Difficult times call for carbs, lots of carbs. And cheese.
The only pastas left at my store were either macaroni or $7 whole wheat organic spaghetti. I went with the macaroni.
First things first: Cook and drain the pasta according to the package.
I trust you can handle this and do not need me to show you pictures of boiling water.
However, here’s a pro-tip: do not, like me, set it to drain under your automatic soap dispenser in your sink. (Don’t worry, I rinsed it all off!)
While your pasta is draining, soap free, go ahead and grate some cheese.
I used 3 year cheddar from Cabot. I actually thought it was a little too sharp for my taste, but it was what I had on hand and it worked out fine.
I arbitrarily chose 4 cups of cheese, because that is when my arm got tired of shredding. A food processor would be helpful here if you wanted to drag it out and clean it after. I did not.
The original recipe I adapted this from called for 5 cups of cheese, which seemed excessive. (It also used 2 cups of whipping cream, so what do I know.)
You can modify depending on how cheesy you like it. And you can use whatever dairy you have on hand. The fattier the better; we are in a pandemic after all, but no need to go crazy. The 2 cups of whipping cream in the original recipe seemed crazy even to me!
Now make your cheesy sauce. Melt your 3 TBSP of butter in a large pan (I used the same one I cooked my pasta in, because I am efficient like that).
Add flour to make your roux.
Once it bubbles and smells nutty (in a good way), whisk in your half and half and milk and cook bring back to a low boil, whisking the entire time.
It should thicken up and be careful not to over do it.
(This will work better for you because you won’t be trying to take pictures the whole time, you better brie-lieve it)
Add your grated cheese one cup at a time. Allow to melt in between additions. You should have a nice creamy cheese sauce.
Add your (now soap free) macaroni back to the pan. Looking gouda!
Feel free to eat some now. I did.
Melt Butter Add Flour and stir til bubbly Add Milk/Cream/ Whisk over medium heat until thickened Add Cheese 1 cup at a time Toss in your salt and peppers Stir in your macaroni
If you didn’t eat it all out of the pan, you can add it to a greased Pyrex pan, cover with buttered bread crumbs and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
I threw mine under the broiler for a few minutes at the end.
Ingredients:
1 LB Macaroni
3 TBSP Butter
3 TBSP Flour
1 Cup Half and Half
1 Cup Milk
4 Cups Shredded Cheese (I used white cheddar)
1 TSP Salt
2 TSP Pepper
1-2 TSP Smoked Spanish Pepper
Cheesy Peasy!
That’s the first home made mac&cheese recipe that actually looks good to me. I may be trying that one out.
I haven’t made mac and cheese in a long time. If I’m going to die from the trump response to the coronavirus I may as well eat carbs, right?
Might as well!
I may simply drown myself in all of the blueberry preserves I’ve got in my basement. Or, maybe in all of the salsa. I guess it will depend on how sweet/spicy I feel when the end comes.
How about a blueberry bbq sauce? Sweet and spicy!
bbq sauce from preserves? I never thought of that… can you make it from cranberry preserves? I have a lot of those!
Sure, you can add it in to your other ingredients. Just go easy on the brown sugar since the preserves are already sweet.
I like Kansas City style bbq sauce. So:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/44491/big-als-kc-bar-b-q-sauce/
One of the ingredients I don’t have is dry mustard. I saw that:
does this sound ok? I have regular mustard!
Another ingredient I don’t have is molasses. I found that:
does that sound ok ds chefs?
I looked at the recipe. I think you could replace the molasses with the cranberry preserves. I’d use honey instead of corn syrup. And any mustard you have will work, powder is best but I’ve even used yellow and you won’t know the difference. Update after you make it!
thank you. yes, I’ll report!
If I learned I had like 2 weeks to live I’d only eat mac n cheese.
I make a slightly healthier version than the norm using butternut squash to thicken up the sauce — which allows you to use skim milk and less cheese. Basically, I boil a cubed butternut squash in half broth/half water, pureee it, add salt and a bit of Greek yogurt. Stir in a couple cups of shredded cheese. Blammo. You can taste the squash but it is not overpowering.
If you’re going to die in two weeks, skip the butternuts and just go full tilt boogie.
This is the only correct way to make mac n’ cheese. I salute you.
For a completely unnecessary indulgence — the fat content of this is already off the freaking charts — drizzle in some truffle oil.
Hey… where’s the packet of dayglo orange “cheese” substitute powder?
I hate Kraft Dinner (a byproduct of being a real shit ‘cook’ in my university days who made that crud way too often.)
I enjoy home made mac and cheese though.
That’s a havarti meal! Sounds really good. Sometimes I will tear or chop up some stale bread, toss with melted butter, and then do your bake/broil thing to top it off. Here is the mac and cheese recipe I made last week. Pretty tasty.
https://www.marthastewart.com/312609/southern-mac-and-cheese
That looks good – almost more custard-y.
Also, way too up the post game with labeled photos!
Just trying to keep up with yall! 🙂