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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Let's talk mac and cheese
Tell me about your favorite way to make mac and cheese. What kind of cheese(s) do you use? Do you do stop top or baked? Do you use egg?
My mom made the BEST mac and cheese. I wish I had paid more attention.
Re: Let's talk mac and cheese
I prefer baked. I usually do cheddar, no egg, dijon mustard and nutmeg to the cheese sauce, buttered bread crumbs on top for a traditional mac and cheese.
My favorite is one we used to make at the Photographic Workshops, Not yo' mama's mac and cheese. It has mozzarella for the base of the cheese sauce so it was mild/creamy, but then had blue cheese crumbles, artichoke hearts, and diced tomatoes, with a panko topping. I could probably eat the whole pan myself in two days.
Funny, I'm trying a new M&C recipe tonight. I have yet to find the "perfect" recipe. (Well, except the Blue Box, which doesn't count, of course!)
I prefer stovetop, though DH prefers it baked with breadcrumbs. But I just can't get a super creamy result. Tonight's experiment will be a roux based, no egg, one can of evaporated milk, some cream, cheddar, mustard powder, and a bunch of "cheese butts" for $4/lb at the store. I've got some sort of mix of swiss, mozz, cheddar, and a hickory smoked something.
If DH wants his with a crusty top, he can put it in the oven, but I want it soft and silky straight through. I'm making it with rotini too for a change.
I'll report back!
Kraft three cheese shells, in the blue box next to the regular Kraft in the blue box.
Daniele has a good mac'n'cheese recipe that has a bit of red pepper in it; she brought it to the GTG last December at Jess' house and I got the recipe from her. I made it once and it was very tasty. I'm just too busy and/or lazy to make the good stuff all the time.
Ok, reporting back. The basis of what I followed was http://allrecipes.com/recipe/Creamy-Macaroni-and-Cheese/Detail.aspx?prop31=4. I only did one can of evaporated milk and subbed heavy cream for the rest of the liquid. I didn't do parmesan and used more cheese rejects from the deli counter than cheddar. The smoked hickory cheese was delicious, though I'd use less next time. It was awesome with the rotini. I also just put in a decent helping of mustard powder, no actual mustard.
The results were quite good! I didn't bake it- just straight from the stovetop. This was ok for DH since it had the smoky cheese, so it reminded him of bacon. It had lots of creamy sauce, thick but not so thick that it was pasty. We'll see if it gets separated tomorrow or not. And I'd like to try baking it to see if it gets too dry.
Overall though, it was a solid 8 out of 10, maybe even closer to 9.
Thanks, Kimberley!
The version I make involves heating up the cream/milk (I use half-n-half and 2% milk instead of cream and whole milk) with a variety of cheddars (I use sharp and extra sharp, but you could use a monterey jack or a colby jack with similar results, I bet) and some seasonings (dijon mustard, red pepper, etc.) on the stove top. Then, while it's cooling a little, the pasta gets cooked and you heat the rest of the shredded cheese with panko crumbs. Then the roux gets added to the pasta (helps to retain some of the liquid from the pasta-- aids in the cheese sticking to the noodles, I believe) and the crumb/cheese mixture sprinkled on top and the whole shebang gets baked.
So I guess that's a really long, complicated way of saying it's a stove top AND bake method...
Yum! These all sound great! My mission for the fall/winter is to find the "perfect" version of some classics, so this falls right in! I have been wanting to try this one: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/
This post is making me 1) hungry and 2) want to attempt something other than mac-n-cheese from a bright blue box!!
This is my mom's. I love it. It's simple and creamy, without being watery. I'm not a fan off using egg or adding things like ham, etc. in it.
http://thewaytohisheart.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/baked-macoroni-cheese/