Marilyn, a few notes on mac n' cheese

T

traca

Well-known member
Since your question about mac n' cheese, I've been closely paying attention to slight variations in the batches I make daily. Since there's no recipe, and on occasion we're out of one thing or another...over time, I've played with variations a lot.

Heavy whipping cream, in my opinion, makes the best mac n' cheese. We use approximately 6 parts cream to 1 part whole milk.

When I'm out of the heavy cream, I have used half and half and sour cream as the dairy. I think an ideal version would be 6 parts heavy cream, 1 part sour cream.

We do not use a roux, which is basically used as a thickener. Since you're having a problem with the mac n' cheese being too thick, I'd skip that step.

As mentioned before, I cook the pasta slightly stiffer than al dente. As it bakes, the liquid is absorbed into the pasta and softens it.

We talked about a 'soupy' base. Since I eyeball everything, today I thought I totally messed it up by adding too much liquid. (I freaked out. Should I cook more pasta? Drain off some of the liquid? Agh!) I decided to wing it and left the super soupy liquid alone. Later when I tried it, after sitting on a steam table cooking for a couple hours (the equivalent of baking it), the mac n' cheese was SUPER creamy. Not 'soupy', but creamy. Eureka moment!

So, my suggestion is to shoot for the super soupy method. It's hard to describe exactly how 'soupy' you want it to be, but I'd say somewhere between a stew and a soup. Definitely not as thick as a chili.

Hope this helps.

 
I use a roux and mine is creamy...

the trick is to make enough sauce and that the sauce is not too thick so that the pasta doesn't absorb all the liquid.

The sauce that you make with your roux doesn't have to be thick. You can make a very thin sauce from your roux base. I use half my cheese in the sauce, then after I have pasta and cheese sauce mixed, dump in the rest of the cheese chunks and then slop it into the baking dish.

Traca is right, the mix should be really sloppy going into the pan before it is baked. If it's tight and bound, it will be dry.

 
interesting, my mom made mac & cheese with milk/cream layered with cooked macaroni and the dreaded

Velveeta. She layered the macaroni and cheese and poured the milk/cream mixture over it until it was about 3/4 full I think. Then baked. It was always delicious.

 
just wondering if cooking the pasta more, till softer, then the sauce wouldn't absorb as much?

 
Richard, do you have a recipe for yours? I'd love to see it. I've never made mac n' cheese before

this new job so this is the only recipe I know.

 
Velveeta is a basic food group in my family... I still think it's the ONLY way to make

grilled cheese sandwiches.

 
Alas, there is none...

I can tell you what I put in it. I just start cooking, boiling the pasta, melting butter and making roux, shredding and chunking cheese, preparing my dish(es).

Note: whenever I put a casserole in the oven, I coat liberally with butter, then coat with bread crumbs before I put the food in to bake. It creates a nice crust, people love it, and it makes clean up so much easier.

AFter the roux I add milk and cream, sauteed onions, a pinch of cayenee, and lots of black pepper to make a thin white sauce. To this I add half my cheese and stir to melt.

Stir the pasta and remaining cheese into the sauce, then pour into the pan. Since I never know how much I'm making, I usually have another pan on reserve for the overflow. This pan is lined with foil and after baking goes into the freezer after it's cooled. When it's frozen, I take the foil wrapped pasta out of the dish and put the dish back in the cabinet. I'll later reheat in that dish.

Before baking, the top is covered with cracker crumbs tossed in melted butter and paprika.

But like you said, the mixture is very sloppy wet before baking so that it is creamy and not dry.

 
Okay, you two. I'm curious. What pre-made food is in your freezer?

I have:

Braised pork sugo
Onion stock (save your onion peels & make stock with it. Genius new discovery!)
French onion soup base
Potato soup

I'm super excited b/c my butcher friend just gave me 15 pounds of duck wings and backs. I'm going to use them to make duck pho stock.

 
I've got...

dinner size packages of cooked black beans, garbanzos and brown rice (I soak and cook large batches, use what I need and make packages for the freezer to use later)

stocks: turkey, chicken, beef, and pan-barnyard (I freeze these in gallon freezer bags flat on cookie sheets so that I can stack them like tiles once they are frozen.) Also tablespoon portions of glace viande for sauces.

tiropitakias

falafels

chili

spaghetti sauce

homemade bread crumbs, rye, wheat, and white

pork goyozas

rye sourdough bread and dinner rolls

buffalo chicken dip

tuna noodle casserole

turkey pasta casserole

chicken and dumplings (lunch sized portions--whenever I make something, I make big batches and freeze individual lunch portions to stuff into lunch bags for quick lunches to go)

minestrone (lunch sized portions)

egyptian koshari (lunch portions)

austrian pork sauerkraut

vesan (indian garbanzo and pistachio fudge)

lebkuchen

orange oatmeal slice and bake cookie dough

dog food

And I'm sure some things that are buried long ago that I've forgotten.

 
That's just as mine minus the Austrian specialties. My oddities are more

middle eastern. That freeze is just another pantry to me. Organization and thought is a must but worth the payoff.

 
I've got nuts, herbs, panko, pasta sauce, sardines, egg yolks (a LOT of egg yolks),

strawberry bread
rib eyes
baby back ribs
chicken parts
sugar water
assorted store-bought veggies
butter
coconut milk
macaroon coconut
cheese
cookie dough
Swiss meringue buttercream
and some old ice cubes

 
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