If you’re ever in the presence of a Beecher’s, here is what
you do: you walk in & buy them out on their Flagship cheese. There aren’t
words for how amazing their cheese is. But when you use said cheese to make Mac
& Cheese….Oh. My. Word. Down by Pike
Place Market there is always a line a million miles long of people anxiously
waiting to buy their mac & cheese. I mean, they've only won the vote for
Seattle's best Mac & Cheese for countless numbers of years! So obviously I
had to find the recipe, (and I did). Below is just that, along with my favorite
recipe for garlic mashies. Because obvious you can’t have one without the
other!
Beecher’s Incredibly Famous Mac & Cheese
Sauce
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3.5 tbsp all-purpose flour
1.5 C whole milk
7 ounces Flagship cheese, grated (about 1 3/4 c)
1 ounce Just Jack cheese, grated (1/4 c)
½ tsp coarse salt
¼ to ½ tsp chipotle chili powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Pasta
6 ounces penne pasta (about 3 ¼ C)
1 ounce Flagship cheese, grated
(1/4 C)
1 ounce Just Jack cheese, grated
(1/4 C)
¼ to ½ tsp chipotle chili powder
Instructions
To prepare sauce, melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan
over medium heat and whisk in the flour.
Continue whisking and cook for 2 minutes.
Slowly add milk, whisking constantly.
Cook until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, stirring
frequently.
Remove from heat.
Add cheeses, salt, chili powder and garlic powder.
Stir until cheese is melted and all ingredients are
incorporated, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter or oil an 8-inch baking dish.
Cook penne 2 minutes less than package directions. (It will
finish cooking in the oven.)
Rinse pasta in cold water and drain well.
Combine pasta and sauce in a medium bowl; mix carefully but
thoroughly.
Scrape the pasta into the prepared baking dish.
Sprinkle top with cheeses and then the chili powder.
Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before
serving.
Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
3.5 pounds russet potatoes
2 tbsps kosher salt
2 C half-and-half
6 cloves garlic, crushed
6 oz grated Parmesan
Directions
Peel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the
same size.
Place in a large saucepan, add the salt, and cover with
water.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat
to maintain a rolling boil.
Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.
Heat the half-and-half and the garlic in a medium saucepan
over medium heat until simmering.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water.
Mash and add the garlic-cream mixture and Parmesan; stir to
combine.
Let stand for 5 minutes so that mixture thickens.
These two are my go-to comfort dishes. Carb loaded, but hey,
they’re comfort dishes for a reason! ;)
-N.
