"macaroni and cheese" news and stories

You may be intimate friends with the classic Kraft blue box, and you may have experienced the company's recent "Cheddar Explosion," but how about the new line of mac-and-cheese dinners called Homestyle Deluxe? Susannah Chen, over at YumSugar, dug into all three varieties (Classic Cheddar, Hearty Four Cheese and Old World Italian) and chose her favorite, then voiced a few gripes.

In only 30 minutes of prep time, the three flavors were lined up side-by-side for the comparison test. How did they stack up? Did it make Chen nostalgic for the old blue box? And was it worth the extra effort? Head over to YumSugar to find out.

Happy Macaroni Day!

Nothing screams comfort like that childhood staple of macaroni and cheese, whether it came in those classic
blue and yellow boxes or fancier, casserole styles with a variety of cheeses and toppings. And while there are an infinite range of macaroni recipes, chances are you're bound to associate the word "macaroni" with a certain dish. But did you know that, according to food historian Clifford Wright, macaroni is actually "the generic term for all dried alimentary pastas cooked in broth or water, also called pasta or noodles"?

Whatever specific associations the term conjures for you -- be it macaroni salad or mac and cheese, like us -- we'd like pay tribute to our favorite macaroni and cheese recipes. Serious Eats once asked how you like your mac and cheese -- why don't you take some tips from them, or share your own family recipes in the comments.

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A health advocacy group is calling on the city of Irving, Texas, to back out of its deal with Kraft Foods, which paid $75,000 to sponsor next month's implosion of Texas Stadium.

"These are not food products government should promote," says Susan Levin, director of nutritional education for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "The city says it's fighting childhood obesity, but it's taking money from the company that makes Velveeta."

Kraft plans to use the event to promote its new "Cheddar Explosion," a mac-and-cheese dinner billed as having "bigger shapes" and "more cheese sauce." The star of the hoopla will be the winner of an essay contest Kraft conducted to find a tween to press the detonation button.

"Because it's targeted to kids, it's especially egregious," Levin says. "I understand we all need financial support, but this is poor judgment."

There are few dishes more American than macaroni and cheese. Forget that we credit the Italians for pasta and the French for "the good cheese" -- it's here in the United States where we bring the two together together in glorious, comforting harmony.

Rumor has it that Thomas Jefferson introduced the dish to the United States. And though a boxed version was made wildly popular by Kraft over many decades, home and professional chefs have taken back the comfort food, and now make gourmet versions like this one from blogger Ezra Pound Cake.

This take on classic macaroni and cheese, adapted from a recipe in "The Gift of Southern Cooking," is made with grated onion, sour cream, half-and-half, heavy cream, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, eggs and cayenne pepper, as well as noodles and cheddar cheese. Fattening and flavorful -- just the way American comfort food should be.

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Photo: Hyperion

'Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals'
by Jamie Oliver
Hyperion -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

The revolution will not be supersized. Jamie Oliver is a man on a mission to reclaim traditional home cooking from the fast and processed food purveyors of the world via simple, inexpensive, appealing recipes.

The book kicks off with a rah-rah manifesto that dovetails with Oliver's televised traveling roadshows geared toward getting the least healthy eaters in the UK and the USA to back out of the drive-thru and drive home healthier eating habits, centered around the debatably lost art of home cooking. He presents a compelling argument with solid, satisfying building-block recipes and oddly heartstring-plucking photo profiles of plain ol' folks cooking at home.

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.