How do I make the best macaroni and cheese possible? Can't explain why I'm asking, but I need to make it great...

I wouldn't be caught dead doing *anything* Reagan would've approved of

please return to the site you migrated from.

If this is going to devolve into political shitstorm I will just delete the post. C'mon guys, it's mac & cheese for fuck's sake.

I've been called weird for this before but I always put just the tiniest splash of diet coca cola in my mac n cheese. Like I said, only a TINY splash for a pan full of mac and cheese really adds a hard-to-define twang to the cheese flavor

Water, to boil macaroni
Salt, to season water
Macaroni, dry, 500g/1lb
Cheese, 1kg/2lbs
>any not-too-stringy, melting cheese is fine
>cheddar, gouda, gruyère etc or a mix of these
Bechamel sauce, 1 litre/quart
>ask for instructions if you don't know how to make bechamel sauce

Put water and salt into a pot and bring to the boil.
Add macaroni and cook to just under desired doneness; meanwhile, run the cheese through the shredder.
Set a quarter of the cheese aside.
Drain the pasta well and pour into a baking dish.
Add the cheese, save that quarter set aside earlier, and mix.
Top off with bechamel sauce.
Top off with remaining quarter of cheese.
Bake at 180°C/350°F until bubbly and heated through.
Allow to sit a bit before serving.
Serve.

Variations:
Try adding shredded ham and/or caramelised onions in with the cheese when mixing it with the pasta.
Try topping with buttercrumb and/or crisp-fried onions mixed with the cheese topping or directly on top of it.
Try using smoked cheeses for a twist.

You do this with Kraft, right?

No, I make homemade mac n cheese once every week or so. Kinda looks like the pic in OPs post

Slice half pound of bacon render it down until crispy

remove bacon and add one diced onion, sweat until translucent.

Add 2 cloves garlic let it cook for about half minute then add 3 tablespoons of butter melt

Now add 3 tablespoons or so of flour. Mix that shit up good until it light brick colored

Slowly whisk in a cup and a half of whole milk, pour a little in whisk like crazy until no lumps then repeat with a little more until it is all in there

Add a handful of Sharp cheddar. Then another then another until it is as cheesy as you like if it gets too thick add more milk

Add a teaspoon of all bay

I use rigatoni instead of elbow macaroni but whatever boil that shit while you are making the cheese sauce with salt in the water

Get a bowl add the pasta, then add the cheese until you like the cheese pasta ratio.

Then add the bacon you cooked earlier mix it up too.

Now add a handful of stilton or blue cheese. Mix lightly

Pour into a greased glass dish

Throw a stick of butter in a bowl melt it in the microwave. Add a couple handfuls of panko break crumbs then scatter over the top

Bake at 350 until the top of break crumbs are golden brown

About 20 min

Let cool for at least ten minutes then serve

Jalapeno is also a nice addition. Make sure and add the blue cheese crumbles last so it is in little pockets here and there not homogenized into the rest of the cheese sauce

I don't use measurements when I cook just go with what it should look/taste like

Ohh ment a teaspoon of old bay seasoning. Sorry I'm about 10 beers in right now.

If you want to get really fancy Google truffle oil Mac and cheese and blow you money on that

The one I posted is what a make for my kids once in awhile, cause of the fat content

Thanks for the help Veeky Forums, I'll be sure to keep all of this in mind

You have to go back

just tellem scorpy sent ya

Make sure the pasta isn't too squishy or overcooked. The main cheeses I use are swiss, cheddar, cream cheese, and mozzarella, but usually just use whatever cheeses I can find in my house. Always start with a bechamel sauce, add two teaspoons of smoked paprika and a can of a pale beer before you add the cheeses. After the sauce is made, let it simmer for half an hour and stir it. Incorporate the noodles with the sauce in a deep baking dish, top off the noodles with more cheese, and broil for 5 minutes. Add sauteed panko bread crumbs if you want to get fancy.

I made a white cheddar mac and cheese and had a bit of lump crabmeat leftover that I threw in.

