Mac and Cheese

There are few comfort foods that are as ubiquitous as Macaroni and Cheese. It comes in brand name, in off brand, it comes in a variety of cheese flavors and with things other than macaroni. It comes in stovetop and microwave versions.

Oh, yeah. It also comes in From Scratch. Ingredients!

That's White Truffle oil. It's optional, but delicious. Throw the macaroni in a pot of boiling, salted, water. When the macaroni is al dente, drain it and put it aside. And get started on the sauce.

We're going to want to start with a roux. It's a sauce base and thickener made from flour and butter [Brian: Well, any kind of fat will do, but butter is traditional]. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan. When it's melted, add 6 tablespoons of flour and mix well. It will look something like this.

Now's a good time to start customizing. Throw in onions, sun dried tomatoes, spices, whatever you like. Then add 3 cups of milk, and mix for about 5 minutes. While this is going on, shred your cheese, about a pound of it.

This is a ton of cheese. Add about 3/4 of the cheese to the sauce, stirring until the cheese is all incorporated. Beat an egg in a small dish, and add a few tablespoons of sauce to it. This is to slowly raise the temperature of the egg. Otherwise, if you were to dump the egg into the sauce, you would have a white sauce with scrambled egg. Add salt and pepper and you're done with the sauce.

For the record, you can use pretty much any cheese you want. I used sharp cheddar. You can use extra sharp cheddar, or even something like taco cheese mix (I have it on good authority from my mother that this works).

Add the macaroni to the sauce, and place it in a large casserole dish. Top it with the remaining cheese, a few drops of truffle oil, and bread crumbs, if you like, and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Let it cool for a few minutes before you plate.

This goes great with hot sauce, or even a little sausage mixed in.

Ingredients:

16 oz of elbow macaroni

6 Tbsp butter

6 Tbsp Flour

1 lb cheese, grated

3 cups milk

salt

pepper truffle oil

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Salt some water and bring it to a boil, cook the macaroni to al dente.

2. In another sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour.

3. Pour the milk into the sauce, and mix for 5 minutes along with other spices or vegetables.

4. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese, mix until melted.

5. Add the macaroni to the sauce, and pour into a large casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese, a few drops of truffle oil, and breadcrumbs, if you like.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, and let stand for 5 before serving.

Comments

[TMae]

Hi! So, I've been following this endeavor for a few months and have bookmarked a LOT Of it to try later. I got around to making this mac 'n' cheese this weekend, with mixed results. Mine came out really floury/pasty, so I think I must have overcooked the roux? What consistency are you looking for when it's "done"?

[Ben]

It should be thick enough that if you scrape the bottom of your sauce pan with a wooden spoon or spatula, the roux does not immediately fill in that gap. Or, if you coat the back of a spoon with it, and run your finger down the spoon, the roux stays put.

If it tasted of flour my guess was that you used too much flour, or it was undercooked, not overcooked.