maggie~hamilton
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- Jul 8, 2006
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One of my specialities ... "Southern Style" baked Macaroni and Cheese.
Heavenly? Yes!
Good for dieters? NO!!
Heavenly? Yes!
Good for dieters? NO!!
From the Kitchen at Casa Electrolux
- Thread starter maggie~hamilton
- Start date
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Picture perfect
Fabulous job. Wish I were there...
Fabulous job. Wish I were there...
Brent-Aucoin
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- Sep 4, 2004
- Messages
- 887
Charles,
That looks so darn good!
Cheese is my weakness, pasta is the other! Not to mention any others as of now.....
Can you post your recipe? Or email?
Yummy!
Brent
That looks so darn good!
Cheese is my weakness, pasta is the other! Not to mention any others as of now.....
Can you post your recipe? Or email?
Yummy!
Brent
One of my favorites and it looks to be topped with cayenne or similar, even better
Oh yeah!! Recipe please!!!
I hope you post the recipe. I am looking for a great macaroni and cheese recipe. Did you use any Velveeta?
maggie~hamilton
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2006
- Messages
- 711
By request--
MACARONI AND CHEESE - SOUTHERN STYLE
(So, you may ask, why do I call this "Southern Style?" Because the recipe came from my Mama, who is Southern -- Virginia, to be precise about it. And Southern Virginia, at that. And many Southern Belles make it the same way. I've had many a dish of it at church potlucks and luncheons back-home. It may actually have originated from Maine for all I know.)
Okay y'all, here goes.
Two l6-oz packages large-shell macaroni. Don't get fancy and use pasta shells or curley-cues or any of that foo-foo stuff. Macaroni and cheese is made of MACARONI. Period. If you use anything else, no one will want to eat it and you will be the disgrace of the Women's Prayer Circle at church.
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half or table cream
(Well, you CAN use all lowfat or nonfat milk, but what's the point? If you're gonna make it, MAKE it for Lord's sake.)
3 tbsp cornstarch
6 tbsp butter (or, if you must, margarine), cut into small cubes and softened to room temperature
one 16-oz. brick extra sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
one 8-oz. brick Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (or 1/2 of a 16-oz brick - you know what I mean?)
1/2 to 1 cup freshly shaved Parmesan cheese
(don't even bother using the dried stuff in the green can)
Cayenne pepper & Paprika for garnish
=======
Okay, first boil the macaroni according to package directions. Do not overcook it -- it should be just a little more done than al-dente but not, you know, limp and flaccid. Nobody wants that. It will just make a gooey mess that won't be fit for dogs to eat.
Drain into a larger colander, rinse briefly with cold water, lightly toss with a large spoon, and set aside.
Now, you want to make a basic white sauce. (Mercy! How fancy!) Here's how:
In a medium sauce pan, combine the milk, cream and cornstarch. Mix well with a small whisk on medium heat.
When the mixture starts to heat up (just a couple of minutes), begin stirring and continue stirring constantly. When it is hot (but not boiling), drop in the cubes of butter and continue whisking. As the butter melts, whisk it in real good.
Keep cooking until it comes to a VERY slow bubbly-boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, still stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to about the consistency of Patsy Sue's turkey gravy (i.e., too thick if you ask me). Don't cook too long; you don't want it TOO thick or it won't pour well over the macaroni.
Reduce heat to low. Throw in the shredded cheddar and jack cheese. DO NOT STIR. What you want to do is just push the cheese down into the white sauce with a big fork so it will melt without bothering it.
Remove from burner, cover sauce pan, let it sit a spell-- two or three minutes oughtta do it. Just until the cheese has all melted. Don't wait too long, though. DO NOT get on the phone with Myrtle Mae! (All she does is yak-yak-yak anyway.)
GENTLY stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. DO NOT over mix - just enough to thoroughly blend the cheese into the white sauce. If you mix too much, the cheese will get tough and rubbery. My lands, you don't want that mess! It won't even be fit for dogs to eat.
Pour the macaroni into a large baking pan -- I use one of those disposable aluminum pans that's about 12" long by 10" wide and 3" deep. Pile the macaroni in loosely -- don't mash it down. If you have too much macaroni (and you probably will), save the rest for something else.
