Thursday, September 8, 2011

Recipes From the Macaroni Grill

Everybody has their favorite restaurant and usually there is one dish that stands out for them above all others. But in these times of budgetary constraints, it would be nice to be able to make that special dish at home. If the Macaroni Grill is your restaurant of choice, then you are in luck; you can find recipes from the Macaroni Grill on several different sites on line.



It used to be rather difficult to find restaurant recipes; they were closely guarded secrets. In one of the magazines for foodies there used to be a column for people to write in to request recipes from their favorite restaurants and sometimes those requests were turned down, although usually they were honored. Today there are both books and websites that specialize in secret recipes, house recipes and even recipes for things you would never really want to make at home, like special sauce for a Big Mac or filling for a Twinkie.

One of the reasons recipes from the Macaroni Grill and other chain restaurants are so popular is because some families are cutting back on going out to eat, but they still want that favorite meal occasionally. Preparing recipes from the Macaroni Grill at home saves money and adds variety to family meals that are usually the same week in and week out. Instead of one of Mom's regular baked or fried chicken meals, imagine Penne Rustica on the table.

Most of the recipes from the Macaroni Grill and some of the others are very close to the original, if not the actual original recipe, either submitted by the restaurant itself or a former employee. The recipes are posted on quite a few different sites and there are authors of cookbooks who have made a career of getting the recipes either outright or through subversive measures. The sites that post the recipes ask for reader or user reviews to ensure the recipes really taste like recipes from the Macaroni Grill and not just something somebody cooked up at home and thought was good enough to compare to the restaurant dishes.

The most popular recipes from the Macaroni Grill include the aforementioned Penne Rustica, Scallopine di Pollo, Shrimp Pignola Pasta and the restaurant's signature Rosemary Bread recipe. The recipes are not simple and the ingredients can be expensive for some of the dishes, so they are not everyday dinners but are great for special occasions or for spicing up the regular routine. This may be part of the reason the restaurant is willing to let their recipes go; not that many people will want to make the effort the dishes.

There is also the reasoning that even though you may have been able to re-create the recipes from the Macaroni Grill, you won't have the restaurant ambience or the luxury of being served and having the dirty dishes whisked away out of sight. The recipes from the Macaroni Grill and other famous restaurants are great to have, but they will never replace the fun and convenience of going out to the actual restaurant.

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