It was delcious. I added some Creole seasoning too.

youtube.com/watch?v=coYqrXsDPdU

This is the best mac and cheese recipe I've found, you can add other stuff to build off of it

can confirm this comes out pretty good, although a few of the ingredients might be a little much. (I don't think the mustard really adds all that much)

>I'm done with salt to taste, put in a tablespoon, don't question it
gets me every time

What are the best noodles to use?
Or is the only true way to make your own?

Just make it the usual way (macaroni + cheddar mornay) but use the best ingredients you can get - fresh pasta, imported cheddar, the works.

Macaroni and cheese?
Looks like 'cago 'roni 'nd 'eese to me.

I don't think that there's any brand of pasta that's better than the other. As long as you don't initially overcook it, it should be fine. It's the sauce that really matters anyways.

is it true that I can homogenise cheese and milk with citric acid?

Not quite. You're thinking sodium citrate, which is a salt of citric acid but not citric acid itself in much the same way table salt, sodium chloride, is a salt of chlorine but not chlorine itself.
But yes. sodium citrate is used both as an emulsifier as well as to allow cheese to melt without exuding its grease everywhere.

Yeah I'm pretty similar except I do a white sauce and throw grated cheese in it.

so macncheese without cheese?

this what i do too

oh shit whaddup

>Can't explain why I'm asking,

Thats ok, you arnt in a place where you have to justify that.

Reagan was a terrible president and a puppet for racketeering like both Georgies

Make a delicious creamy cheese sauce, pour over macaroni.

Except that it's generally seen as he was a great president by dems and repubs. The people who hate him are angry liberals who honestly don't know why thy hate him so much or when pressed give very emotional halfbaked reasons that are supported by often said but seldom verified talking points.

>sits back with popcorn.

>And it's not a date it's more important than that
OP's going to propose over a dinner of Mac-n-cheese.

Try different cheeses, and make sure you add nutmeg. Nutmeg really compliments cheesy dishes like m&c and alfredo.

>Implying there's a better meal to propose >over.

bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/glam_mac_and_cheese_92848

Fight me

>

Put some sriracha in it.Any hot sauce could work t bh but sriracha is just sweeter

Cook box of mac, use salt in water. In another pot add 1 cup milk, half stick butter, 1 cup parmesan cheese, 2 cups sharp cheddar, and 1 of pic related. Melt. Drain mac, pour into baking dish or disposable baking pan. Pour in cheese and mix. Cook 1.5lbs bacon till almost done, use food processor to turn into bits. spread over top of mac. Put into smoker for 1-1.5 hours use a mix of 80-20 hickory to apple wood.

Just noticed that said 6lbs. Obviously don't use that much. Ones I buy at the store are 6 oz.

Melt 2 cups velveeta 1-4 cup milk or to liking. Salt pepper to taste.

Use shells. Extra cheese if want.

>Starts war for private interests, primarily profit
You don't really need to write a novel to get the concept. War started for so a select few people get a shitton of money.

holy shit I thought I was the only one. Just a splash in the pot! People love my MnC but I usually don't tell

I'm partial to Alton Brown's stove top mac and cheese though I fudge on the measurements because what he calls for never matches the containers (e.g. condensed milk) and I always add more cheese and use the whole box of elbows.

food.com/recipe/stove-top-mac-n-cheese-by-alton-brown-313325

Add sauteed mushrooms and onions

Cook noodles (I like medium shells), make bechamel sauce, add cheese, bake.

This, but put some buttered panko on top before you bake it.

Please god no, take it away. Take it away! *curls up in fetal position haunted by dinners of childhood*

he thinks thomas jefferson invented mac and cheese

recipe sounds okayish, don't like cheddar in cheesesauce

Good cheese in the mornay, quite literally all there is to it

seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/10/the-food-labs-ultra-gooey-stovetop-mac-cheese.html

But personally, being european, I would focus on just making a great alfredo sauce..

Oops, I forgot the most important part kek

Bechamel. Cheese (preferably sharp cheddar and parmesan). Pasta in with a bit of starchy water. Eat.

You can bake it if you want. Add buttered breadcrumbs and cheese. The end.

Everyone that does more than this is retarded. It's M&C and it's simple.

