Food and Cooking

The Alton Brown recipe is fantastic... no evaporated milk though. https://altonbrown.com/recipes/baked-macaroni-and-cheese/

I've been using this recipe, I got from GenMay, for the last 15+ years. I think the user who originally posted it was was CeeJayMon. Everyone always loves it.

Four Cheese Baked Macaroni

• A total of 7 tablespoons of butter (4, 2, and 1)
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups half and half
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
• Splash of hot sauce
• A total of 8 1/2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 2 cups)
• 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces grated fontina cheese
• 4 ounces grated gruyere cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs sv1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere's or Creole Seasoning

In a heavy medium saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over low heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half and half little by little. (DO NOT just dump it in) Cook until thickened, stirring frequently, which will take about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with the salt, pepper, hot sauce and 4 ounces of the grated parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Boil water in a big pot. Add salt to taste and stir in the macaroni. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to a low boil and cook for about 5 minutes. The macaroni should be slightly undercooked. Drain in a colander and return the macaroni to the pot. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, toss in the garlic, and stir it up. Add the thick white sauce you made a minute ago (Bechamel) and stir until it's well combined. Set aside.

Using the remaining tablespoon of butter, grease a 3-quart baking dish or casserole dish and set aside.

In a large bowl combine 4 ounces of the remaining parmesan cheese, cheddar, fontina and gruyere cheeses. Toss to combine. You should still have some parmesan left over.

Place one-third of the macaroni in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with one-third of the mixed cheeses. Top with another third of the macaroni and another third of the cheese mixture. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and cheese mixture. In a small bowl (or on a paper plate) combine the bread crumbs, the remaining 1/2 ounce of grated parmesan, and the Tony's and toss to combine. Sprinkle this over the top of the macaroni and cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the macaroni and cheese is bubbly and hot and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it sit a few minutes before serving.

Tasty, tasty stuff. Also, it keeps pretty well and isn't bad at all as microwaved leftovers. I think it's pretty damn perfect like it is, but feel free to give me your recommendations, or your recipes for mac & cheese.

You're in luck, I found my old recipe:

Mac Recipe – serves 6-10

Mac Ingredients:

• 16 oz elbow macaroni
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup flour
• 4 cups milk (at least 2%, preferably whole milk)
• 4 cups cheese, shredded (Shred by hand, don’t go bagged, trust me on this.)

Recommended:

• 1 cup sharp cheddar
• 1 cup pecorino romano
• 1 cup gruyere
• 1 cup mozzarella

Feel free to substitute and experiment

• 1-2 White onions, chopped (Optional: roasted or sautéed onions)
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and white pepper to taste

Topping Ingredients:

• 2 cups Breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cook and Drain pasta as directed on box
3. Heat milk in small saucepan until room-temperature or lukewarm
4. In large saucepot, melt butter, then stir in flour to create roux
5. Once roux is pale brown, add milk 1 cup at a time and stir briskly to avoid clumping
6. Once all the milk is added, add in cheese 1 cup at a time until melted
7. Add cooked pasta, onions, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly
8. Mix breadcrumbs and melted butter together until topping has a sandy texture
9. Pour mixed pasta into casserole dish, and cover with breadcrumb topping
10. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese sauce is bubbling and topping is golden-brown

It's very forgiving and open to experimentation. Make sure that you have a good combination of hard, oily cheeses and soft cheeses, but past that, you can throw anything in and it'll probably go. Throw some chili powder in, swap the Worcestershire for liquid smoke, whatever you feel like.

I'm using this recipe that's slightly healthier. We love it.

Healthier Macaroni Cheese ★★★★★ Dinner Prep Time: less than 30 mins | Cook Time: 10 to 30 mins | Servings: Serves 12

Ingredients:

For the mac cheese 1/2 tsp vegetable oil 1 onions, roughly chopped 0.5 litre stock water 300g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped 300g sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped 100ml soy milk 325g pasta dried gluten-free pasta (such as macaroni or other short pasta) 160g/6 1/4oz light extra-mature cheddar, grated 1/2 tsp fine sea salt 1/2 tsp msg freshly ground black pepper 1/2 can corn

Directions:

For the mac cheese, heat a large pan (blender safe) over a medium heat. Add the oil and onions and cook for 5 minutes, or until just softened. Meanwhile, crumble the stock cubes into a large, heatproof jug, add the boiling water and stir well until dissolved. Stir the butternut squash and sweet potatoes into the onions, then stir in the stock and milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil , then add the pasta and cook until just tender. Don’t overcook it as you will be cooking it further in the sauce. Drain and set aside. Using a hand-held stick blender, blend the squash and sweet potato mixture until smooth. Stir in two third of the cheese, salt, msg and some black pepper and cook over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes, or until the cheese has melted, stirring occasionally. Add the corn. Toss in the cooked pasta and cook for another 2 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and coated in the sauce, stirring occasionally. Transfer to oven safe dish. Grate remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

Nutrition:

Each serving provides 474 kcal, 22g protein, 77g carbohydrate (of which 9g sugars),7g fat (of which 3g saturates), 7g fibre and 1.2g salt.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gluten-free_cheesy_veg_60286