What kind of macaroni and cheese do you like? (organic, freezer, butter)

[Ohiogirl81]

The kind with cheese in it. And macaroni.

[antiquesmountainapache]

Honestly, I've never met a mac and cheese that I didn't like.

[brokencrayola]

I actually like Kraft Mac and Cheese, but many years ago someone told me about the way he makes it, and it is good. You cook up a bunch of elbow macaroni. Then you add a cut up green pepper (raw) and cut up bite size chunks of ham to it and enough Velveeta cheese to melt and cover it all. That may sound gross, but it is a good combination.

[SATX56]

The Velveeta is great! I think I'd prefer it to homemade...just wouldn't care for the bechamel diluting the cheese. The old cheap Kraft blue box is well remembered from days (in my youth) at the hunting cabin or fishing trip. Easy to make and not bad all by itself.

[no kudzu]

my kids won't eat that box srtuff since i started making it real way. I sometimes add ham and always a bread topping cause I love a crunchy crusty top. and i use up any different kids of cheese i have on hand. no such thing as bad cheese!

[313 TUxedo]

My own take on the ubiquitous boxed macaroni & cheese "dinner":

Don't cook all of the macaroni. Set about 1/3 to 1/4 of it aside, but use the whole "cheese powder" packet to kick up the flavor (don't waste the macaroni - save it up a few times, cook it and serve it with spaghetti sauce).

Use half & half in place of milk.

Use only half of the recommended amount of margarine - following the recipe leaves an end product that is just too greasy,

Melt in one slice of American cheese for every box.

[tazzled]

I make mine with a bechamel sauce, three cheeses, topped with paprika, and baked for 1/2 hour. Recently, I've been playing around with smoked cheeses. Most recently, I used:

-Smoked gouda
-Smoked cheddar
-Gruyere

And to break up some of the smokiness, I added just a dash of Siracha and a couple teaspoons of cayenne.

[Yeledaf]

Originally Posted by tazzled

I make mine with a bechamel sauce, three cheeses, topped with paprika, and baked for 1/2 hour. Recently, I've been playing around with smoked cheeses. Most recently, I used:

-Smoked gouda
-Smoked cheddar
-Gruyere

And to break up some of the smokiness, I added just a dash of Siracha and a couple teaspoons of cayenne.

Whoa. Bechamel, gruyere, Siracha, and cayenne. Sounds like a Simon and Garfunkel song translated into Bulgarian.

[AnonChick]

I use a simple roux and white sauce instead of a full-on bechamel (no onions or traditional bechamel seasonings such as clove or nutmeg - just flour and butter, then I add whole millk, and then blend the cheese into the sauce til it's all melted).

I usually use a combination of Cabot's Racer's Edge sharp white, and Cabot's Monterey Jack, both shredded.

I do the sauce in a pot, the macaroni in a pot, and then I spread the mac out on a glass baking dish, pour the sauce over it, mix it all up, then sprinkle whatever italian-seasoned breadcrumbs I have in the cupboard (around a palmful) over all that. Bake til the breadcrumbs start turning a toasty brown and the cheese sauce is sticking in thick bubbles to the insides of the glass dish.

I use rotellini/cavitelli instead of elbows.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

I actually like Kraft Mac and Cheese, but many years ago someone told me about the way he makes it, and it is good. You cook up a bunch of elbow macaroni. Then you add a cut up green pepper (raw) and cut up bite size chunks of ham to it and enough Velveeta cheese to melt and cover it all. That may sound gross, but it is a good combination.

One of the recipes in my copy of Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls shows how to make mac & cheese dotted with sliced hot dogs. Yum.

When we were in college, we'd make a box of mac & cheese (on sale, 6/$1!) and dump a can of tuna into the mess. That would feed all 6 of us.

Those were the days ... LOL. When I get nostalgic for college living, I'll make whip up a batch of tuna mac & cheese; fortunately, those nostalgia pangs come along only once every five years or so.