Homemade Macaroni and Cheese: The Topic

[rascal]

my standard Mac and Cheese is here by Alton Brown! 

I love this recipe and make it frequently! and I do opt for his technique with the leftovers: Fried mac and Cheese!!

←

I'll second this one. It just works. Another good trick is to cook up a ham the day before and use cubed leftovers in the mac. Or bacon. mmmm... pork products. Also if you don't have panko crumbs, make fresh bread crumbs. The ones in a can just don't cut it...

I saw some of Emeril making mac n cheese with hideously orange cheddar yesterday. Is anyone else completely and utterly revolted by bright orange cheddar? I can only think of nacho cheese and Kraft when I see that stuff.

[Luckylies]

I never really measure on this one but if you can make beschma beshame besh...white sauce you're in.

-make white sauce. when you're melting the butter throw in a little *or a lot* minced garlic. finish white sauce. stir in enough grated cheddar cheeese so that you are worried for gradmas old heart; as much as you can without the sauce getting too stringy. add salt and pepper to taste.

-Add this to cooked elbows (I prefer small shells) and coat. put in baking dish and cover with more grated cheese. bake at 350 until bubbly and the top is melted.

- or put in ramekins and melt/ brown under broiler (no need for the oven step).

*there are plenty of nice cheeses you can add which i'm sure will satisfy your cheese tooth. for me it's only mac and cheese if it all cheddar...or at least mostly.

* I also make my white sauce with heavy cream if I'm feeling spry

this recipe is also great for children who dont like "stuff" on anything.

good luck.

Edited December 17, 2004 by Luckylies (log)

[cjsadler]

Try John Thorne's "Real Macaroni and Cheese" for something different (unfortunately, his website is currently down).

His problem with other Mac and Cheese recipes:

"Usually it is their vexatious infatuation

with white sauce, a noxious paste of

flour-thickened milk, for this dish flavored

with a tiny grating of cheese. It is the

basis for the familiar crumb-topped

casserole baked in a Pyrex lasagna pan, a

casserole universally bland, dry, and

rubbery. Contrary to popular belief, this is

not macaroni and cheese. It is macaroni with

cheese sauce. It is awful stuff and every

cookbook in which it appears should

be thrown out the window. "

[Megaroo]

Yes, I found the older thread just a couple of minutes ago. I'm trying to go through all the old topics and I hadn't gotten to that page yet!

[cjsadler]

I had a mac n' cheese awhile ago that was phenomenal-- traditional bechamel method, but done with smoked cheddar. Very nice.

[MaxH]

"Macaroni and cheese" with, and without, foie gras

I posted this on a few food forums a few years ago. It needs a little explaining.

Some years ago (before the US fashion in recent years for fresh FG), I was in the habit of keeping one or two small tins of French foie-gras with truffles in the refrigerator, "en cas d'urgence." (Specialty groceries and delicatessens can order these for you if they don't stock them.) In this particular recipe, a little of this ingredient goes a long way. It can make the most remarkable "macaroni and cheese" you've ever tasted. (I tell gastronomes about this and they look skeptical -- macaroni and cheese, after all -- but then they become more engaged as I continue.) It is a practical modern interpretation of the "Lucullus" pasta dishes listed in the standard French books (Guide Culinaire and the 1938 LL and 1961 Crown editions of Larousse Gastronomique). I've done it with fresh FG and fresh truffles also, but I cite the tinned version because that's easier to keep on hand.

Layer freshly cooked al-dente macaroni, or pasta of your preferred shape, in a glass or ceramic baking dish with bits of tinned block foie gras with truffles, shredded Gruyère, and if possible some Cremini mushrooms sautéed briefly in duck fat. (The fat congeals in the FG tins and can be used. Olive oil, chemically related by the way, will substitute.) Some freshly grated nutmeg (in standard French pasta-recipe tradition) is compatible but not essential. Drizzle (don't drown) it all with a good Madeira sauce made from fresh meat stock and not over-salted. Bake in a hot oven for the usual 20 minutes or so, allow to cool slightly, and just before serving, especially if you were short of truffle bits, you can sprinkle with a little truffle-flavored oil. [That ingredient has been overused since this was originally posted -- go easy.] The aromatic harmony of FG, truffles, mushrooms, Gruyère, and Madeira is miraculous. (More so with a truffly red Burgundy. Equally fine, a good Rhône or Brunello, but maturity may be even more important there. )

As described, the dish is so savory you don't even need the foie-gras. I did a vegetarian version occasionally by request, and the other flavors carried the day very well.

