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Post by Delta Dawn on Dec 20, 2020 19:04:28 GMT
We made Patty LaBelle’s recipe last night. Too much work but it was good!
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Post by refugeepea on Dec 20, 2020 19:11:39 GMT
This is why I'm a crappy cook. All these recipes of winging it, just using what cheese you have, and throwing this and that in there. That never works in my favor. I need specific instructions.
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Post by freecharlie on Dec 20, 2020 19:17:33 GMT
I'm bookmarking this thread. I'm going to try various different versions
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Post by artgirl1 on Dec 20, 2020 19:19:35 GMT
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Post by anxiousmom on Dec 20, 2020 19:21:30 GMT
First food calls I got from both boys after they left home was how to make my Mac and Cheese. lol What recipe do you use?
Not really a recipe...just the kind you get from watching your mama make. I start with the butter, flour, milk deal (although I use half and half-the fat helps with making it creamier.) Then add shredded cheese-whatever is on hand. Salt and pepper to taste. If I am baking it, the noodles are boiled for about half the time before mixing with the cheese sauce. Put in baking dish, sprinkle with more cheese and bake until bubbly. My boys preferred to eat it without baking so before adding the noodles, I temper an egg into the cheese sauce then mix in fully cooked noodles. This method takes about as long as it does to make the box kind but so much cheesey goodness. Oh...if I have it on hand I’d put a glop of cream cheese in the sauce and melt that before adding the shredded cheese. Easy peasy.
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Post by Crack-a-lackin on Dec 20, 2020 19:23:59 GMT
Sunny Anderson has a few different recipes on Food Network, and they’re all good!
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Post by Lexica on Dec 20, 2020 19:27:50 GMT
My dad used to make his own and added onions and tomato bits to it. It was so good. The sauce was extra creamy and I wish I had asked him for that recipe. When my son was in school to become a chef, he would make the most delicious dishes. He lived with me for a time when he was still in school and I would come home to some incredible dinners. I told him I would pay for all the ingredients if he would do the cooking. Such a great deal for me and gave him some fun experimentation. One day I came home to him just finishing up making a pot of Kraft macaroni and cheese. All this creative talent, yet he would occasionally return to his childhood comfort foods. I always made it with an undiluted can of Campbell's cream of chicken soup and half of the required butter. It increased the amount of creamy sauce base and gave you teeny tiny bits of chicken. I also added a heaping spoon of sour cream at times. My son never cared how I altered it, his one thing was that it had to be the original Kraft blue box as a starter. Just an interesting tidbit of history: Kraft Foods introduced its boxed macaroni and cheese in 1937, when America was in the throes of the Great Depression. The product could serve four for 19 cents, and the company sold 8 million boxes of its quick-and-easy macaroni and cheese in a year.
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Post by huskermom98 on Dec 20, 2020 19:29:13 GMT
I base mine on a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. I make a butter/flour roux, slowly add the milk, heat and stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat then add shredded cheeses (usually half cheddar, half Monterey Jack), some salt, pepper, and dry mustard, stirring until cheeses are melted. Combine with cooked elbows and pour into a baking dish. I top with a sleeve of crushed ritz crackers and pop into the oven for about 10 min or so to crisp up the top. This is the recipe that I used to make mac'n cheese with for years (I did a breadcrumb/butter in a food processor for the topping though). It's really good, but then I got lazy and started making a simply recipe in my Instant Pot. www.activehipmomma.com/instant-pot-mac-n-cheese/ I've made this one with a multitude of cheeses and cheese combinations, but Sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack are my favorites. I might have to go back to the America's Test Kitchen version soon because I bought small cast iron skillets so we can try to replicate mac'n cheese dishes like the ones we get at Mac's in Wisconsin whenever we go to Wisconsin Dells.
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,276
Jun 25, 2014 22:52:46 GMT
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Post by iowgirl on Dec 20, 2020 19:31:36 GMT
If your interested in a crackpot version, I'll grab my recipe This might be the winner! LOL
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peaname
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,390
Aug 16, 2014 23:15:53 GMT
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Post by peaname on Dec 20, 2020 19:39:56 GMT
Call me crazy but I think it tastes better with shell pasta, orecchiette, campanelle, or cavatappi.
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Post by karinec on Dec 20, 2020 20:16:37 GMT
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Post by colleen on Dec 20, 2020 20:19:22 GMT
Patti LaBelle’s is the fave around here. It was the first thing ds learned to cook. Mac and Cheese
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Post by 16joy on Dec 20, 2020 20:29:37 GMT
Dave Poes Mac and cheese is really good and so easy to make. The recipe needs to say 55 minutes to cook though. The salty boiling water does make a difference
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Post by sabrinae on Dec 20, 2020 20:53:15 GMT
Call me crazy but I think it tastes better with shell pasta, orecchiette, campanelle, or cavatappi. I generally use cavatappi.
