Basic Mac & Cheese
Basic Mac & Cheese
This is the basic recipe, add to it what ever you like, change the cheeses, etc. This is a building block, change it to make it fit your tastes. I have made this many times. I do not use boxed mac & cheese, something about powdered, glow in the dark cheese that is not right.
Ingredients
- 500 grams uncooked pasta, of your choice
- 4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup butter, this is 1/2 a standard block of butter
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder, optional
- 3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook it just until just tender, about 11 minutes. Drain the pasta then set it aside.
- In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, warm the milk until it is simmering then set it aside.
- In a large heavy-bottomed stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, whisk in the flour and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it turns light brown in color and has a slightly toasted aroma, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the dry mustard (optional).
- Remove the pot from the heat then slowly whisk the warm milk into the flour mixture. Continue whisking constantly to avoid any lumps. (The mixture will become very thick and then thin out gradually until it is smooth.)
- Return the pot to the stove over medium-high heat and cook the mixture while whisking constantly until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste and reduce the heat to medium. Whisk in the Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses until they are melted and the cheese sauce is smooth.
- Add the pasta, stirring to combine, then add what ever else you would like to add and mix in, cook just until the pasta is warmed throughout.
- Serve with a salad for a nice meal.
Notes
Cheese is the biggest factor here, 1 cup of shredded cheese is about 100 grams, you would need 1 1/2 blocks of good Cheddar for 3 cups, about 180 Baht per block, cost would be about 240 Baht for Cheddar. For Parmesan, 1 cup is about 150 grams, that is about 150 Baht. Not a cheap meal. This comes out to about $1.90 per serving for 6 people. Reduce the price per serving by adding a vegetable side dish.
Variants: 1. Add leftover diced ham, leftover diced chicken, and a little on the pricy side, lobster, cooked prawns, cooked sausage, imitation crab, can or two of tuna. 2. Add cooked vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower to name a few.
Been making this for several years now.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I made this for the family on 18 Jan 2018 and spruced it up a little to make it a main dish instead of a side. I pan fried some of my homemade Cumberland sausage, about 300 grams, casings removed and crumbled, and added about 100 grams of imitation crab chopped. For the cheese, I went with 1 cup of Cheddar, 2 cups of 5 cheese blend, and 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan. Excellent taste and very well received by the family!