05.11 - Cheese? Please!

My friend Q and I got some carryout on Saturday from a place that tries to use seasonal, local, and organic products. We decided to come here because we wanted to be “healthy” after both having worked out* earlier that day, but I couldn’t help being drawn to what was probably the fattiest thing on the menu: the macaroni and cheese. It was $12 though! That’s pretty pricey for macaroni and cheese with nothing else in it but cheese, so I sadly decided to pass on it. Q knew that it had already captured my heart, though, so she forced me to get it. Ha. I luf her.

Anyway, imagine my disappointment when we got home and this is what my mac and cheese looked like:


For $12, I guess I expected something that didn’t look like it was made from the contents of a store-bought box of mac and cheese—and a small box at that. I was so disappointed that I didn’t even want to taste it. I almost wanted us to drive back to the place and say, “Are you kidding me? Can’t you add even a nice garnish or something? Maybe a few pieces of lobster?” Needless to say, I had my first forkful with very low expectations.

All that changed, though, after a couple more forkfuls. And, eventually, the plain white box of boring looking macaroni and cheese had completely won me over by the time I got to the bottom. If I had been given the option to buy another $12 box at that very moment . . . I probably would’ve. *sheepish look, shrug*

Anyway, I hadn’t read the ingredients carefully when we ordered (because they had me at “cheese”), but I realize now the reasons for the price and sick yumminess:

• Prairie Pure butterkase – nutty, sweet, buttery local artisan cow’s milk cheese
• Gruyere – nutty, sweet, salty, hard Swiss cow’s milk cheese
• Aged white cheddar – rich, smooth, full-bodied pasteurized cow’s milk cheese

Really good, special cheese makes me incredibly happy. I remember one time when I was at a work conference and there was a small local fair set up in the hotel. I stopped by this Amish farm's table and they had cheddar and butter cheese that could make a grown man cry. *long, reminiscent sigh* I'm almost certain my arteries despise me.

*completely negated

Eatery Info: Uncommon Ground, 1401 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60660