and i already had the boy
finally, finally, i have been able to re-perfect my macaroni and cheese. i used to just follow the recipe on the back of the san giorgio box, with some minor tweaks, but san giorgio isn't available west of the mississippi, evidently, and while i remembered my tweaks, i didn't remember the base. but i think i have it back, now. it now makes slightly more than my casserole dish will hold -- about an extra bowlful. this turns out to be a feature, not a bug, because inevitably somebody (and i won't say who) is too hungry to wait for baking to transform the macaroni and cheese into a delicious melty casserole of cheesy goodness, and since it is cooked, the leftovers give this nameless hungry person something to do while the casserole is baking.
now if i could just figure out how to make rice at altitude, i'd be set.
posted by anne @ 8:53 AM
10 Comments:
Will you share the recipe with the rest of us?
Dang, now I want mac and cheese. Iced tea from a powder and Brussels sprouts I could take or leave, but straight up mac with no franks or peas is one of the more wonderous things in the Western culinary canon.
i tend to measure by eye, but this is a pretty decent approximation:
in large stockpot, with a bit of salt in the water, boil one pound elbow macaroni until tender. don't get fancy and use other shapes, because it doesn't work. drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside.
melt 5T butter in stockpot over med-high heat. add cracked black pepper and salt to taste. gradually whisk in 1/3c of flour.
let roux bubble and cook for a bit, ~3-4 minutes, whisking all the while. it should start to brown.
slowly whisk in the milk, making sure to thoroughly mix it. no lumps! eventually the mixture will get nice and smooth.
now switch to a spatula. let your sauce cook on medium heat until it thickens and starts to look velvety. this takes at least 5 minutes, usually.
now for cheese! i didn't measure this, unfortunately. i used a hunk of smooth cheddar, about as long as a finger and twice as wide, a hunk of extra-sharp cheddar maybe half as big again as the first, and about three and a half big handfuls of sharp cheddar, all coarsely grated. roughly four and a half cups, i'd guess. this gets whisked in very slowly, until the mixture is the consistency of thin fondue.
rinse the macaroni with hot water, drain, and mix into the cheese sauce.
pour into an open casserole dish. bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly, lightly browned on top, and delicious. let stand for 5-10 minutes. eat.
Aha! Of course! The trick is in melting the cheese into the cream sauce first! I have tried many recipes involving baking a cream sauce and cheese and eg casserole, but they always came out wrong. I have never tried the obvious. I can see how it would be extra delicious.
This is very similar to the Cook's Illustrated recipe which I make. They suggest using half cheddar and half monterey jack for best texture.
julia: yeah, it definitely makes a difference. i've tried the ones with egg, but i never seem to like them as well. if you let the sauce thicken up for a bit, you don't even need the egg; the casserole will sort of souffle itself on its own.
liz: that does sound pretty good. i think the texture of mine improved markedly when i stopped trying to use all extra-extra-sharp cheddar. i have a weakness for the stuff, though. yum.
I forgot to say that I hardly ever bake it. Cook's Illustrated's recommendation is to put buttered bread crumbs on top and brown under the broiler. But I don't usually do that, either. Like your husband, I don't like standing around waiting after cheese has already been melted.
the waiting is pretty tedious, but it really does make a difference. it's a texture thing, for me; macaroni in cheese sauce and macaroni and cheese are two separate things. it's good with sauce, but once it bakes it has a sort of souffle/casserole texture; the cheese sauce gets really thick and creamy. so good!
browning it under the broiler, though -- yeah, i wouldn't bother. and breadcrumbs? ick.
I have never understood the bread crumbs thing. In the past I have used egg (as seen in many many recipes) thinking it would give the right texture, but I can totally buy that having melty cheese sauce does that already, and none of my egg ones have ever worked. I do like macaroni in melty cheese sauce, but the perfect backed mac n cheese is just the best ever.
egg and pasta are really good together, but it tends to give a chunky consistency, not a creamy one. although spaghetti tossed with egg over low heat, with a bit of olive oil and cheese and basil, is one of the best things ever.
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