The Mac You’ve Been Waiting For

M ac ’n’ cheese — that oft longed-for dish that equally often disappoints. Until now. With no reason other than that it was a perfect fall Sunday and my roommate loves mac ’n’ cheese, I covered my counter in an impressive array of dairy and set to work. My goal? Emily Stimpson Chapman’s decadent mac ’n’ cheese recipe from her new cookbook, Around the Catholic Table — containing a full six types of cheese, bacon, jalapeños, milk, cream, and more.

This cookbook has been on my radar for months now, as I’m a regular listener to Chapman’s podcast, Visitation Sessions, as well as a (mostly) regular reader of her newsletter. Chapman has been writing about Catholicism, culture, literature, food, and much more for many years, and I first discovered some of her recipes on her old website, not long after reading her book The Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years. While I wouldn’t recommend the carrot, apple, and ginger soup, my other findings there were delicious — particularly her polenta recipe. I’ve now made it numerous times for myself as well as guests, and it gets top marks from everyone who tries it. One guest at a recent dinner party was so smitten with the polenta that he barely had room for dessert.

Returning as often as I did to the few recipes scattered on that old website, I was thrilled to learn that there would be a physical cookbook in the near future (an expansion of a PDF version she’d written as an adoption fundraiser years ago). As soon as pre-order was an option, I took it and then began counting down the days until the book appeared at my doorstep.

This is an eminently practical cookbook, one that can cater to both the individual and the large family (though even halving the mac ’n’ cheese recipe made for quite the full baking dish). Simple and straightforward, the recipes range from quick weeknight meal options or, for a busy hostess, some fancier (but wonderfully manageable) ideas. I appreciate that, while many of the recipes can be tweaked to suit various dietary needs, they’re not touted as “healthy” or “clean.” The recipes are a wonderful mix of wholesome and fun — not to mention delicious.

One such delight is her chicken-salad recipe. Dried cherries and almonds? Yes please. This has shot to the top of my meal-plan rotation, and I’m going to have to increase my weekly purchase of chicken breasts.

Wonderful as the chicken salad is, fall is really soup season, a food genre that gets a full chapter in Chapman’s book. First on my to-try list was her corn chowder, and Chapman said it comes together quickly. I put this to the test on a recent Thursday, when I needed a dish for an evening event but had only 45 minutes to make something before heading out to teach all afternoon. This soup did not disappoint, and it gets extra marks for traveling well.

Up next was Chapman’s sausage, kale, and tomato soup, this time for a family at church. I’ve never actually worked with kale before, and since this was for a family with young children, I followed Chapman’s instructions and put all of it through the food processor rather than roughly chopping it. By the time I finished processing both bunches of kale, I was seeing green, but the texture of the soup was a delight.

Woven throughout the cookbook are essays covering food, family, hospitality, faith, and much more. Honed over the years of her own faith, culinary, and intellectual journey, they’re beautiful reflections encapsulating Chapman’s desire to integrate faith and culture into her daily life. Her suggestions for meeting guests’ dietary needs and the appropriate amount of home tidiness a party calls for are both practical and considerate, and I found her reflections on cuisine varieties fascinating.

While I’m excited to try Chapman’s recipes for lamb biryani and simple Indian dhal, my all-American heart yearned for mac ’n’ cheese, which is why, on this crisp weekend afternoon, I was shredding cheese and chopping onions. Often when I make mac ’n’ cheese, especially when I bake it, the dish comes out dry and under-flavored. Not so this time. Thanks to the Trader Joe’s cheese selection, I had a wonderful array of flavors and creaminess, deepened by the additions of mustard powder and paprika. Perhaps I could’ve burned the toasting breadcrumbs or accidentally doubled the amount of pickled jalapeños, all for a bit of drama in these lines. But no. This involved but clear recipe was a joy to make, and about 90 minutes later, my roommate and I were standing over the pan, with barely enough self-control between us to not eat the entire dish.

While I have a full shelf of cookbooks (plus binders and baskets full of printed recipes and cooking magazines), many of which contain stained and beloved pages, this is the first cookbook I’ve wanted to work through cover to cover — and felt like it wouldn’t break the bank or take over my evenings. Some of the appetizers have already come into play at a recent dinner party, and I have my eye on Chapman’s herb-crusted pork-loin recipe for an upcoming gathering. I’m excited for the fall weather, but I’ll be spending my January dreaming about summer and a chance to concoct Chapman’s mouth-watering no-bake cashew and salted caramel ice cream cake.

So if you need me, check the local coffee shop. I’ll be there with my tabbed-out edition of Around the Catholic Table, scribbling down ingredients and thinking about when I’ll next be dashing into the kitchen. That mac ’n’ cheese is calling my name again.