Macaroni and cheese is a sound principle any way you work it. I may have an advantage over some US compatriots in that I did not get exposed to this combination as a child (from boxed mixes with fluorescent orange coloring in the "cheese") and so I developed no prejudice against it. A classic M&C, common in the US (and by the way an outstanding foil for savory barbecue, such as beef brisket slowly braised in a chipotle or smoked-hot-pepper puree flavored with whisky), takes well to the addition of a little hot pepper sauce mixed in with the cheese - the result need not be perceptibly "hot" to benefit. (Professional line cooks all seem to do this, it's an understood trick.) French classic pasta dishes, in the books anyway, use Gruyère and-or Parmesan and often season with fresh nutmeg and black pepper, another good combination.

Alsatian-born San Francisco chef Hubert Keller (restaurant Fleur-de-Lis, previously Sutter 500) puts a version of M&C with fresh lobster on his menu; it's in his cookbook (ISBN 0898158079). And the Chez Panisse Pasta-Pizza-Calzone Cookbook (1984, ISBN 0394530942, readily available on the used market) has, among many other related things, a wild-mushroom pasta "gratin" (P. 137) with simple but inspired seasonings that is one of the finest pasta dishes I know.

To my taste, macaroni and cheese is a pillar in the comfort-food pantheon (along with east-Asian noodle soups, pizzas, quesadillas, etc. etc.). Fluorescent orange dye not required.

-- MaxH

[andiesenji]

I like it made with Creamettes elbow macaroni. Barilla is okay, Ronzoni is fair

American Beauty-NO!

Or, if you have a local Italian store that carries the San Giorgio in bulk (and they have a rapid turnover so it is fairly fresh) that is the best.

Cook till al dente, drain, return to cooking pot and stir in 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter.

Then add (depending on the amount of macaroni) one or two cans of undiluted

Campbells Cheddar Cheese Soup, stir until melted from the heat of the pasta and distributed evenly throughout the pasta.

Meanwhile - while the pasta is cooking, you have made some buttered bread crumbs and grated some hard cheese, Asiago is good! About 1/3 cup.

Pour the mac and cheese into a casserole, sprinkle the buttered bread crumbs on top along with the grated cheese.

Now run it under the broiler for 2 minutes or until the topping is slightly browned.

[irodguy]

I also use Alton Brown's recipe more or less, with the following changes:

1) I process the onions & add a clove of garlic. This makes for a much smoother mouth, the diced onions in the base recipe just are wrong

2) I used smoked paprika, this give the mac & cheese kind of a baconesk back taste

3) I use Cabot 50% cheese + add a handful of romano

4) Use more breadcrumbs since I make this in a disposable tin that's a little larger than his vessel.

[monavano]

This recipe was voted "Best Macaroni and Cheese in America' by Oprah several years ago. It's from Delilah's in Philadelphia. She has a restaurant, and a stand in Reading Terminal Market, where I've personally tried it several times. It's amazing as well as rich. Ver, very rich. I order it with a side of collards so I can tell myself my meal was somewhat healthy! It's more custard-like, than creamy, which makes it stand apart from other recipes in my opinion.

Here's a link.

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=68993

Edited December 20, 2004 by monavano (log)

[MarketStEl]

This recipe was voted "Best Macaroni and Cheese in America' by Oprah several years ago. It's from Delilah's in Philadelphia. She has a restaurant, and a stand in Reading Terminal Market, where I've personally tried it several times. It's amazing as well as rich. Ver, very rich. I order it with a side of collards so I can tell myself my meal was somewhat healthy! It's more custard-like, than creamy, which makes it stand apart from other recipes in my opinion.

Here's a link.

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=68993

←

10 1/2 cups of cheese in all, seven different varieties.

Wow. I've died and gone to heaven.

And with the saturated fat content in this dish (the stats lack the data for the white cheddar, Asiago and Velveeta), I may well after eating it.

But hey, you only live once. I'll probably scale this down to work with 1/2 pound of elbows and take it from there.