Dump the cheese mixture over the macaroni, pouring it evenly across the entire surface. With a large spoon, GENTLY mix the macaroni and cheese, just enough to blend it all together. DO NOT mix too much though.
Cover the entire surface with fresh-shaved Parmesan. Depending on how much you like Parmesan, use at least a half cup and as much as a whole cup.
Dust the top with Paprika and Cayenne pepper. Cover with foil. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes, until you hear a gentle bubbling underneath the foil.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10-12 minutes until the top is lightly browned and crispy. The top should be brown but not black. Otherwise, it won't even be fit for dogs to eat, and Daddy will have a conniption about it.
Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve. Stand back and listen to all those lips a-smackin' away!
Makes enough for 8-10 good eaters (Southern boys who know how to eat good), or 12-14 picky eaters (finicky City girls who are usually just too doggoned skinny).
Whip up some barbecued meat, collard greens, black eyed peas, corn bread and sweet potato pie and have a good-old-fashioned down-home supper! Or do what I do, and make a meal just from a big serving of the macaroni and cheese. Yes, if you do it right, it WILL be that good!
MACARONI AND CHEESE - SOUTHERN STYLE
(So, you may ask, why do I call this "Southern Style?" Because the recipe came from my Mama, who is Southern -- Virginia, to be precise about it. And Southern Virginia, at that. And many Southern Belles make it the same way. I've had many a dish of it at church potlucks and luncheons back-home. It may actually have originated from Maine for all I know.)
Okay y'all, here goes.
Two l6-oz packages large-shell macaroni. Don't get fancy and use pasta shells or curley-cues or any of that foo-foo stuff. Macaroni and cheese is made of MACARONI. Period. If you use anything else, no one will want to eat it and you will be the disgrace of the Women's Prayer Circle at church.
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half or table cream
(Well, you CAN use all lowfat or nonfat milk, but what's the point? If you're gonna make it, MAKE it for Lord's sake.)
3 tbsp cornstarch
6 tbsp butter (or, if you must, margarine), cut into small cubes and softened to room temperature
one 16-oz. brick extra sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
one 8-oz. brick Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (or 1/2 of a 16-oz brick - you know what I mean?)
1/2 to 1 cup freshly shaved Parmesan cheese
(don't even bother using the dried stuff in the green can)
Cayenne pepper & Paprika for garnish
=======
Okay, first boil the macaroni according to package directions. Do not overcook it -- it should be just a little more done than al-dente but not, you know, limp and flaccid. Nobody wants that. It will just make a gooey mess that won't be fit for dogs to eat.
Drain into a larger colander, rinse briefly with cold water, lightly toss with a large spoon, and set aside.
Now, you want to make a basic white sauce. (Mercy! How fancy!) Here's how:
In a medium sauce pan, combine the milk, cream and cornstarch. Mix well with a small whisk on medium heat.
When the mixture starts to heat up (just a couple of minutes), begin stirring and continue stirring constantly. When it is hot (but not boiling), drop in the cubes of butter and continue whisking. As the butter melts, whisk it in real good.
Keep cooking until it comes to a VERY slow bubbly-boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, still stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to about the consistency of Patsy Sue's turkey gravy (i.e., too thick if you ask me). Don't cook too long; you don't want it TOO thick or it won't pour well over the macaroni.
Reduce heat to low. Throw in the shredded cheddar and jack cheese. DO NOT STIR. What you want to do is just push the cheese down into the white sauce with a big fork so it will melt without bothering it.
Remove from burner, cover sauce pan, let it sit a spell-- two or three minutes oughtta do it. Just until the cheese has all melted. Don't wait too long, though. DO NOT get on the phone with Myrtle Mae! (All she does is yak-yak-yak anyway.)
GENTLY stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. DO NOT over mix - just enough to thoroughly blend the cheese into the white sauce. If you mix too much, the cheese will get tough and rubbery. My lands, you don't want that mess! It won't even be fit for dogs to eat.
Pour the macaroni into a large baking pan -- I use one of those disposable aluminum pans that's about 12" long by 10" wide and 3" deep. Pile the macaroni in loosely -- don't mash it down. If you have too much macaroni (and you probably will), save the rest for something else.
