The combination of ingredients is somewhat of a turn-off, but there were so many good reviews I just HAD to try the recipe. I used red potatoes. Took a reviewer's advice and used only 1/2 the butter. Imitation bacon bits on an individual serving proved to be a deliciously crunchy addition. Still, there's just too much fat in this recipe. Next time I will use Hidden Valley Fat Free ranch dressing (yum) and low fat cheddar cheese. The low fat cheese does not melt like full fat cheese, so I am not sure how it would change the texture of this recipe. Since it is mixed in and not sprinkled on top, it should be fine. I'll just have to wait and see. I will also use low fat margarine instead of butter. I had previously thought the ranch would make this too runny but proved quite the opposite. It actually could've used more. Maybe about 4 oz or so- either that or use 4 oz sour cream in addition to the ranch. I also used a whole packet of fresh chives. It was a bit much. Onions and garlic would have probably been better (cooked with the potatoes). A sprinkle of chives over the finished product would be good. Chipotle cheddar/pepper jack would be interesting substitutions for the regular cheddar/jack. A mix of cheddar and cream cheese might be interesting, as well. Very tasty!

Reviewed On: Oct. 20, 2007

Excellent! I took the advice of one reviewer and doubled the crumb mixture and used half for a bottom crust and half for top. YUM! It's been a few weeks since I've made this apple crisp and my boyfriend is already asking me when am I going to make it again.

Reviewed On: Oct. 13, 2007

This takes too long to make. I have a tried and true mac n' cheese recipe, so I rarely try others. But this one sounded so good that I couldn't resist. Unfortunately, it's not as good as it sounds. I didn't have any cayenne so I used paprika. Don't think it made much of a difference. I thought one cup for breadcrumbs was a bit much but I went against my instinct and used the entire cup. Big mistake, because it was a big factor in ruining the recipe. All you could taste were breadcrumbs; seriously, it was like eating a mouthful of gravel. Also, I used 12 oz of macaroni instead of 8 because it really didn't seem like enough. Either 12 oz is too much or 30 minutes is too long to bake the dish because it was really dry. Could hardly taste the cheese; like I said, all you could taste were breadcrumbs. I used a large, sweet Mayan onion and I thought it would be too much, but after the onion carmelized for 1/2 hour it shrank down to almost nothing. If I make this recipe again (and that's a BIG IF) I will use only 1/2 the breadcrumbs, twice the onion; if I use 12 oz mac I will add 6 oz shredded jack and definitely will not bake it for 30 minutes. More like 15, probably. What cheese and onion flavors I did taste underneath all those crumbs did not impress me. I also didn't think the broth was necessary. I would use 1/2 n 1/2 or more milk.

Reviewed On: Oct. 13, 2007