I posted this question in a long post in the “Mac and cheese hacks” thread and haven’t got a answer there yet with Saturday dinner mere hours away, so I thought I’d make my own question post. Basically I’m making some chicken stock from scratch and I had the idea to make a batch of my Mac & cheese using chicken stock instead of milk and cream in the cheese sauce (which i understand in French cooking terms is a veloute-based sauce instead of a bechemel).
But I’m having second thoughts. Anybody ever try this? How’d it turn out? Should I do a half measure with half chicken stock and half milk instead? Or just forget it?
I mean, it will basically be pasta with cheesy gravy, right? It sounds pretty good to me. I like cream in my gravy, so I’d probably add cream or sour cream. It would become a bit more like a cheesy stroganoff, perhaps. I think it sounds good enough to be worth a try. For what the opinion of a random person on the internet is worth…
Thanks, but the die is cast— I already made the cheese sauce so I’m stuck with the stock, for better or worse. I have tasted the cheese sauce and it’s delicious, so I don’t think I’m going to miss the milk and cream any. Cooking the noodles now- will post how the final product turns out.
Yeah, it was a home run. The collagen-rich chicken stock was more than a match for the milk and cream. It gave the Mac & cheese a deeper, more savory flavor, while still being plenty creamy enough with all the butter and cheese I used. In addition to the usual sharp cheddar and Parmesan I add, I grated up some year-old Gouda and added it to the mix. That was a nice addition.