Baked Macaroni and Cheese

[bakechef]

This is the recipe that I use. I don't usually have velveeta on hand so I substitute cheddar, the combination of cheddar and american is perfect in my book.

This recipe seems lie a soupy mess when poured into the pan, looks like waaayyyy too much sauce, but once it bakes, it is perfect.

This is a very creamy saucy macaroni and cheese, not the more solid custard type.

Mouse's Macaroni and Cheese - All Recipes

 

[shannon in KS]

I use a combination of cheeses including velveeta. Here's my recipe Baked Macaroni & Cheese

where's the *drool* smiley?!?!

 

[PattY1]

YUMMY! Great link, thanks. Eggs? Ick.

I feel that way about eggs, mustard and onions. IMHO they do not belong in Mac-n-Cheese.

 

[powerplantop]

Being a Connoisseur of American food and fine cheeses myself. I will add that Velveeta while legally is not considered cheese it is a great addition to Mac & Cheese.

In my travels around the various regions of this great country I have had some really great examples of baked Mac & Cheese. Here are my thoughts on what separated the good ones form the great ones. The only bad baked Mac & Cheese I have had was either burnt or bland.

Cheese / Sauce: These should act as the binder and add creaminess. This is the advantage of using Velveeta. You can use just Velveeta and milk. It makes a really good sauce, but it is not in the great category. It just does not have that great cheese flavor. Play around with combinations of cheese, Velveeta and your favorite sauce. The only thing to remember is some cheeses will break during melting. If you want to use one of those melt some Velveeta then melt you’re with it.

Butter or Milk? If you’re using good cheese why not use some real butter? In The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American Jeff Smith’s recipe for Macaroni Pie calls for 2 cups macaroni, and ¼ pound butter. To me with this ratio the dish is oily. But after cooking this dish butter is now a normal ingredient in my Mac & Cheese.

Cooking: I like for mine to have a small crust around the edges, soft but set in the middle and a slightly crunchy top. But it should not have a hard top; if I cannot eat it with a fork it’s too hard.

Other ingredients: I grew up eating Mac & Cheese with tuna, I know that will never have wide spread appeal. That said adding local great ingredients are one thing that will turn a good Mac & Cheese into a great one. The great ones that remember have had: crawfish, Tasso and kielbasa (not all together). The best one I remember had freshly creamed corn and green peppers.

 

[coltsfanchris]

Thanks for all the tips, I never thought to try velveeta in combination with the other cheeses. Something I will have to try since I have had the cheese break up on me. I can't wait to try it!

 

[jet]

Thanks for all the tips, I never thought to try velveeta in combination with the other cheeses. Something I will have to try since I have had the cheese break up on me. I can't wait to try it!

You can't make a cheese sauce with just milk and cheese (you need starch to keep the sauce together). I have a recipe that calls for just milk and cheese that suddenly stopped working (the sauce would break). Turns out that I originally used a processed cheese product (like Velveeta) but it started failing when I changed to real cheese.

 

[luvs]

i disagree with the velveeta. tooooooooo creamy & lacks texture. if i wanted baby food, i'd get a jar of that! way yummier with bechamel/sharp cheeses like cheddar with a few crumbles of bleu. just like deli cheese is way more yummy than individual singles.

 

[Andy R]

You can't make a cheese sauce with just milk and cheese (you need starch to keep the sauce together). I have a recipe that calls for just milk and cheese that suddenly stopped working (the sauce would break). Turns out that I originally used a processed cheese product (like Velveeta) but it started failing when I changed to real cheese.

I agree. I have done this and the cheese/milk coagulates. You need a binding agent (starch) for it work out well. A tiny bit of flour works nicely...

 

[luvs]

that's why i am advocting bechamel. cheeses blend beautifully into the flour/fat/milk blend.

 

[LPBeier]

i disagree with the velveeta. tooooooooo creamy & lacks texture. if i wanted baby food, i'd get a jar of that! way yummier with bechamel/sharp cheeses like cheddar with a few crumbles of bleu. just like deli cheese is way more yummy than individual singles.

I make a macaroni and cheese that has a bechamel (or white sauce to some) and grated sharp cheddar, along with more cheese in 1/2 inch cubes mixed in with the noodles. This way after baking there is a creamy cheese sauce and nice bursts of cheese.

But then again I often pick up the Kraft deluxe dinner with.....you guessed it....Velveeta! Or if I want mac and cheese in a hurry, I have even been known to boil my macaroni, then nuke some cheese whiz and butter together, drain the noodles and mix in the melted mixture and eat! Yum!

So I go to both ends of the spectrum!

 

[Alix]

Yeah - that eggs thing is really different. I loved in North Carolina for a while and the old timers there make mac n cheese with essentially a custard with shredded cheese added. It's baked and hot and cheesy - just texturally challenging the first time you try it if you were raised on the bechemel based version. I learned to like it - in fact even love it. It's pasta, cheese, milk and eggs - how could it be bad really?

Hey Janet, do you have a recipe?

 

[Janet H]

Hey Janet, do you have a recipe?

Yup..

Procure it:
2 cups uncooked elbows (cook em in some salt water)
4 large eggs
2 cups low fat milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 tsp dried mustard
3 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup cracker crumbs - or more traditionally, cornflakes crunched up

Assemble it:
Cook the pasta in salted water drain and rinse. Preheat the oven to 325° F.

Grease a good sized, not too deep (around 2 inches) casserole dish.

In a bowl mix eggs, milk, salt, mustard and paprika. In the casserole dish, layer the cooked macaroni with 2 cups of the cheese; pour milk and egg mixture over all.

Cook it:
Bake the casserole for 50 mins, or until set in the center. In a small mixing bowl, combine remaining shredded cheese and crumbs. Spread over the casserole, then put under broiler to brown.
Serves 6.

Eat it:
Serve this as a main dish with some salad and broiled tomatoes halves and a baked apple. Your kids will adore you and your north of the Mason Dixon line friends will think you've taken leave of your senses, but they will ask for seconds...

 

[luvs]

laurie, i cooked blue-box spirals before i got my own place. may cook them again if we arrive late 1 nite & we're hungry!

 

[Alix]

OK Janet, I'm going to give it a go. When you mentioned custard like consistency it piqued my curiosity. I'll post how it went over here. I'll do it in a new thread though. Thanks so much!

 

[Janet H]

Have fun with the experiment - you may want to draw the blinds.....

I have seen a variant on this where you essentially make the bechemel style mac and cheese with a runnier that usual sauce and then add several eggs. it's pretty good too. I am not sure how mac and cheese can really be truly horrid - the basic ingredients are just to good.

 

[kadesma]

i disagree with the velveeta. tooooooooo creamy & lacks texture. if i wanted baby food, i'd get a jar of that! way yummier with bechamel/sharp cheeses like cheddar with a few crumbles of bleu. just like deli cheese is way more yummy than individual singles.

luvs,
I agree a nice bechamel is wonderful for us, but remember we each have different tastes...My grandkids and some of my friends adore velveeta..We each are entitled to our favorites..You should see the smiles on their faces when I make their mac and cheese.So let's come together this Christmas season and share our mac and cheese Happy Holidays luvs
kades

 

[Kristen]

Baked Macaroni

It really really taste good if we put many melted cheese on it
definitely it makes you crave for more for it

 

[jet]

that's why i am advocting bechamel. cheeses blend beautifully into the flour/fat/milk blend.

That's why my recipe uses a bechamel, it's just so easy.

 

[luvs]

i concur! bechamel rocks.
kades, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

[kadesma]

i concur! bechamel rocks.
kades, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas sweetie
kades