# Mac and Cheese help



## DevinT (Nov 27, 2012)

My kids love this stuff, of course. Best I've had was in NO. Please give me some ideas.

Hoss


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## Lucretia (Nov 27, 2012)

Thread on Mac & Cheese here in What's Cooking. The no boil recipe was pretty dandy. Easy and minimal cleanup, too.


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## DevinT (Nov 27, 2012)

Thanks, I missed that one.

Hoss


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## quantumcloud509 (Nov 27, 2012)

Personally I love to make mac and cheese with cave aged gruyere cheese. It turns out AMAZING.


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## spinblue (Nov 28, 2012)

quantumcloud509 said:


> Personally I love to make mac and cheese with cave aged gruyere cheese. It turns out AMAZING.



My wife made some a couple weeks ago. She used a sharp white cheddar and the gruyere too. I ate that up.


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## DevinT (Nov 28, 2012)

Thanks for the help. This is what we call happy food. 

Hoss


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## bear1889 (Nov 28, 2012)

People thinks I am nuts when I say this but some thin slice smoked mettwurst or kielbasa and some green peas mixed in is fantastic.....


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## Paradox (Nov 28, 2012)

If I don't say so myself I make a damn good mac and cheese.  So good it needs to be protected most of the time. Just about everyone I have fed with mine says it's the best they have ever had.







First off, there are no rules. Put in the stuff you and your kids like eat.

My tips:

*Lots of caramelized onions. Cook them low and slow in animal fat for best results. It will be almost like onion jam if done right.

*Bacon is always good. Crisp up some lardons and use the fat for the onions. (Ham or some sort of smoked sausage will work too. Hempler's Andouille is divine.)

*1-1-1 for your base sauce. 1 Tablespoon of butter - 1 tablespoon of flour - 1 cup of half and half. Make it a pale roux low heat 3-4 minutes then add the liquid, make as much as you need to make the batch. 3 works good for a pound of pasta.

*Use good cheese, the kind you like to eat. Good cheese will let you use half a cup of shredded cheese to each 1-1-1 you used for the sauce. Then top with more shredded cheese use the amount that looks right to you before bake.

*Cook the pasta for 75% of the package al-dente cook time.

*Use a shallower baking dish, it makes more surface area and that gives more nice crunchy bits after baking. 375F for about 30 minutes is usually good enough. Sometimes it takes a bit longer or not as long.

Hope that helps a little.


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## apicius9 (Nov 28, 2012)

bear1889 said:


> People thinks I am nuts when I say this but some thin slice smoked mettwurst or kielbasa and some green peas mixed in is fantastic.....



Where are you that you know what mettwurst is and obviously can even buy it?

Stefan


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## ecchef (Nov 29, 2012)

Two words...Shropshire Blue.


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## brainsausage (Nov 29, 2012)

Comte. Best melting cheese on the planet. Nutty, sweet, caramely, little aged cheese tang. Frickin delicious! If you combine that with an ok Raclette style cheese- you'll be golden!(pun intended)


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## brainsausage (Nov 29, 2012)

Paradox said:


> If I don't say so myself I make a damn good mac and cheese.  So good it needs to be protected most of the time. Just about everyone I have fed with mine says it's the best they have ever had.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I still love this pic paradox! Need to score a proper can for my Sig 226 once I finish paying off knife projects and that '73 Pontiac Ventura that the beer told me to buy...


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## JohnnyChance (Nov 29, 2012)

Pureed cauliflower is very creamy and isn't fatty so it won't break that easy. Try substituting cauliflower cream for most of your heavy cream, milk, or whatever you normally use. Just boil the florets in salted water until soft. Drain, blast in a blender until smooth.


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## brainsausage (Nov 29, 2012)

JohnnyChance said:


> Pureed cauliflower is very creamy and isn't fatty so it won't break that easy. Try substituting cauliflower cream for most of your heavy cream, milk, or whatever you normally use. Just boil the florets in salted water until soft. Drain, blast in a blender until smooth.



+1.


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## mr drinky (Nov 29, 2012)

brainsausage said:


> Comte. Best melting cheese on the planet. Nutty, sweet, caramely, little aged cheese tang. Frickin delicious! If you combine that with an ok Raclette style cheese- you'll be golden!(pun intended)



This brought back some nice memories. I was lucky enough several years ago to live in the Jura mountains in Haute-Savoie France, which is the fondue area. Most of the cheeses they use are melting cheeses, and Comte, Tomme, Abondance, and Reblochon are all worth trying if you can get them. Comte and Tomme are the most available in the US, and Comte is cheaper, so I would agree with Brainsausage on the comte rec. But abondance and the different styles of tomme where my favorites. It's hard to find reblochon in the US, but I have seen it in its pasteurized form a couple of times. 

k.


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