Mac & Cheese help please!

[ella/TO]

Emeril's Mac and Cheese

There are several attributed to Emeril. Is this the one you like?

Yes! Katie that's the one......really good!

 

[DramaQueen]

I've never made "homemade" mac & cheese before. Over the weekend I was watching "America's Test Kitchen" and they made a so-called "perfect" mac & cheese. I got the recipe online and made it last night. Ugh - it wasn't very good at all! It was made with evaporated milk and it didn't even TASTE cheesey although the sauce was very thick and cheesey looking. Does anyone else out there have a good, easy recipe???? Please??????

Oddly enough, I've made some of the recipes from Test Kitchen and they haven't lived up to expectations. I too made the mac and cheese and it was just so-so. Wouldn't make that one again. Because no one knows me here, and can't see me, and can't see my shame, I will admit that my all time favorite mac and cheese is TA-DA Kraft in the blue box.

 

[licia]

We always loved our grandmothers macaroni and cheese, but she didn't bake hers. She cooked the pasta till done, drained the water off, put a big chunk of butter, enough milk to cream it all together then added at least as much cheese in weight as macaroni - usually more. But, ours was always a side dish - never the main dish.

 

[Mama]

The cheesier...the better! That is IMHO!

 

[Katie H]

The cheesier...the better! That is IMHO!

Well, isn't cheese one of the food groups?

 

[Glorie]

You guys crack me up! And yes, Katie E, cheese IS one of the food groups, lol. Thank you so much for all your ideas and recipes. That was the first time I had made any of ATK recipes and that turned me off to ever wanting to make another one, lol. The only thing that scares me is the Velveeta *shudders* - there's just something about man-made fake cheese....Do you think cream cheese could be substituted instead??

 

[Mama]

I don't think cream cheese would give it a cheesy enough taste. Maybe another type of cheese. Personally I like the combination of the real cheese and Velveeta processed cheese.

 

[scoobagirl]

my mama was from Kansas and made the best homemade mac 'n cheese. She just boiled and cooked her macaroni, drained it and turned it into a buttered round 2 qt. pyrex baking dish, stirred in a 1/2 stick of butter and about 3 cups of milk - it came halfway up the side of the glass dish - and then covered it liberally with grated cheddar cheese and baked it till melty and bubbly on top. (maybe 20 minutes? maybe 30 minutes? I don't know)

Nothing fancy but dang it was so good. I never knew people put tomatoes or bread crumbs or stuff in it or on it till I got married.

My husband thought "perfect mac 'n cheese" was the Kraft blue box with wienies cut up into it. (that's how his momma made it) I have to say I make his momma's mac 'n cheese about equally as often as I make my mama's - depending on if I'm making a fast meal or a comfort food meal...

 

[Seven S]

I make Mac N Cheese regularly. I dont have a recipe but I can offer some tips...

• Cook the macaroni pasta in regular salted water as per package directions.
• Separately, make a bechamel (roux + whole milk or half & half) sauce and season with a pinch of salt, white pepper. I also add some Goya-brand Achiote with Saffron (latin ethnic section) for flavor and color. A few drops of hot sauce. When fully cooked, off the heat stir in choice of cheeses... I always use some shredded cheddar and Velveeta - I know its a processed cheese product and all that, but in my opinion, this is the only recipe I use it in. It puts the "cheese" in the "Mac N Cheese"!! you can add some others such as Gruyere, Swiss, etc.
• Then I toss in the drained macaroni into the sauce, and place pot back on the heat to medium and cover. I want the sauce to reach a simmer and cook, stovetop, so that the macaroni cooks even further but in the cheese sauce. In this case and ONLY in THIS case, I want my macaroni softer than al dente, that is, softer than I would EVER cook italian pasta until you reach desired consistency. At this point, all the cooking for the dish is done.
• I then place the mac-n-cheese in an oven-safe casserole, sprinkle some shredded cheddar, dots of butter, and sometimes breadcrumbs across the top, and run under the broiler till brown and crusty.

I find that you need a whole fat milk or cream or half and half in this recipe in order to avoid curdling or any watery texture. I also prefer to not use any egg which I have seen in some recipes. And finally, I do all my cooking stovetop rather than in the oven. if doing ahead of time, you can cook it through and place in casserole and refrigerate. Then you can just heat through in a hot oven, and then do the broiler topping.

 

[Mama]

Here's my recipe:

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb macaroni, uncooked
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 cups of shredded Kraft Mexican Style Cheese (consists of 4 cheeses - Cheddar, Asadero, Queso Quesadilla and Montery Jack Cheeses)
2 cups half-and-half
8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Here's what you need to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Set aside.
In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add macaroni and 2 tablespoons salt and return to a boil. Boil for about 7 minutes. Drain. Return to pot.
Pour the melted butter on top of the macaroni. Add 1 1/2 cups of the Mexican Style Cheese along with all of the velveeta cheese. Mix well until the cheese begins to melt.
Add the half and half, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Pour the macaroni mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
Sprinkle with the remaining Mexican Stlye Cheese.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until edges begin to brown and are nice and bubbly.

Yummy!

I made it the last night for dinner, here's a pic:

 

[Maverick2272]

I thought I saw one recently on Food Network, can't place which show, that had one made with lobster? Anybody heard of that one or a recipe with lobster in it? Sounded interesting enough to try sometime.
Other than that, I am not good at making mac and cheese so for now I will just happily take all of your guys recipes for myself, LOL!

 

[Jeekinz]

I thought I saw one recently on Food Network, can't place which show, that had one made with lobster? Anybody heard of that one or a recipe with lobster in it? Sounded interesting enough to try sometime.
Other than that, I am not good at making mac and cheese so for now I will just happily take all of your guys recipes for myself, LOL!

You could easily swap out the shrimp for lobster in the link I posted. I might try that.

 

[bertjo44]

I like to prepare a boxed mix, add just a little milk, flower, paprika, pepper and cheddar (or what ever kind of cheese your like) and bake for about 30 mins. The Neelys (Food Network) made a great looking recipe on their Christmas Special. You could look that up. It had fire roasted tomatos and adouille sausage.

 

[DaveSoMD]

I thought I saw one recently on Food Network, can't place which show, that had one made with lobster? Anybody heard of that one or a recipe with lobster in it? Sounded interesting enough to try sometime.
Other than that, I am not good at making mac and cheese so for now I will just happily take all of your guys recipes for myself, LOL!

One if the contestants on last seasons "Next Food Network Star" made that for one of the challenges.

I made Alton Brown's creamy mac & cheese a few weeks ago and it was pretty good

Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network

 

[nappi]

1 bag of elbow noodles
black pepper
1 egg (optional)
butter
milk
mozarella/old chedder cheese

i boil the pasta
then pour in a bowl then add a bit of pepper
i mix in the milk and butter (measure by eye) egg if u wish
then layer into a baking dish then sprinkle a mixture of the cheeses
and repeat
you can top w/ parmesan cheese if u wish

then bake for about 30 min at 350

i made it on monday and it was delicious