our age at the table.

Like most little kids, Dahlia loves macaroni and cheese, and I've made it for her in many guises, running the gamut of techniques. My aim is always the same—to make the dish quickly with a minimum of fuss, and to use a maximum of vegetables that she will tolerate and not pick out. This is one of both our favorites. It's comforting, crusty topped, soft centered, and very cheesy—but not at all sophisticated. Just simple, kid-friendly, homemade food with the added grown-up appeal of lots of healthful carrots tossed into the mix. I got the idea from a chef's recipe in a glossy food magazine. The chef called for cooking carrots in butter and orange juice, pureeing them, and using the puree as a sauce for mac and cheese. I tried the recipe as written and was disappointed. It was a lot of work, and I didn't like the sweetness of the citrus fruit interfering with my cheesy goodness. So I decided to come up with my own simplified and ultra-Cheddary version. It was a huge hit with the under-three crowd and their parents, too. It's a straightforward recipe that comes together without much fuss, other than having to grate some carrots. But to make up for that, I've eliminated the need to make a cheese sauce on the top of the stove. Instead, I toss the hot pasta with grated cheddar, butter, sour cream for creaminess, and eggs to hold it all together. The grated carrots get boiled along with the pasta, so cooking them isn't an extra step. And the tiny orange shreds look so much like the cheddar that your kids might not even notice they are there. Dahlia certainly hasn't, and while I've never lied to her about their inclusion, I might have left out the word carrot in the dish description—accidentally, of course.

When Jack’s cousin Baby Lizzie first started picking up food and feeding herself, we started making macaroni and cheese in mini muffin pans for her. Big cousin Jack likes to take a large bite, so for him regular muffin pans fit the bill. You can make these in either one. The crispy Ritz cracker crumbs on the outside form a little crust for these pies, making them perfect to eat with your hands. We’re not saying they will be much neater than regular mac and cheese, but these sure are fun and delicious.

Savor these morsels with benefits: Each has nearly 20 percent of your calcium RDA.

The toasted crumbs on top have a cheesy crispness, and the pasta beneath is creamy and rich. Kids will appreciate the individual servings, but the recipe makes plenty, so why not pour the extra into a baking dish to feed the ravenous parents?

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with Your Favorite Bands by Kara Zuaro. To read more about the book, see the related story. Patrick Phelan
from Patrick himself Singer-songwriter Patrick Phelan crafts dreamy, lingering music, studies human rights, and has spent time in Italy to focus on his cooking, as he has been a chef for more than eleven years. This decadent dish is something you should save for a special occasion because (a) you're going to have to drop a lot of cash to make it happen, (b) you're going to need to kill a pair of lobsters in the process, and (c) it'll make your special day that much more special. This is a challenging recipe, but if you follow the directions carefully, you'll end up with a dish that's as fancy as it is comforting — and big enough to feed a crowd. If you're cooking for two, just make half — you'll still savor the leftovers for lunch the next day. "This recipe comes courtesy of the great influences of David Shannon, one of my many teachers over the years." —Patrick Phelan

Although this dish is lower in fat due to the skim milk and reduced-fat cheese, you'll love it so much you may never resort to the fluorescent-orange boxed stuff again!

Macarrones con Crema y Queso Poblano and serrano chiles give a mild kick to this cheesy Mexican pasta.

We make half of this mac 'n' cheese plain, for kids, and into the other half we stir some chipotle chiles to give it a grown-up kick. Any tubular pasta will do, but we like to use cavatappi, a ridged, spiral macaroni that lends the dish a particularly festive air.

"Every time I visit my sister in Los Angeles, we make a point of having dinner at Mimosa, a popular French bistro," writes Frances Candler Brown of Birmingham, Alabama. "I like to think I'm an adventurous diner, but my order there has become only too predictable: a glass of wine, a salad and the restaurant's delectable version of macaroni and cheese." This French take on macaroni and cheese has a nice assertive flavor.

Everyone's favorite childhood dish gets a sophisticated twist with the addition of red bell peppers, celery and blue cheese. But never fear: The kid in you — and all the kids — will love it.