macaroni and cheese

[LA Ute]

Here's blog post on how to cook the best macaroni and cheese possible using a box mix:

The Right Way to Make Mac-n-Cheese

I hardly ever eat mac 'n cheese but it's a fun guilty pleasure when I do. This is a fun read and seems to have some good ideas.

[YOhio]

Here's blog post on how to cook the best macaroni and cheese possible using a box mix:

The Right Way to Make Mac-n-Cheese

I hardly ever eat mac 'n cheese but it's a fun guilty pleasure when I do. This is a fun read and seems to have some good ideas.

I can't imagine it tasting any different than following the directions on the back of the box.

[Eddie]

I can't imagine it tasting any different than following the directions on the back of the box.

I'm fairly certain that the difference in taste would not make up for having an additional dish to wash.

The best part about Mac & Cheese when I was in college was that you only dirtied one dish and one spoon. Cook and drain the noodles in a small pot. Scoop a healthy spoonful of margarine or butter and melt it in the pot with the drained noodles. Pour in some milk and add the powder mix. Stir. Use your spoon to eat the stuff right out of the pot. Done.

My experience was that it is difficult to get too much butter with one spoonful. And add as much milk as you want there to be sauce. No need to dirty measuring utensils.

[UtahJazzFan88]

Anyone else enjoy putting hot sauce in their mac and cheese? Maybe I just love spicy food, I dunno.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Anyone else enjoy putting hot sauce in their mac and cheese? Maybe I just love spicy food, I dunno.

Hot sauce is good in mac and cheese. I also suggest this cajun cream sauce in mac and cheese.

http://www.kingofthecajuns.com/product.html

[LA Ute]

I can't imagine it tasting any different than following the directions on the back of the box.

But the guy's post is a good read. That's worth something, isn't it?

Anyone else enjoy putting hot sauce in their mac and cheese? Maybe I just love spicy food, I dunno.

This recipe has a little Cayenne in it. I really like the result.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpost.php?p=763739&postcount=3

[kccougar]

I use a variation of Meatheads from amazingribs.com

Yield. About 4 servings as a side dish, 2 as a main dish

Preparation time. 1 hour, cooking time 20 minutes.



4 ounces of a spiral or other noodle that will catch the cheese better than elbow mac



Optional Mix-ins

4 strips bacon
1 small onion, chopped
1 green jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeds removed, then minced
2 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped fine

Personally, I use the Bacon, onions and Garlic (Fresh).


The Cheese Sauce
4 ounces cheese, shredded (smoked Gouda for me but I have used Gruyere, Pepper Jack, etc)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole cream, you can use milk if you don't like to have a great mac and cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt


Method
1) Preheat the oven to 400°F and put a 2 quart pot with 1 quart of water on a hot burner, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and crank it up. You'll need it boiling by the time you get to step 4.

2) Optional Mix-ins. Prep all your add ins.

3) The Cheese Sauce. In a 2 quart saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter over a low heat. Add the flour, and, with a whisk, mix them together, and cook for 5 minutes, or until it turns the color of straw. This is called a blonde roux. Be patient if it takes longer. This takes the raw pasty flavor out of the flour and eliminates the grit. Add the milk slowly and whisk thoroughly while adding it, so there are no lumps. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn, until it bubbles and thickens a bit, like latex paint. This is called a béchamel sauce. Add the cheese mix, 1/3 at a time, and continue stirring until the cheese is melted and there are no lumps. Mix in the salt, black pepper, paprika, and the add-ins. Turn off the heat.

I've found that addding in 2-3 oz of cream cheese is great. I've also noticed his mac to cheese recipe is a little heavy. I will prep extra noodles JIC they are needed to balance out.

4) The Mac. Add the macaroni to the boiling water, and stir. When the water comes back up to a boil, turn the heat down a bit and boil until they are almost al dente, still noticeably crunchy, about 2/3 of the time recommended on the package, probably about 6 minutes from the time it begins to boil. Stir occasionally. Take them off when they are still just a bit chewy because it will cook some more in the oven. Drain in a colander shaking vigorously to get as much water out of the tubes as possible, and leave them in the colander in the sink until the cheese sauce is done. Pour the Mac into the cheese sauce and stir thoroughly.

5) Bake. If you used a 2 quart pan and the handle is oven safe, you can bake it right in the pan. Otherwise, pour the whole macaroni shebang into a 2 quart Pyrex or CorningWare baking dish. If you prefer, pour it into individual serving size oven proof dishes or ramekins. Sprinkle with the cheese topping and then the paprika. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes or until it begins burbling. Keep an eye on it so the top does not burn.

While it is cooking, I like to brown some Panko in butter and top the bake off with them. Add those and a little cheese for the last 5 minutes of the bake.



6) Rest. Let it cool for about 15 minutes so nobody's tongue is scalded. That cheese holds heat.

Added to this thread.

[kccougar]

Would baking the mac&cheese in the smoker add anything to the dish or not worth the hassle?

[pellegrino]

Would baking the mac&cheese in the smoker add anything to the dish or not worth the hassle?

I guess you never know until you try, but I'd bet that any flavor you get from it would be minimal, simply because it's only got one side exposed.

[Eddie]

Would baking the mac&cheese in the smoker add anything to the dish or not worth the hassle?

I have no idea - but I can tell you that my wife made some mac & cheese with smoked cheese curd. And reading your question reminded me of the flavor. I could not get enough of that stuff. Seriously awesome.

So - I don't know what cooking in a smoker will do. But I can confirm that the smoked cheese flavor does make for awesome mac & cheese. Crap...how do I get rid of that craving now...

[CJF]

I use smoked gouda and smoked cheddar and I put it in the smoker. It is awesome.

[statman]

I made the most awesome M&C at Christmas time last year - lots of Gruyere and cream - and a little cayenne and white pepper for kick. A heart attack in a casserole dish. But oh so good..

[kccougar]

So that recipe that I moved into this thread seems a little wacked out with regard to portions so yesterday I made mac&cheese to accompany the brisket and had to kind of guess at the right amount of noodles. I was trying to make enough for a crowd, and I made too many. I should have added them in slowly until I got the combination I wanted rather than dumping them all in at once, but I was in a hurry. I made 6x the amount of noodles and 3x the amount of everything else (plus milk added with the cream). I should have done 4x the amount of noodles to 3x everything else. It was good mac & cheese though. One of the neighbor kids said it was the best ever, and I figure kids should know a thing or two about mac & cheese.
IMG_20130608_180129.jpg

[FN Phat]

First attempt at the recipe Coach and KCC shared was a failure. Too many rookie mistakes (I added all the noodles at the same time, left the top off of the pan, etc.) resulting in a dry Mac. This time I effin nailed it. It was a delish and instant family favorite. I tweaked it a bit but many thanks to Coach and KCC for moving it to the right thread.

[kccougar]

First attempt at the recipe Coach and KCC shared was a failure. Too many rookie mistakes (I added all the noodles at the same time, left the top off of the pan, etc.) resulting in a dry Mac. This time I effin nailed it. It was a delish and instant family favorite. I tweaked it a bit but many thanks to Coach and KCC for moving it to the right thread.

If you want to write up what you did, I'd love to get something to follow. I felt like I was winging it without much success.