Dump the cheese mixture over the macaroni, pouring it evenly across the entire surface. With a large spoon, GENTLY mix the macaroni and cheese, just enough to blend it all together. DO NOT mix too much though.
Cover the entire surface with fresh-shaved Parmesan. Depending on how much you like Parmesan, use at least a half cup and as much as a whole cup.
Dust the top with Paprika and Cayenne pepper. Cover with foil. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes, until you hear a gentle bubbling underneath the foil.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10-12 minutes until the top is lightly browned and crispy. The top should be brown but not black. Otherwise, it won't even be fit for dogs to eat, and Daddy will have a conniption about it.
Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve. Stand back and listen to all those lips a-smackin' away!
Makes enough for 8-10 good eaters (Southern boys who know how to eat good), or 12-14 picky eaters (finicky City girls who are usually just too doggoned skinny).
Whip up some barbecued meat, collard greens, black eyed peas, corn bread and sweet potato pie and have a good-old-fashioned down-home supper! Or do what I do, and make a meal just from a big serving of the macaroni and cheese. Yes, if you do it right, it WILL be that good!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Charlie...
...I'm glad to see that someone else knows the two main secrets of making good macaroni and cheese:
1) Use more than one kind of cheese- for some reason, you get a much cheese-ier flavour this way.
2) Be sure and use much much too much cheese- most recipes will call for one- or at most two- cups of grated cheese. Can you spell "insipid"? Take your statins and use some damn cheese for Lord's sake.
By the way, that pic was monitor-lickin' good! Thanks for sharing your recipe. P.S.: We have a variation in Georgia that calls for crumbled Ritz crackers and Parmesan for a top crust. Oo-EE!
...I'm glad to see that someone else knows the two main secrets of making good macaroni and cheese:
1) Use more than one kind of cheese- for some reason, you get a much cheese-ier flavour this way.
2) Be sure and use much much too much cheese- most recipes will call for one- or at most two- cups of grated cheese. Can you spell "insipid"? Take your statins and use some damn cheese for Lord's sake.
By the way, that pic was monitor-lickin' good! Thanks for sharing your recipe. P.S.: We have a variation in Georgia that calls for crumbled Ritz crackers and Parmesan for a top crust. Oo-EE!
I know what I'M making to go along with my meat loaf for supper, tonight...
maggie~hamilton
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2006
- Messages
- 711
Yes, using a variety of cheeses does give more cheese flavor - and using extra-sharp cheddar as the base. You could really throw in just about any cheese - swiss, provolone, etc.
And again, you're right about recipes that call for "one cup" of cheese. Silly!
There's a "soul food" version of mac and cheese that calls for milk and beaten eggs instead of the white sauce. I have never much cared for that version as it's just too heavy.
And again, you're right about recipes that call for "one cup" of cheese. Silly!
There's a "soul food" version of mac and cheese that calls for milk and beaten eggs instead of the white sauce. I have never much cared for that version as it's just too heavy.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Faking It...
No, not that!
If you're ever pressed for time, and have to turn out mac n cheese in a hurry, there's a way to fake it-
Take two boxes of Kraft mac n cheese, and prepare according to directions until you get to the point where you're supposed to stir in the milk. Add about two or three times the amount of milk called for, then stir in about two cups of grated extra-sharp cheddar. Turn this into a baking dish sprayed with Pam, then top with about 1/4 cup of Ritz crumbs mixed with about 1/4 cup Parmesan and a little cayenne. Dot with butter and bake at 350 for about half an hour or so.
It really does turn out surprisingly well, though I'd be the very last to claim it could equal your version, Charlie.
No, not that!
If you're ever pressed for time, and have to turn out mac n cheese in a hurry, there's a way to fake it-
Take two boxes of Kraft mac n cheese, and prepare according to directions until you get to the point where you're supposed to stir in the milk. Add about two or three times the amount of milk called for, then stir in about two cups of grated extra-sharp cheddar. Turn this into a baking dish sprayed with Pam, then top with about 1/4 cup of Ritz crumbs mixed with about 1/4 cup Parmesan and a little cayenne. Dot with butter and bake at 350 for about half an hour or so.
It really does turn out surprisingly well, though I'd be the very last to claim it could equal your version, Charlie.
