Homemade not Box Mac and Cheese

[airplanedoc]

I made some Mac and Cheese last night. I generally browse the cheese section, pick a few that sound good, and make mine, so mine recipe is different every time.

This time it was vermont aged cheddar (6 year), Brie, Provolone. Baked with a few ritz crackers on top for a crust. Also a couple of strips of bacon chopped and mixed in.

I know there are some good Mac and Cheese recipes out there, lets hear yours.

 

[joto]

Mine's pretty standard, a strong generic store brand cheddar in a white sauce, and pretty heavy on the sauce at that. Almost a cheddar noodle soup. I do tend to add quite a bit of cheese though- I just thicken the white sauce a little bit (1 TB flour per cup liquid) and let the cheese do the rest of the thickening work!! If I can afford it, cutting it with a healthy dose of real parmesan cheese is awesome. I do add a little powdered mustard and a few shakes of Tabasco sauce (or red pepper flakes, some sort of heat), and sometimes a little powdered cumin (only a very little) when the milk is heating. I think it helps bring out the flavor of the cheese better. And ALWAYS add enough salt!! I seem to like more salt in my food than most people, but I'll be damned if food just tastes flat without enough.

Interesting variations? Sometimes I will cut or replace the milk entirely with canned chicken stock and add curry powder to my basic recipe. Different, but good.

Mac and cheese is my perfect comfort food. When I'm in a hurry or feeling supremely lazy, my recipe is: "Insert Stouffer's extra large Mac and Cheese into microwave, mash buttons with palm, and wait impatiently."

EDIT- I never bake it- just mix the sauce into the macaroni and go to town. I never liked the burnt crust on top.

 

[pocketwatch]

This sounds really good. I've never tried to make it myself before, which I'll attribute to my grandmothers horrible version.

You just make a white sauce with cheese and add cooked noodles? Or do you add the noodles to the milk and they cook while the sauce thickens?

 

[joto]

This sounds really good. I've never tried to make it myself before, which I'll attribute to my grandmothers horrible version.

You just make a white sauce with cheese and add cooked noodles? Or do you add the noodles to the milk and they cook while the sauce thickens?

My 2 cents- I cook the noodles in water and then combine with the white sauce. And a cool way to make the white sauce (I think from Julia Child or something) is to heat the milk seperately, and as it gets near the boil, melt your butter and cook the flour (I use 1 TB each per cul of liquid- more means thicker obviously), and when you pour the near-boiling milk in, the sauce thickens much more quickly. I used to beat cold milk into the roux and heat it from there- that's a lot of stirring! My mother's trick is once the sauce is ready, take it off the heat to grate the cheese- I used to get curdled cheese sauce sometimes, which my mother attributed to my adding the cheese when the sauce was too hot. I don't know if that's true, but I haven't had curdling problems since. Some people burn the top. My wife loves it. I think it's disgusting. YMMV!

 

[tsmba]

I have never made mac 'n cheese from scratch. I once saw a show on the Food Network where they showed a restaurant that specializes in the stuff. They ended by featuring a version that contained rare cheeses and truffles with a ridiculous price tag.

 

[joto]

It is just about the easiest thing to make on the "difficulty of preparation to deliciousness of dish" scale- Melt cheese into thickened milk. Season. Add pasta, mix. Brown under broiler if desired. I have seen fancy versions where instead of a white sauce, people just melt the cheese into hot cream. I tried it once, and it was just too rich- I felt horrible for the rest of the day.

Another thing that helps me is to over-season the sauce slightly before mixing- the bland pasta is going to cut the intensity of the sauce quite a bit- if it tastes just right in the saucepan, it can taste bland mixed with the pasta. It can be as simple as slightly oversalting the sauce. Oversalting the water you will cook the pasta in can also help boost the flavor of the pasta and make it taste less bland as well. These are all subject to personal taste of course.

I'm posting a lot here, sorry- Mac n' cheese is about my favorite food- it was of my childhood anyway, and there is a strong nostalgic element involved when I prepare and eat this. I feel the need to spread the word!

 

[airplanedoc]

I cook the pasta and let cool

Make a ruox with flower, then add my selection of cheese grated up and a bit of milk to thin the mix I also add spices according to what cheese I am using. One favorite is rosemary If I choose to use american cheese

Pour over pasta in a baking dish
Add some ground ritz crackers to the top, and place in the oven to bake at 350, aafter about 20 min, if necessary I broil to get a nice crust on top.

 

[DS/B MCS]

You gotta make Mac & Cheese in the Crock Pot

 

[kazeshini]

Mac and cheese is my one and only comfort food since my mother passed away a few years ago. No matter how closely I follow her recipe I cannot reproduce her chicken noodle soup . No other versions of the soup have worked for me as a comfort food, but mac and cheese ... oh yeah it's on.

I have two standard recipes I will use. My other recipes are usually used as side dishes for particular main dishes.

1. no cook cheese sauce
2. Cooked in my rice cooker

1. A recipe I found and modified on recipezarr.com (most recipes I use have come from here: http://www.recipezaar.com/No-Cook-Cheddar-Cheese-Sauce-Pasta-212405

1/2 cup heavy cream (at room temperature)
1 tablespoon mustard
tiny pinch of pepper (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (at room temperature)
12 ounces pasta (ziti, rigati, fusilli, linguini or spaghetti)

mix sauce ingredients, place bowl on top of pot of water, bring to boil, remove bowl, cook pasta, add drained pasta to sauce mix, toss, and finally munch.

2. Unfortunately it's been a long time since I had to follow a recipe for this one. When I make it I just add the stuff till it looks/feels balanced. I'll have to take measurements next time I make it:

chicken stock (i prefer beef stock)
heavy cream
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of Chinese all spice or old bay
cheese of choice (I usually use the six cheese italian pkg. with some champagne cheddar added)
pasta of choice

mix in rice cooker, close lid, slide switch on, done in 20 mins. Add Yuengling black and tan or ale while watching the Eagles snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again. Call it a day.


Since using real cheese I've never gone back to the pkg. stuff they all seem so bland now. I can't believe how good I thought they tasted when I was a kid. Maturing palate maybe.

 

[airplanedoc]

I never thought to try pasta in my rice cooker, I will have to give it a shot sometime

 

[Deltaboy]

I use Velveeta, whole milk and a 1/4 stick of Land O'Lakes Butter.

I do it stove top or some times I will do it in the oven if I want to but a cracker crust on the bottom and add Tomato's and Bacon to make a casserole .

 

[Monkeydad]

I use Velveeta, whole milk and a 1/4 stick of Land O'Lakes Butter.

I do it stove top or some times I will do it in the oven if I want to but a cracker crust on the bottom and add Tomato's and Bacon to make a casserole .

Real cheese or not, that's tough to beat. Delicious!




ANY Mac & Cheese can be made amazing by adding cut-up hot dogs.

 

[Deltaboy]

I get Real cheese for family gathering like Christmas and Easter it cost too much to make it every week other wise. I have to save money on food so I can get more razors, handles and soaps and lets not for get that Silver hair Badger Brush I want.

 

[Dennis]

Alton Brown did a M&C show with two versions - cooktop and oven. The oven one is pretty decent.