With the changing colors and cooler temperatures upon us, this season highlights an entirely new culinary profile for our taste buds to savor. Hearty, comfort foods, like soups and stews, breads, and pastas are at the forefront and if there is one dish that can bring back the comforts of home, and feeling like a kid again, it’s macaroni and cheese.
It is ok if you still want a bite of the kid’s Kraft, which now comes in white cheddar, thick and creamy and even unicorn shapes, here are a few of our favorite macaroni and cheese recipes to try this season.
At Hayden’s Post, located inside Snow King Resort, chef Ryan Windred, is a believer in keeping his macaroni and cheese authentic to his childhood days. The recipe is simple and to the point, he isn’t looking to create fancy, only flavorful.
Velveeta!!! I don’t care how fancy a cheese sauce is, there is something classic and dirty about processed american cheese. I always add a variety of more refined cheeses and spices for different flavor profiles, but if mac gets too crazy, it’s not really mac anymore.
Ryan Windred, Chef de Cuisine at Hayden’s Post
Made from scratch and made to order, the cavatappi pasta is baked in a three cheese sauce and topped with crunchy panko bread crumbs. Guests can add bacon or try it “Jimbo style” by adding crab.
Macaroni and cheese is a food that I want to taste like my childhood, while still being refined enough to enjoy as an adult. It is a recipe that makes me happy, and I hope that I can share that experience with others.
Ryan Windred
Every season, the Snake River Brew Pub creates a new cheese or cream sauce based pasta dish, with ingredients sourced locally if possible, and varying by year. This season, the baked mac is made with ziti pasta, Snake River Farms Kurobuta hardwood smoked ham, cauliflower, cheese sauce, brown butter, bread crumbs and parmesan gratin topped with diced pickles. Get it while you still can before The Pub closes on Oct. 19, for the offseason.
Basically, as the season changes and the weather inspires us to stay inside and eat something hearty, mac and cheese in almost any incarnation is the perfect intro to autumn, and the perfect way to warm you up all winter after a rough day in the snow.
Luke Bauer, Snake River Brew Pub
Next up, is the lobster mac served at Freshies Lobster Co., located inside Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe (which will hopefully hit the expanded menu this November). For nearly 10 years this dish has offered the customers in her Park City outlet intimidated by loads of lobster in a sandwich, a gateway into loving the flavor of lobster. It has also provided customers with a perfect, winter, comfort food.
The flavor of the mac and cheese is so good because we use some very high quality cheeses. It really makes the dish extremely flavorful and rich. We make the sauce starting with a roux, then we add locally sourced Beehive cheddar, which is sea salt and honey rubbed cheddar and we also add a little Gruyere to the sauce.
Lorin Smaha, Owner of Freshies Lobster Co.
The lobster mac is made to order with cavatappi pasta, gruyere and Beehive cheddar cheeses, and 2.5 ounces of lobster. And if you’re looking to add a little “dimension,” to your mac, Smaha suggests adding some of their mama lil peppers to the dish. Make sure to rally a friend to help you eat this large portion of cheesy, lobster, goodness. That is, if you’re down to share.
The lobster is already cooked, so we add that in at the end and dump the creamy, cheesy, lobster sauce over the noodles then top with a little more cheddar and broil for three minutes.
Lorin Smaha
For the carnivores out there, add your choice of carne asada, buffalo chicken fingers or bacon to the cowboy mac and cheese at Sidewinders. The homemade penne pasta, and Velveeta, jack and cheddar cheeses, are finished off with blue cheese crumbles.
And if you’re craving a simple, yet classic mac and cheese, check out Big Hole Barbecue, serving up the original elbow pasta, smothered in creamy cheese. For those guests looking for more of a substantial dish, go ahead top it with their famous barbecue.
Check out these and many more mac and cheese favorites around town at Jackson Drug, Cafe Genevieve, and Rendezvous Bistro.
