Everyone gets a craving once in a while, whether it's for KFC's famous fried chicken, Dairy Queen's soft serve ice cream, or Starbucks' strawberry-acai refresher. Our first thought would be to go to the restaurant and order it - but did you ever consider trying to make it yourself? There are thousands of other people out there with the same cravings as you, and they're desperately trying to clone these recipes on a daily basis. "These people range from everyday hobbyists to professional chefs," and by working together they've come very close to replicating these famous restaurant dishes (Douglas, xii). In America's Most Wanted Recipes, chef Ron Douglas tested and tweaked hundreds recipes to taste just like the originals, with the help of cooking fanatics across the US.
Today I tried the copycat recipe of Boston Market's macaroni and cheese. I chose this recipe because I recently ate there with my family, and I ordered this dish. I figured that since I ate the original recipe recently, I'd be able to compare it with this recipe easily.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon minced onion
- 4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
| Ingredients (feat. my brother) |
- 1/4 cup cubed Cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- 4 ounces elbow pasta, cooked al dente
(Douglas, 36)
Instructions
| Cubed Cheeses & Sauce |
1. Sauté the onion in the butter until translucent.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for two minutes.
3. Slowly stir in the milk.
4. Stir in the cheesed, salt, pepper, and mustard.
5. Continue to stir over medium heat until thickened.
6. Stir in prepared macaroni
(Optional)
7. Preheat oven to 400°F
8. Lightly butter casserole dish and pour the pasta mixture into the dish.
9. Bake for 20 minutes
(Douglas, 36)
I didn't do the optional steps, because my family doesn't like casserole-style mac and cheese.
| Finished Mac & Cheese |
In the end, the macaroni and cheese turned out very well, and tasted just like the one I got at Boston Market! The only difference was that the sauce I made was more rich than the one at the restaurant, but I can fix that next time by adding less flour. I was honestly very surprised, because I didn't expect the copycat recipe to be so similar to the original dish. If you were to choose a dish from your favorite restaurant to copy, what would it be?
Douglas, Ron. America's Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes from Your Family's Favorite Restaurants. 1st ed. New York N.Y.: Atria Paperback, 2009. Print.
