Oh, glorious mac n cheese. You are my first food love (the kind in the blue and yellow box).
Fortunately, I've grown up and decided to leave the blue and yellow box at the store. Because this is OH SO MUCH better.
I started with this recipe from The Pioneer Woman: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/
She says you can eat it after you've combined the sauce and noodles, or you can bake it. Naturally, I tried it both ways. It's much creamier without baking and is quite good. Baking is great too, especially when you add bread crumbs on top (see B and C under NEXT TIME).
NEXT TIME:
A. I'm not a fan of so much ground mustard. You do need it, but I would maybe just use 1 heaping teaspoon instead of 2, or 2 level teaspoons if you must follow rules and have exact measurements.
B. I added homemade soft, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. Here's what you do:
1. Take 5 pieces of white bread, tear and put them in a food processor. Process until they are nothing but crumbs.
2. Season with your favorite Italian seasonings to taste. Mine involved garlic powder and dried oregano, and let me tell you, it smelled so freaking good I wanted to eat the bread crumbs alone. I refrained as this seemed inappropriate for anyone over the age of 10.
3. DO NOT THINK YOU CAN USE STORE BOUGHT IN-A-CAN BREADCRUMBS for this step. It won't be right. It won't be good. Just don't do it. Leave it out if you have to. The recipe is good alone and your canned breadcrumbs will ruin the goodness.
C. I wish I would have mixed the bread crumbs IN THE WHOLE CASSEROLE! That's right, you heard me correctly. Not just for topping, but THE WHOLE THING. Yes, the crumbs were that good and the whole thing was AWESOME.
I'm sorry I don't have pictures of this one, but it looked pretty much like The Pioneer Woman's pictures, except mine had glorious bread crumbs... I can almost taste them now... and not because I'm eating them out of the tupperware container I stored them in!
You are halarious and it sounds like we have similar tastes which means I look forward to your experiments! Don't be afraid to share the bad...at least that might help me feel better! :)
ReplyDeleteI love Rachael Ray's mac & cheese & broccoli & chicken... but my kids still prefer the blue / yellow box. :P At least it's faster.
ReplyDeleteMel, my plan is to be honest about the bad stuff because I'd like to educate and warn the public about bad food! J/K But seriously, I will totally post recipes gone wrong... will make for good comedy, I'm sure :)
ReplyDeleteChrista, is this the mac n cheese with the hidden veggies? I've been curious and want to try that one sometime. Don't get me wrong, I do like the blue and yellow box for its ease of preparation (and for comfort... sometimes you just gotta!).