I buy into most of what Alton Brown has to sell on the subject of mac and cheese. In essence: bound with a roux-based sauce, cheesy-as-sin, crispy up top. I change his template up a bit:

• Skip the egg.
• Add a dash of tumeric to the white sauce base.
• Skip the breadcrumbs and add a nice layer of cheese to the top.
• Our version ends up using a bit more cheese. Around 16 oz. I’ve had the best luck with medium to mature cheddar. Too mature and the sauce can go all grainy.

This is so rich we can only eat it once every 2 or 3 months. It hurts so good.

Julia Moskin waxes historic and ultra-cheesy in her NYT piece. “The moral of the story: When in doubt, add more cheese.” Amen, sister.

Shredded to: Chisel – Set You Free.

However you spell it, hummus is one delicious staple. Instead of adding another recipe to the Internet-a-verse (it’s chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, salt and olive oil – use your imagination), how about some extra lemony opinions instead?

• Cook your own chickpeas. This makes the single biggest difference in a batch. You want the little gems as soft as you can get them, without breaking ‘em up. You can soak them for like 48 hours before cooking, if you have that much patience.
• Canned or cooked, separate out the liquid from the beans before you process. As you blend, add the liquid back in gradually until you get the consistency you want. There’s so much other liquid action – olive oil, lemon juice – things can turn into a hummus slurry, if you’re not careful. (Confidentially, even slurried hummus can be pretty darn tasty.)
• You really don’t need a bunch of olive oil. Some of the best batches we’ve made have had little or no olive oil. Tahini, after all, packs a lot of oily love. Besides, you can always garnish with some oil (and paprika, and cumin, and sumac), if you’d like.
• Sumac is delicious. Yes it is.

Tonight, we made hummus, and served it with some whole wheat pita, goat cheese, tomatoes, yellow pepper, olives, carrot, and salad.

Mr. Bittman, over at the New York Times, has good tips, as always.

Musical accompaniment: Can – Monster Movie