Nightmares and Dreamscapes discussion
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Mac and Cheese
Mod
I'm pretty sure we have a pimento cheese mac and cheese recipe. I'll have to dig it up.
What we have found, in general though is that cavatappi is the best noodle for making a mac and cheese. Short little spirals that are a bit longer than normal elbows and really grabs onto the cheesy goodness. And if you can get bronze cut cacatappi... that's even better.
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Yass to bronze cut pasta, grabs the sauce to well, and I do love that shape, thanks for sharing!!
Mod
Yass to bronze cut pasta, grabs the sauce to well, and I do love that shape, thanks for sharing!!"
We're on the same wavelength. I'll ask my wife if she's still got that recipe.
Another good thing to do is to take your favorite mac and cheese recipe, but then from a separate pan, quickly pan fry some shrimp with some cajun or old bay seasoning and then fold that in. Damn dude... I mean... yeah. That gets made.
I feel like Mac n Cheese is a very American thing - we have it here but it's like instant sachets where you just add milk and microwave. It's a very basic sort of thing, so it always fascinates me when I hear about 'recipes' for it!
Mod
Hi Krystal! It's one of those things that runs the gamut. We have basic boxes that have sachets like what you describe, even more instant kits, but then people, having grown up with it as a "comfort food" try to elevate it with making it higher quality pastas, cheeses, nuances, additions. All kinds of things. You could very well be right about it being an American thing. Everyone I know grew up with it. but we are trying to make it something more than just some ubiquitous product. It's fun and comforting and a way to both reminisce while still stretching creative muscles and recognizing that we are growing up. (I don't know... I'm probably just rambling and telling you stuff you already knew.) But thank you for participating in the discussion. Very cool to hear all kinds of perspectives and experiences.
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People seem very divided here in the states which one the like best, I like all 3 but baked is my personal favorite.
My copy of How to Eat has so many bookmarks in it.How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food
Growing up, my mother was big on Velveeta Shells and Cheese which she would serve with her overcooked beef liver. (She simmered it with onions.) To this day, Velveeta makes me retch.
While I was raising my nephew, the quick meal I could get him to eat was "the blue box" with hot dogs and broccoli cut up in it. I would sometimes cut the hot dogs into octopi.
https://youtu.be/LFEJ-0fAeqs?si=Bi6xo...
Nowadays, I make it almost like a casserole to use up leftovers. I use either ridged elbows or cellentani with a bechamel base and a crumb topping.
In winter, I use whatever melty cheese I have to use up. Gruyere and Jack cheeses see regular use. I stir in chopped or shredded leftovers from the Sunday roast. Leftover pulled pork is great. If I'm using up chicken, I like to add some thinly sliced smoked sausage or andouille for a little extra flavor. The topping is just staled bread, pulsed in the food processor, and mixed with either grated Parmesan or Dubliner cheese.
In summer, I roast peppers fresh from the garden over the cooling coals when I grill out. So, I stir in a lot of smokey, roasted poblanos, jalapenos, and most every other pepper I grow (including Ghosts, Scorpions, and Reapers). For meat, Chorizo and leftover chicken are the go-to. And the topping is crushed tortilla chips.
Mod
Mod
TRUFFLE MAC AND CHEESE
https://vikalinka.com/truffle-mac-and...
Baked mac and cheese brings me to my happy place :-)
i make mine a little different i like using cavatappi pasta mostly because i love the spiral shape. lol
i cook and season some ground chicken and add in some peppers, onions garlic.
i like to throw in some corn. (optional)
i boil the pasta with fresh broccoli (you can use frozen but I prefer fresh)
once everything is cooked mix it together with your cheese sauce (I use ragu double cheddar)
get your pan and layer the pasta with shredded cheese. (I do two layers)
bake until it’s ready
let sit for a bit and serve.
my sister loves when I make it.
LTJ wrote: "Baked mac and cheese brings me to my happy place :-)"So delicious!
While I am not vegan, I enjoy cooking and I really like to try new things. Several years ago I ran across a recipe for vegan mac & cheese from Soul Vegetarian restaurant in Atlanta. It's easy to make and it tastes pretty good.Vegan Mac & Cheese
Ingredients:
Whole wheat pasta noodles 16 oz cooked to package instructions
4 cups soy milk
1 ounce sea salt
10 cloves garlic
3 tbsp yellow mustard
2 t paprika
2 cups nutritional yeast
1.5 cups soybean oil
parsley for garnish
Steps:
preheat to 350°
Add everything except noodles and oil to blender.
Start blending slowly add oil.
Add mix to noodles in a dish.
top with parsley flakes for garnish
Cook 350 degrees 40 minutes.
I like to top mine with Parmesan before it goes into the oven. If you want to keep it vegan, I have a decent recipe for:
Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Ingredients:
3/4 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Steps:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until the cashews and hemp seeds are fully incorporated and broken down to resemble Parmesan cheese, about 1 minute.
Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
There is also a video of Soul Vegetarian making the mac & cheese for those of you who it helps to watch someone prepare it. This group won't allow me to post the link, but the title of it on youtube is Eat Atlanta: How to Make Vegan Mac and Cheese.
This is one of the easiest mac & cheese recipes I have made, and also a fairly reasonably priced. Some of the recipes for baked mac & cheese can get pretty spendy. I also have a decent one for making it on the stove top with shredded cheddar and either yogurt or sour cream that is pretty good, especially for not being baked, and easy to make that I can pull out if anyone is interested. I didn't want to make a mile long post, lol.
Because Mac N Cheese should not be healthy:Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/186...
Here's my recipe that my family loves. 1 box of elbow noodles
1/2 block of veleta
1 bags of shredded cheese of your choice
1 stick of real butter
2-3 cups of milk
salt and pepper.
