Bring on your Mac-N-Cheese recipes!

Lent is here again. I don’t mind meatless Fridays, and a good macaroni and cheese is welcome any time. So bring 'em on. If you have meat-added alternatives, that’s okay, too. It won’t always be a Lentan Friday.

StG

This is your basic mac and cheese recipe. The result is a wonderfully creamy texture with a crusty top and bottom. The texture comes from using American cheese in addition to the cheddar. N.B.: American cheese is just cheddar that has been emulsified with water to make it a good melting cheese.

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

3 tablespoons butter
12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
12 ounces American cheese, coarsely grated
1 pound elbow pasta, boiled in salted water until just tender, drained, and rinsed under cold water
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
Salt
2/3 cup whole milk.

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use one tablespoon butter to thickly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or a casserole dish. Combine grated cheeses and set aside two heaping cups for topping.
  2. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, cheeses, cayenne (if using) and salt to taste. Place in prepared pan and evenly pour milk over surface. Sprinkle reserved cheese on top, dot with remaining butter and bake, uncovered, 45 minutes. Raise heat to 400 degrees and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until crusty on top and bottom.

This is a two-person quantity recipe. Double the recipe or triple etc as need be.
Macaroni and Cheese

1 1/2 cup elbow macaroni
3 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Cook the macaroni in salted water until tender; drain off the water. Blend flour and salt in melted butter. Add a dash of pepper. Add the milk, and cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Add cheese, stir until cheese is melted. Pour over the macaroni and stir thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

I like to top mine with bread crumbs. Gives it a nice crunch.

See that Blue Box labled “Kraft”? Follow directions, adding a tad less milk. Add some grated cheese. Yum.

My aunt does a standard baked mac and cheese, but she adds chunks (maybe square inch size) of cream cheese. It melts as it bakes and is amazing.

I don’t have my mom’s recipe handy (although it’s similar to AHunter3’s), but one thing she does is put kettle-cooked salt and vinegar potato chips on top. Damn, I could go for some of that right now.

I don’t really have any quantities, but it’s a quick and easy recipe and the 2yo loves her ‘turtles!’ It’s a great way to use up leftovers of other cheeses too.

-some Velveeta cheese (4oz at least)
-milk
-spicy brown mustard
-hungarian paprika
-extra cheeses I have around (grate leftover cheeses in whatever quantities) - parmesan, cheddars etc.
-Shell shaped macaroni (aka…the turtle shells)

**Optional addins: *mixed veggies - add in the last few minutes of the pasta cooking, pureed cauliflower/yellow squash - add to cheese sauce while cooking
Cook pasta and while waiting.
Warm milk, mustard and seasonings. Lower temp and add cheeses. Whisk until all the lumps are gone.
Drain pasta and put back on burner (turned off) to cook off the remaining bits of water.
Add enough cheese sauce to your liking.

I generally freeze this in small baggies for a quick meal for our toddler, especially on those ‘rough’ days.

quantities are approximate:

2 tbsp flour heaping
3 tbsp butter heaping

Make a roux, in essence, darkening the flour in the butter then add a few shakes worchestshire sauce; dijon mustard (1/2 tsp?); pepper to taste; a light shake of nutmeg. Stir until roughly mixed then add 3 cups milk or 2 cups milk, 1 cup beer or whatever quantity you prefer. Then add half a bar of good Cheddar cheese (450g roughly). Doesn’t have to be shredded, but cut small. Keep stirring or whisking until sauce starts to thicken and becomes smooth.

In the meantime, boil your noodes, slightly underdone. Drain, put in a casserole dish, add cheese sauce, sprinkle grated whatever-kind-of-cheese you have leftover on top and bake for about 1/2 hour or until the top is browned.

Feel free to add more cheese or beer…it’s all according to taste. All the flour and butter does is provide a thickening base for the cheese and milk. You can put sliced tomatoes on the top…whatever you like.

I can’t vouch for these, but here is a New York Times article about the best Mac & Cheese, and there are more good suggestions in the comments. Also I hear that Martha Stewart’s mac & cheese is really good.

My goodness, these sound good. I like the idea of an addition of cream cheese for the creaminess factor. At the local grocery outlet store I found some Kraft cheese that’s a mixture of sharp white cheddar, swiss and parmesan. At 2 6oz bars for $1.00, I can afford to play around a bit. They also have Philly cream cheese in the tubs for 2/$1.00.

THanks, and keep the recipes coming.

StG

We also did a thread about this last October.

Gimme your best mac and cheese recipe!

If you scroll down in the first link, you’ll find the same recipe I posted above.

If you’re doing a recicpe with white sauce and grated cheese it’s really not necessary to grate the cheese. Just cut it into cubes at the beginning and when the white sauce is ready, toss in the cheese and stir a little. Put the lid on the pan and let the contained heat melt the cheese. Let it sit for few minutes then stir in the cooked macaroni to combine as much as you want. My dad always liked lumps of cheese in his. I like it smoother. Home made Macaroni and cheese with home grown tomatoes is my last meal wish.

What, for once I get to post my own recipe? I don’t bother with a roux, or a bechamel, or anything fussy.

MissGypsy’s Now-Famous Macaroni & Cheese

2 cups Barilla Plus macaroni

2 cups whole milk
10 oz. Velveeta
2 cups shredded mild cheddar
4 slices white American cheese

Salt & fresh ground pepper

Cook macaroni in salted, boiling water. Hack Velveeta into chunks; size doesn’t matter, in this instance. Drain macaroni when it’s almost but not quite done (about 6-7 minutes). Use same pan to heat milk and Velveeta until it starts melting, and then add shredded cheddar, salt and pepper. When it’s all melted, add white American cheese slices, and it will thicken as soon as those melt.

Dump macaroni back into pan, and stir until sauce and pasta are well-combined.

Dump into 2 qt. or larger casserole dish. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes, until it just starts to brown on top.

2 cups elbow macaroni
1/2 block velveeta cheese or more to taste
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
YOu can add Tuna for tuna mac and cheese
This is just simple and like making kraft. I lOve it the kids love it and the dogs love it.

Has anyone ever made that mac and cheese recipe that is supposed to be by Patti LaBelle?

I always do this when I make it (except I use the store brand). The added cheese gives it a much smoother, creamier texture than just out-of-the-box. Other good add-ins include salsa, hot sauce, tuna, pickled diced onions, or peas.

Eh, what can I say. I’m a bachelor; it’s not worth making an actual fancy dish for just one.

Ah, well, this one won’t work for meatless Fredays, but I’m posting it anyway because it seriously rocks:

Bacon Blue Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
4 strips bacon
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
6 oz. dry elbow macaroni
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
2 to 4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 oz cream cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, turning once. Drain bacon on paper towels; crumble. Reserve bacon drippings in skillet.

  2. Cook onion in reserved bacon drippings for 5 to 8 minutes or until onion is tender and golden brown. Set aside.

  3. Cook elbow macaroni according to package directions. Drain and place in a 1-1/2-quart casserole. Add the crumbled bacon, onions, 1-1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the blue cheese, half-and half, and pepper. Toss gently to combine.

  4. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Stir gently. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 10 minutes more or until top of casserole is brown and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.

Going off memory…

2 1/2 cups milk
4 eggs
16 oz elbow macaroni (a small box)
a block of cracker barrell cheese (10 oz?)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp dry mustard

Set oven to 375. Grate cheese. Boil noodles. Mix eggs (throughly), milk, and spices. In casserole dish, alternate noodles with cheese. Top with liquid mixture. Bake for about 40 mins, or until browned on top.