Modernist Cuisine at Home: Mac and Cheese

I really didn't want to make two Modernist Cuisine posts back to back, but I have been so busy with work lately that most of our meals have come from our freezer - food I make in larger quantity and then freeze for a quick meal. One way we mix up our freezer meals is with the Modernist Cuisine mac and cheese (3-387; 6-192) or a variant thereof.

The technique is great because it can be used to make mac and cheese with a rich, unctuous texture that  highlights the cheese flavor far more than the more traditional casserole style mac and cheese does. The best part is that the cheese mixture can be made and frozen ahead of time with the addition of iota carrageenan, a seaweed extract that stabilizes the cheese emulsion. With the cheese mixture frozen, the only thing that needs to be done is make the pasta.

Modernist Mac and Cheese
Adapted from Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young and Maxime Bilet
Printable Recipe

90 grams white wine
395 grams water, divided
12 grams sodium citrate
1.3 grams iota carrageenan
2 grams salt
155 grams Marcel Petite Comté, grated
120 grams Quickes Clothbound Cheddar, grated
100 grams macaroni

Mix together wine, 95 grams water, sodium citrate, iota carrageenan and salt. Bring to a simmer stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Add both cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Cool until set.

Cook macaroni in remaining water, until most of the water has been absorbed and pasta is al dente. Add 160 grams of the cheese mixture to the pasta and water then stir until melted. Serve immediately.

Yields 2 servings plus enough extra cheese sauce for 4 more servings. The cheese mixture freezes very well, but if you plan on using all the cheese mixture right away the iota carrageenan is unnecessary. Experiment with other cheeses, but realize that their relative moisture and fat content will affect the amount of liquid necessary to form an emulsion.

While this might seem like an odd choice of cheeses, the specific ones I used work well together and bring to mind onion soup.