Macaroni & Cheese: 52 Recipes from Simple to Sublime

I have never viewed macaroni and cheese as a comfort food (I'm more of a tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich kind of guy when I am in need of comfort) but I know that many people do. Since I like to please others by cooking for them I decided to get this book and try out some of the recipes. I could not believe the reaction! People really love this dish and the recipes here seem to be among the best ever offered in one cookbook.The book is divided into four sections:* Introducing Mac and CheeseHere the author explains the basics of the dish including it's history (Thomas Jefferson served a Macaroni Pie to his guests at Monticello after his return from Europe), the different types of pasta used (elbow macaroni is the preferred choice in the U.S. but many others are used in this book), a list of different types of cheeses and a brief description of each as well as cooking tips, such as how to make the important Bechamel sauce used in many of the book's recipes.* The Classic DishThis section includes simple but creative versions of the titular dish including Manhattan's Chat n' Chew restaurant's version of Macaroni and Cheese (my friends and I loved this one) and the author's (Joan Schwartz) own cold Mac and Cheddar Salad.*International MacHere the author introduces recipes that show influences of many cultures and traditions other than the U.S., such as Greek Macaroni and Cheese made with Feta, Swiss Mac and Potatoes and Allen Susser's Macaroni & Manchego (wonderful!).* Mac and Cheese TodayThis chapter offers some very creative and daring versions that can be found in some of our nation's top restaurants. My favorites here are: Penne with Roquefort from New York's Beacon restaurant; Terrine of Macaroni, Goat Cheese and Foie Gras (an expensive dish but well worth it); and the Wild Mushroom and Truffle Macaroni and Cheese (it uses truffle oil and truffle butter, both relatively easy to find and afford).Joan Schwartz has co-authored many great cookbooks including "Boy Meets Grill" with Bobby Flay and "Cooking Provence" with Antoine Bouterin and has contributed six of her own recipes to this book, the rest were created by the many well known chefs, restaurateurs and food writers whose biographies are offered towards the end of the book, right after a list of sources for some of the harder to find ingredients used here.The recipes found in this book are incredible, my only question is WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS? I have often discovered a great recipe only after being inspired by a picture of it in a magazine or cookbook rather than by the text. Other than the photo on the cover this book has no photographs of the dishes. Instead we are subjected to generic 1950ish illustrations that look like clip-art available for free on the internet. With 52 recipes even a paperback cookbook like this should have contained at least 20-30 full color photos of these enticing dishes. I felt very let down here, otherwise I would have given Macaroni and Cheese 5 stars and considered it a great cookbook instead of a very good one.

From the very simple to the highend and complex, I never knew there could be that many different mac and cheese recipes -- There are many I will probably never make, but the ones that I have made met every expectation.

The biggest peeve I have with the cookbook is that I cannot see the recipes without a magnifying glass on the Kindle color reader. The background is in white, and the recipes are in yellow, and they are in such a tiny print they cannot be seen without an external aide. It makes the book more like work to read than pleasure in reading.

Hard to read the recipes even after expanding them on my Galaxy S 10. Not uncommon for some Kindle books as they just need to increase their pixel count and clear up reproduced text. Better yet put the recipes in the same as the reading text. Book and recipes are good, going to try one tomorroww.

Most of my reviews have been about cookbooks, which I love. Being an avid reader, I purchase them more for reading material rather than trying the recipes. But for this one I was looking for a different way to prepare macaroni and cheese. Boy! did this book offer a variety of different recipes for the same dish. This item arrived in a timely manner and was in excellent condition

I was a bit disappointed in the layout of this cookbook. It's very difficult to read and navigate around. Once you decipher the recipes, they sound pretty good.

The recipes in here are really tasty, but not all for calorie/fat watchers. Yet you can make appropriate substitutes if necessary. Most of these recipes are definitely "comfort food"!

Was expecting more than the book delivered...some of the recipes didn't appeal to me, there's some things you just shouldn't put in mac n cheese...I'll probably pass it along to someone else...