I don’t mean ways to prepare Kraft outta the box with powdered cheeese mac n cheese. I want some kickass from scratch Mac n cheese recipes.
This is pretty simple but its what I grew up on and I still make it.
1 1/2 cups macaroni
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/8 cup flour
8 ounces colby cheese (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to taste
Boil the macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside.
In the same pan you cooked the macaroni in, drop in the butter/margarine. Melt over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and let it cook a bit. The mixture should be somewhat thick. Cook & stir the flour-butter mixture for a minute or so being careful not to let it burn. Pour in the cold milk, kick the heat up to high, add the seasoned salt and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
Add the chunks of cheese to the white sauce and cover the pan. Let it sit a few minutes while the contained heat melts the cheese. Add the macaroni and stir it up. Pour it into a casserole dish. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes if you want it gooey. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-45 minutes if you want a crusty top.
Hint: To change the amount you want to make, use 1 part butter to 1 part milk to one part macaroni and guess on the cheese and seasoning.
My favorite scratch Mac ‘n’ Cheese recipe is the one from Cook’s Illustrated. But it’s in the (paid) members only section of their site, so I can’t post it here. They do let me e-mail recipes to people, and I sent it to the e-mail in your profile.
My little girl recommends that you put some cut up hotdogs in it. YUM!!!
I don’t. YECH!!!
[http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe4272&search=true&resultNo=1&xsc=SC4754]Martha](<http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe4272&search=true&resultNo=1&xsc=SC4754>[url) Stewart has the best “basic” recipe that I’ve seen.
The basic recipes from AllShookDown or the Stewart both look fine. You can use whatever meltable cheese you like for the sauce, and grate some on top before baking if you like.
I wouldn’t go for the hot dogs, but some other meat would be good, maybe ham or a spicy sausage (cut in chunks and precooked until nice and brown). I’ve also seen M&C served with a layer of cooked vegetables in it - put half in the baking pan, add sauteed onions and peppers (or whatever), put in the rest.
Adding a can of Rotel, especially the spicy one, adds nice flavour and texture to mac n’ cheese. Another favourite of mine is adding a bit of garlic salt.
Some people like to add a can of tuna.
My dad always eats his with ketchup. I confess to doing this occasionally.
Adding some Tabasco to the cheese mixture is a nice touch also.