Winter is prime time for comfort food.  One of my favorite forms of comfort food is macaroni and cheese.  I must admit, I'm a bit of a creature of habit and often make my favorite, highly traditional, macaroni and four-cheese recipe.  It's creamy, cheesy and delicious.  But this week Husband and I experimented by making Seafood macaroni and cheese. 

The recipe, from McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant Cookbook, combines a cheddar cheese sauce with shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms.  The "add-ins" were not in large quantities. In fact, the recipe only called for half a pound of each.  Yet, I had my doubts because it's definitely not your traditional macaroni and cheese recipe.  But the seafood actually wasn't my concern.  My concern was the mushrooms.  How would mushrooms, cheddar and seafood taste and would it taste at all like a macaroni and cheese? 

Knowing the recipe was from McCormick & Schmick's, a national seafood restaurant, it should not be surprising to learn that the combination was delicious.  The mushrooms were actually my favorite add-in component but the shrimp and scallops were also great.  None of these ingredients overwhelmed the underlying macaroni and cheese. Instead they complemented it and created tasty surprises throughout.  While I followed a particular recipe I think shrimp, scallops, and/or mushrooms could be added to any macaroni and cheese recipe with great results.  So the next time you’re making your favorite macaroni and cheese recipe trying something different and mix in a "add-in" to your macaroni and cheese!

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