>americans thinks macaroni with cheese constitutes cuisine

>used rigatoni noodles once, doubled up on cheese powder and threw out boxed noodles

wasteful but flavortown ensued

That's because it is.

cui·sine
kwəˈzēn/
noun
a style or method of cooking, especially as characteristic of a particular country, region, or establishment.
"much Venetian cuisine is based on seafood"
synonyms: cooking, cookery, food, dishes
"authentic Vietnamese cuisine"
food cooked in a certain way.
plural noun: cuisines
"we spent the evening sampling the local cuisine"

brown the butter. it adds a fantastic flavor. I also like to add sour cream at the end when I take the pot off the heat. the amount you add is personal preference

yeah, that's a pretty good recipe and it's quite foolproof.

I made that one once and I'll never do it again. it felt like I was taking a bite out of a stack of kraft singles. I can't remember the changes that I thought would help, but I imagine at the very least it'd include reducing the american cheese by half or more. it was super creamy though, but it was difficult to eat.

So I checked this out and I think I'll try to make this but do you really need hot sauce?

>bound together in holy Macaroni

just a dash or two of hot sauce
don' make it crying hot
just a dash, like you're shaking black pepper into it

Took me a second kek. You lame faggot.
I didn't think it would make it hot which is why I was curious.
Interesting, now to choose the sauce. Frank's red hot maybe?

buy a box of frozen Stouffer's mac and cheese, bake, throw it on the floor and get down on your hands and knees a snuffle it off the floor like the fucking pig you are, you disgusting cunt.

...

that much cayenne
no idea what sort he is using but that mnc is going to burn your face away

Do the Chef John recipe with Worcester Sauce & dried Thyme, works in so many ways.

my dad used to make shells and cheese and peas and liked to tell us it was best when each slippery shell got a single pea in it, he called it a little man in a boat

He's exactly implying that it isn't cooking or fit to eat, autismoman

I see what he did there.

you don't need hot sauce. just try it if you have some on hand and are so inclined.

>How do I make the best macaroni and cheese possible?
make a roux, add milk, cheese, and noodles

FUCKING DONE

Like this

>make a roux, add milk, cheese, and noodles
And ground mustard. Possibly sauteed/caramelized/green onion. Maybe a few drops of hot sauce.

No.

There is literally no need.

>boil noodles until tender, about 15-20 minutes
>add loaf of velveeta
>cook until melty

You don't "need" to eat anything that tastes good.

I believe in making the basics as perfect as possible. Adding hot sauce to mac n cheese can be nice from time to time, but should never be an essential ingredient.

best mac and cheese i ever made was an easy mac cup
try that

True, but that's why I said possibly onion and maybe hot sauce.

I think the ground mustard is essential though, that's one thing I always add.

But why? Do you use subpar cheese? Mustard sounds very much like "muh sekret ingredient" to me.

mustard adds an element to the flavour of the dish that cheese doesn't contribute, it's also an effective emulsifier.

>Mustard sounds very much like "muh sekret ingredient" to me.

if you're ridiculously sheltered i guess, it's very commonly added to cheese and other rich sauces.

No, I use good cheese. It just compliments the flavor of the cheese, cheese and mustard is a common pairing. It's not enough to blatantly taste mustard, but when I've run out of ground mustard a few people have noticed it's not as good and can't figure out why.

I like to make breadcrumbs out of a crushed old ciabata or other crusty rustic bread. I mix in some flaked parmesan and a pinch or two of rosmary with a fair bit if butter and some pepper. It's fucking buff ting.

>can't figure out why
literally sekret ingredient

But usually I use a medium cheddar, parmesan, double Gloucester, and have a layer of mozzarella, usually comes out like this

hot sauce should be added when served if you want it.

Yeah not really, it's just people who don't cook often aren't able to pick out flavors in a dish.

You're quite the memester.

>hot sauce should be added when served if you want it.

why

why do so many people say 'should' in the context of cooking. that's only something it makes sense to use in the context of producing a specific desired result.

Either people notice a missing essential ingredient or they don't, and it's not essential.

>Either people notice a missing essential ingredient or they don't

obviously a dumb simplification

>forgetting the last, very important part of my quote

important in what sense? i was taking it as a conclusion from the premise of the first part. sometimes people don't notice a missing essential ingredient.

Whatever recipe it is it doesn't matter, to make your macaroni divine you must sprinkle goldfish on top once the cooking process is complete. Thank me later ;)