Pre heat oven to 350°
Boil noodles until done, when they're done add the stick of butter, a half block of veleta cheese that's cut up in cubes. Keep the pan on low heat and keep mixing until the cheese and butter is melted. Add 2-3 cups of milk. ( I'd say about 2ish, I never measure, I just eye ball it lol) You want a nice cheese sauce that's kind of soupy.
Add everything to a baking dish, Add the bag of shredded cheese, top with black pepper.
Bake until it's bubbling and the shredded cheese is a dark gold or golden color, about 30-45 minutes depending on how crispy you want to top to be.
* I only add the shredded cheese on top of the noodles, I don't mix it in. For the baking dish I think a cake pan is a perfect size.
J. wrote: "Because Mac N Cheese should not be healthy:Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/186..."
Those remind me a little bit of the mac & cheese bites TGIFriday's used to have.
Mod
i like using cavatappi pasta mostly because i love the spiral shape. lol
i cook and season some ground chicken and add in some peppers, onions garlic.
i like to thr..."
SO interesting you mentioned cavatappi since it's one of my favorite pastas, and the Ragu sauce, I've never used that but I just watched a video from this dude Sean and he was really enjoying it, so I must find some online.
I made DOUBLE CHEDDAR BEEF MAC | *Perfect Weekend Meal Prep Recipe* 🧀🥣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGlvv...
Useful tips:https://youtube.com/shorts/xtdn4WKdPJ...-
Gilding the Lily:
https://youtu.be/cH9fWkeS2e4?si=V-O8_...
I don't usually have anything in mine. I just use Ragu cheese sauce, wheels or medium shells pasta and create. I love that there's a whole thread dedicated to Mac n Cheese!
Mod
Does Cacio e pepe qualify as Mac N Cheese?
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Ha I guess lol, it does have pasta and cheese in it. Love that dish, one of my favorites.
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https://youtube.com/shorts/xtdn4WKdPJ...-
Gilding the Lily:
https://youtu.be/cH9fWkeS2e4?si=V-O8_..."
Whoa what a great channel, thank you for the links, just subbed to Mythical Kitchen :)
All this talk about Ragu cheese sauce makes me think I should give it a try.
Erin wrote: "All this talk about Ragu cheese sauce makes me think I should give it a try."You won't be disappointed. However, if you don't use all of it and you store the rest in the fridge make sure to use it soon after otherwise it gets a weird taste.
Justin wrote: "Erin wrote: "All this talk about Ragu cheese sauce makes me think I should give it a try."You won't be disappointed. However, if you don't use all of it and you store the rest in the fridge make ..."
Hmm, I probably wouldn't use it all in one go. What is the life span in the fridge?
Erin wrote: "Justin wrote: "Erin wrote: "All this talk about Ragu cheese sauce makes me think I should give it a try."You won't be disappointed. However, if you don't use all of it and you store the rest in t..."
See that's just it, it's good till whatever it says on the label but maybe because its already been opened it just doesn't taste as good. Maybe it's just me.
Mod
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ragu+chees...
The ingredients list included soy bean oil and a few other things which would change their flavors and textures when oxidized. A vacuum pump would help.
My Favorite 1-Ingredient Upgrade for the Best Boxed Mac and Cheesehttps://www.allrecipes.com/one-ingred...
Justin wrote: "Erin wrote: "Justin wrote: "Erin wrote: "All this talk about Ragu cheese sauce makes me think I should give it a try."You won't be disappointed. However, if you don't use all of it and you store ..."
I know what you mean, kind of like when you first open a bottle of soda. When it's been open for a while, it doesn't taste the same.
Erin wrote: "Justin wrote: "Erin wrote: "Justin wrote: "Erin wrote: "All this talk about Ragu cheese sauce makes me think I should give it a try."You won't be disappointed. However, if you don't use all of it..."
Exactly. So I actually just made a batch of it and sure enough the cheese I used was from the fridge and tasted weird so I just used a new one. I put that one in the fridge but I'm gonna make more mac n cheese this week.
Another Mac & cheese I have tried a few times, is Panera Bread Mac & Cheese bowl, I've had the original and broccoli cheddar.
I bought some Ragu cheese sauce over the weekend, will report back once I give it a try.
Erin wrote: "I bought some Ragu cheese sauce over the weekend, will report back once I give it a try."Sweet!
Mac N' Cheese road trip?The Best Macaroni And Cheese In Every State
Read More: https://www.tastingtable.com/1136063/...
https://www.tastingtable.com/1136063/...
@J. I live about an hour away from Austin, I may have to try their Mac and cheese just to see if it’s really that good.
Mod
Ranking Every Frozen Trader Joe's Pasta | Ranked with Babish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OYMt...
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Ranking Every Boxed Mac & Cheese | Ranked with Babish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVho4...
I just made Mac and cheese yesterday lol. Came out good. I'm taking some with me to work tomorrow too.
You guys got me wanting Mac n Cheese now.
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I like to make my own but I have one of these in the freezer, might make it soon :)
Beechers is a famous cheese shop, they have one in NY but I haven't been to it yet, but you can get their cheese and products in other places.
https://beechershandmadecheese.com/
Kasia wrote: "I made one of those Annie's boxed Mac n Cheeses for my son for lunch, he eats it like some wild critter lol. Lots of clean up after."I had Annie's once, made me so sick I never had it again. I used to buy these all the time too before I discovered Panera:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cracker-Ba...
My first baked Mac n Cheese recipe was from Nigella Lawson's first cookbook called How to Eat, fabulous read with recipes. I should probably post it here too.
Do you have a favorite recipe for it? Care to share? :) Doesn't have to be fancy, just what you like and enjoy!
I will be posting some recipes in a bit but thought it would be a fun thread to start.