[dahlsk]

Another nice, fancier version of mac and cheese I've made and liked is on Lynne Rosetto Kasper's website for The Splendid Table. It has a little onion, garlic, paprika, gruyere, cheddar and cream cheeses.

dahlsk

21st Century Mac and Cheese

[MarketStEl]

Quick followup:

Delilah's has an outlet in the 30th Street Station food court, which is very close to my current employer. So I went and had lunch there today: turkey meatloaf, collard greens and macaroni and cheese.

The turkey meatloaf was a little on the dry side, but nicely seasoned (with a tomato-y barbecue sauce topping); the collards were, as we say in the 'hood, bangin'; but the mac and cheese, though it was as rich as I thought it would be and very down-homey in consistency (real down-home mac and cheese isn't creamy, it's gooey), it was rather bland.

I suspect this is nothing that aged Asiago and blue cheese in place of the Muenster wouldn't fix.

[gestalt768]

My favorite Macaroni and Cheese is the one I remember from my childhood at the New York Automats...

I found many recipes that claim to be that but none seemed quite right so I've been combining two...but this one actually seems to do it for me...

http://www.theautomat.net/discus/messages/...html?1086122090

it's creamy with the rigatoni with the ridges...and it has the crushed tomatoes which turn the sauce slightly pink as well as adding an extra flavor that somehow makes it more comforting...

[Mabelline]

I have to weigh in with andie's suggestion about Creamette macaroni. It makes the nicest texture, and their recipe from the box for macaroni salad is one I still make use of during grilling season.

Welcome to eG, gestalt768. May you eat better for the knowin' of this melange!

[snowangel]

We're kind of fond of the Barilla pipettes.

[cakewalk]

I've made Martha's mac and cheese, and it really is a great recipe. Question: do you think this can be put together the night before, refrigerated, and then baked the following morning? Any reason it shouldn't work? I'm having a bunch of people over for brunch in a couple of weeks. I'd love to serve this as one of the items, but I know I won't have the time for the preparation that morning. Has anyone ever done this? Thanks for any input.

[Viola da gamba]

We've been making it to a family recipe for years - and I'm sorry to admit, given John Thorne's quote, that it does use a white sauce.

1 tablespoon butter, one of flour per pint of milk (or cream, if you're feeling decadent)

9 oz pasta (we tend to use penne rigate - rigatone is too big) per pint

9 oz cheese per pint - preferably 3 oz cheddar - as sharp as you can get, 3 oz blue cheese, 3 oz mascarpone - but it's okay made with just cheddar, provided the cheese is sharp enough

1/2 lb bacon, 1/2 lb mushrooms per pint (for those who like them) fried & drained & mixed into cheese sauce

grate fresh nutmeg into sauce - we use lots, but then we like it - along with salt & pepper to taste

Mix cooked pasta - but very al dente - into sauce. Prepare 9x9 dish - increase size of dish as required - by finely slicing tomatoes and placing them on bottom & sprinkling fresh basil over the tomatoes - pour mac & cheese over top of tomatoes. Top with a mixture of 1/2 parmesan & 1/2 breadcrumbs. Bake at 450 until done - top is browned, and it's bubbling - should be browned around edges & base of pan as well. We've always enjoyed it, and yes, even in comparison to Martha's!

Although we've also enjoyed the Annie's Organics (when I'm feeling lazy) - made with mayonnaise rather than milk/butter & adding a couple of tablespoons of salsa. Surprisingly satisfying.

Oh - and absolutely it can be put together the night before, refrigerated & then baked later - just leave off whatever you're using as a topping & add that just before baking.

Edited January 6, 2005 by Viola da gamba (log)

[judiu]

I'm sure I've posted this before in a different thread, but here goes nuthin'. My step-father was a vegetarian who would eat dairy, so Mom invented a clean-up-all-the-little-bits-of-cheese mac and cheese for him. She died without ever giving me the recipe and this is my aproximation.

Cook 1 pound of Barilla Penne Rigate to package directions. With your hands, tear and break up about a pound of sharp cheddar, some decent Swiss-type cheese, a bit of gouda and/or whatever cheese is around. DO NOT GRATE! Mix chunks of cheese in a huge bowl with drained pasta.