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Post by kandie on Dec 20, 2020 22:22:02 GMT
I just made baked Mac and cheese for dinner tonight. Used my moms recipe. Sauté onions in butter until clear. Make a roux with flower and pepper added. Add milk. Once thickened, at 2 cups sharp cheddar 2 cups Italian cheese combo. 2 TBSP Worcester sauce and teaspoon mustard powder. Put in casserole dish. Sprinkle cheddar on top. Sprinkle bread crumbs butter mix on top. Bake. Very high fat and delicious !
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Post by ecvnj58 on Dec 20, 2020 22:25:35 GMT
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Post by AussieMeg on Dec 20, 2020 22:31:04 GMT
I've tried several recipes over the years, mainly from recommendations here, but I have yet to find one that I love. I made the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and found it completely underwhelming. Plus it cost me a fortune to buy the ingredients. I always prefer to cook from scratch, and I make a lot of my own curry pastes and master stock etc, but when it comes to Mac & cheese, I love the good old Kraft blue box (the one with the cheese sauce in a tin, not the powder). If I could replicate that cheese sauce I would be happy.
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Post by Restless Spirit on Dec 20, 2020 22:43:02 GMT
I love Mac and cheese! The heathens that live with me can't bear it at all. I occasionally buy a little carton from a local BBQ place. It has paprika in it. It's amazing. I live with one of those heathens, too. I’m surprised we’re still married. I currently have in my freezer 1 Trader Joe’s single serve entree, 1 Stauffers single serve mini cup and in the frig 1 Bob Evans single serve cup. There is no such thing as bad Mac & Cheese. I ❤️ that stuff.
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Post by Skellinton on Dec 20, 2020 23:02:57 GMT
The instant recipe is super easy and I think delicious. I don’t have it written down, but I got the recipe from here, Cook the macaroni in the IP (just poor how much Mac you need to cook in pot and just cover with water and cook for 4 min). Quick release and drain. Put back in pot and add cup of cream and grated cheeses, pinches of paprika and nutmeg and stir until melted. We then top ours with crushed garlic bagel chips.
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Post by cakediva on Dec 20, 2020 23:05:09 GMT
I'm no help! I read the title and thought "Pioneer Woman of course"
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Post by Minnesota*Mom on Dec 21, 2020 15:09:37 GMT
I just want to thank everyone for the recipes and stories. I appreciate all the comments and cannot wait to try some new tips and tricks for making mac for the kids over break.
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Post by *Shannon on Dec 21, 2020 16:03:00 GMT
I make Alton Brown’s baked Mac and Cheese... so very good. My son loves it and can tell instantly if I’ve strayed from the recipe at all.
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,039
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Dec 21, 2020 16:28:39 GMT
How does somebody not like macaroni and cheese? My older DS doesn't eat ANYTHING that has a cheese sauce. Not mac and cheese, no gratins of any sort. He just doesn't like the texture. We don’t eat Mac and cheese. Dh doesn’t like it (which is interesting because he loves pasta and cheese) and I don’t like it but that makes sense since it don’t really care for pasta or cheese.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,899
Jun 26, 2014 22:49:09 GMT
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Post by tracylynn on Dec 21, 2020 17:16:25 GMT
I love Mac & Cheese. It's probably my favorite food.
I can live with good old Kraft. For pre-made, I prefer Safeways brand of mac/cheese in the purple box - it's White Cheddar.
Beechers also has a frozen mac/cheese that's call Worlds Best Mac & Cheese - and man, for pre-made, it IS. Costco carries it and I'll get it every once in awhile as a treat.
If I'm going to make it from scratch, I just do it simple. Cook the pasta in the instant pot, when it's done flip it to saute, leave whatever water remains (it isn't much at all), add some milk and butter, then I'll add a few slices of velveeta cheese (think in plastic, like kraft singles) because that helps it be creamier and then a bunch of shredded white cheddar.
I've always thought about adding in some mustard or hot sauce and never have. Once of these days I might try that.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,801
Member is Online
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Dec 21, 2020 17:25:26 GMT
NO mustard.
any cheese mixed into the roux of milk/butter/flour.
Baked in the oven with panko on top.
Mix ins.... diced ham, hot dog rounds, peas, bacon- take your pick.
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Post by sam9 on Dec 21, 2020 17:49:42 GMT
Canadian Kraft Dinner for lunch is the best. We never eat mac and cheese as a side dish. I’ve tried several recipes, including The Pioneer Woman’s, and found every one to be too rich and gluey. And bread crumbs or panko on top of pasta is a just a big no for me.
P.S. American Kraft Dinner is not the same. We don’t like it.
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Post by auntkelly on Dec 21, 2020 18:49:18 GMT
This is our go to recipe and it never fails. I think the secret is the Gruyere cheese. It's expensive, but oh so good!
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Post by karenk on Dec 21, 2020 22:09:43 GMT
I must be the only one. No sauce. Boiled macaroni. shredded or diced cheese.Salt and pepper.1 egg, beaten or mixed in. Cover with milk. Bake at 350 til done. Very simple. We always put tomato soup on it. This is the way my mother always made it.
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Post by disneypal on Dec 22, 2020 0:02:41 GMT
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Post by gemini_jen on Dec 22, 2020 1:52:27 GMT
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