Martha Stewart's Mac and Cheese Recipe

Review: So this is one I just made today. I saw it on Yahoo's front page and it looked interesting. The recipe called for fancy cheeses I had never cooked with so I thought eh what the heck. It asked for White Cheddar and Gruyere. The white cheddar was easy to spot, the store only had the cracker barrel brand which was fine. The Gruyere was tougher to find, but I did. 9 bucks for cheese!!! What the heck?? The only answer I give to that is.... you know where that 9 dollars went. The flavor from the cheese was fantastic. I was very impressed with the sharpness of the cheddar and overall zing it gave it. The recipe did not call for too many spices. Only salt pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. I added a 1/4 tsp of ground mustard and used medium shell paste instead of elbow mac. I'm thinking it was a better idea. One day I'm going to use freshly made pasta instead of boxed..... one day. The consistency is still something that plagues me when it comes to baking the mac and cheese. Pre-oven, the cheese was creamy and smooth, but it just seems whenever I bake it, it just congeals up. I see this in the restaurant mac and cheeses as well. The breadcrumbs were actually fresh bread cubed and sprinkled on top. I chose Orowheat Buttermilk bread so the cubes on top gave it a little bit of a sweet kick. If I am able to afford to cook this again, I will skip the baking process or reduce it dramatically. The pasta worked out great. I ate my whole serving and Eva even got seconds. That made me happy.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste wasn't too bad. It seemed to linger a little bit, but then was gone after a minute or two.

7-minute test: Like the other macs, it stayed about the same consistency. Did not brick up since the cheese was much smoother than a regular cheddar.

Rating: 7, it would get an 8 if it did not congeal from the baking as the flavor was delicious.