Melt one stick of butter and saute a yellow onion minced fine until onion is translucent and almost a goo. (technical term,that!) Throw in 1 - ~ cloves of garlic either minced or pressed, depending on tolerance and cook for about two minutes. Add 1/2 cup Wondra flour,whisking to remove lumps. Pour in about a quart of half & half, whisking well. Add at least a half teaspoon of Coleman's dry mustard powder, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.Simmer until thickened and the raw flour taste is cooked out.

Pour into huge bowl with pasta and cheese and fold in well. The cheese will start to melt around the edges, but will not completely blend in. At this point, I've added chopped drained tomatoes, chunks of ham, green onions or whatever else you've got handy. Dump into a 9x13x2 pan (carefully; it gets REAL full!) Top with Panko, or buttered bread crumbs or Ritz crumbs or what ever crunch factor you like, and a bunch of grated Parmesan. Bake at 350* for about 45 minutes, or (sorry, Alton) golden brown and delicious!

Dammit, now I'm hungry and am off carbs until Easter! By then it'll be too hot down here to make it!

[jgarner53]

Macaroni & cheese is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. Ever. Hands down.

I grew up on Morton's frozen mac & cheese, not the blue box version, though I did go through a long phase (from about, oh 12, to, oh, about last year ) where I really dug the blue box or the Deluxe version. Until I decided that the Deluxe is WAAAY too darn salty for my palate anymore. Occasionaly we'd make a relatively light version from Cooking Light (which, if you don't use reduced calorie cheese, isn't really that light anymore ). Last fall I got a fantastic rich, decadent recipe from a cooking class that's all about the cheese: fontina, gruyere, parmesan, and dolcelatte gorgonzola (which is not easy to find), mixed into a bechamel with onions (soubise), which makes it a mornay. Throw in some shredded proscuitto, stir in a pound of cooked penne, and then top with toasted, buttery bread crumbs and bake. Outstanding and decadent. A real treat.

But for Sunday night I gotta have some mac & cheese hankerings, it's Alton's Stovetop recipe, which is really Cook's Illustrated's recipe, which is really John Thorne's recipe. Macaroni, evap milk, eggs, mustartd powderd, hot sauce, and a lot of grated cheddar. I could probably eat the whole damn pot of it.

[takomabaker]

My SO is a Mac and Cheese LOVER and makes it with a combination of Velveeta and Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheddar. For years, I ran from the house screaming every time she pulled out the Velveeta. I pretended I didn't know her in checkout line at the supermarket. I hid the Velveeta box behind the jar of pickled fiddleheads and wasabi mustard before guests came over. But she talked me into trying it and I have to admit that it's not too bad in a "I can't friggin' believe I'm actually consuming Velveeta" kind of way.

[Aileen]

These recipes all sound wonderful, but which ones would my daughters, ages 5 and 9, eat? I've tried the Cook's Illustrated version, and they took one bite and refused to eat any more (their 3 and 6 year old cousins did the same). These kids are used to the blue box, and love it. Which recipe can I try that I may be able to get them to eat?

[andiesenji]

Try the one I make with Campbell's condenced Cheddar Cheese soup. My kids loved it and would even fix it themselves.

They especially liked it with the small shells, rather than the elbows.

[Ladybug]

Andiesenji, I tried your recipe and I have to say, my kids devoured it. They've never liked any homemade mac & cheese before. I didn't have bread crumbs handy, so I used cracker crumbs with butter & parm instead. I tend to feel very guilty about buying Campbell's soup at all, but this recipe was really tasty. Thank you so much for posting it!

[MarketStEl]

My SO is a Mac and Cheese LOVER and makes it with a combination of Velveeta and Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheddar. For years, I ran from the house screaming every time she pulled out the Velveeta. I pretended I didn't know her in checkout line at the supermarket. I hid the Velveeta box behind the jar of pickled fiddleheads and wasabi mustard before guests came over. But she talked me into trying it and I have to admit that it's not too bad in a "I can't friggin' believe I'm actually consuming Velveeta" kind of way.

←

That's what Velveeta's made for! Don't fight the feeling!

Although I must admit that I find that dumping a ton of Cheddar, Swiss, Romano and blue cheeses into a bechamel sauce also does the trick. I suspect you could do this without a trace of guilt.

[Dani Mc]

I'm another fan of the william sonoma mac and cheese. The sherry and the oven finish with breadcrumb topping just does it for me.