Seattle Kitchen: Seattle’s best macaroni and cheese

The Seattle Kitchen staff found themselves arguing this
week about who could make the best macaroni and cheese.

While everyone has different ideas about how the
childhood staple should be prepared, all three agree that,
no matter what your taste, Beecher’s makes the best
macaroni in Seattle.

Katie O grew up with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and
loves the thick baked cheese taste that many restaurants
feature.

Host Thierry Rautureau says that he wasn’t raised with
macaroni and cheese at all. Although his kids like the
Annie’s
macaroni and cheese with more cheese added to it, Thierry
doesn’t like the typical recipe.

“Butter and salt and pepper was very common on pasta in
my house. I’m not a big fan of baking with cheese, it’s
more like grating cheese right on top,” says Thierry.

But he’ll make an exception for Beecher’s, which has
received numerous awards both for its cheese and for its
pasta.

“Skillet gets a lot of props, Icon
Grill has tried to make it one of their house dishes.
Beecher’s cheese, though, has taken it to a different
level on a national basis,” says co-host Tom Douglas.

Beecher’s
makes their cheese right here in Seattle at their location
in the Pike Place Market. Kroger, as well as other grocery
stores, carry Beecher’s macaroni and cheese at locations
around the country.

The famous macaroni comes in three styles: regular,
Mariachi (with roasted Anaheim chiles and vegetables) and
gluten free.

“People say ‘who makes the best macaroni and cheese.’ I
think I do. I know that’s an egotistical-maniac thing to
say, but if you go to ‘Seattle Kitchen’, my first
cookbook, there’s a recipe in there,” Tom says.

According to Tom, the trick to making really good
macaroni and cheese at home is to roast dry penne pasta in
the oven for a few minutes until it’s nut brown, at 400
degrees in the oven before boiling. His version made the
cover of Food and Wine Magazine.

“Boil it like you boil any other pasta,” says Douglas,
“And then I take the cream, and I put the cream in a pan –
reduce it a little bit – lemon zest, lots of fresh herbs
(whatever you’ve got), and then as soon as I turn the heat
off, I crumble my goat cheese into it.”