Located in Winchendon, Mass. is Smith's Country Cheese, home of award-winning, hand-crafted Gouda, Cheddar, and Havarti cheeses. They offered me the opportunity to try out their Mac and Cheese Kit, which includes 8 oz. of their sharp Cheddar, 8 oz. of their smoked Gouda, a box of Prince elbow pasta, and a recipe card. Here's the tale of my adventure.
Then it was time to make the cream sauce with the cheese. I melted the butter, combined it with flour, milk, and cheese before I had a nice tasty topping.
If you time things right, the pasta will be done about the time the sauce finishes. I didn't. Without the necessary crock pot, I changed up the recipe's cooking instructions some. I went the route of 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a glass casserole dish, versus 3-4 hours in the crock pot. In the casserole, I didn't have to layer the pasta and sauce as the instructions called for as it was being spread out much wider in a thinner layer. The improvised cooking method worked out quite well and produced a nicely browned cheese that was just starting to crust over. The recipe also called for buttered bread crumbs, which I didn't use.
Here are the before and after cooking photos.
Overall very tasty cheeses that turned into some great smelling and tasting macaroni and cheese. My son even liked it, and he doesn't eat mac & cheese. Now that I'm done, I've seen Smith's cheese in some local stores and I won't hesitate to get them when I'm in the market for what they make.
Smith’s Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz box elbow macaroni
- 3 cups cream sauce with cheese
- buttered bread crumbs
Cream Sauce with Cheese
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 6 Tablespoons flour
- 3 cups milk
- ½ lb. or more of Smith’s Farmstead Smoked Gouda, shredded
- ½ lb. or more of Smith’s Farmstead Sharp Cheddar, shredded
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Disclosure: I received the Mac & Cheese kit to facilitate my review. All opinions stated are my own. See my disclosure policy for more information.
I haven't seen that product around, but it sounds like it would be good. I'm not sure about a smoked cheese in a mac and cheese dish, but I would try it. It looks pretty easy. I'll have to try it some time. Thanks for the recipe.
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