Easy Peasy Mac n Cheesy

I'd like to share one of the more relaxing and comfort foody recipes that's great for anytime!

Macaroni and Cheese:
It's such a comforting dish. It goes great with pretty much any main dish (many times it's great just on its own as a meal). Kids and adults love it.

The first time I had macaroni and cheese, I was in elementary school. I went over to a friend's home and for dinner we had mac n cheese from the box with chicken. It was glorious. The texture of the creamy cheese sauce and those little macaroni pastas were awesome! The chunks of grilled chicken that were mixed in added the perfect amount of savory protein to the meal.
Being raised in an Asian household, I never really started out eating the stuff that other kids my age would eat. Sure I'd have a hot dog or what not but never really those quintessential things that kids ate growing up. I got introduced to pudding and yogurt when I was in high school.
But macaroni and cheese really stuck with me. Out of that first taste, I became obssessed with cheese. I am still insane about the stuff and try to buy a different and new cheese every other week. I feel like Wakko from Animaniancs and his "Cheese from around the world" song.


Below is a basic recipe for Macaroni and Cheese, but before that, a couple things on the ingredients you're putting together...


For starters, this isn’t your average macaroni and cheese. The only thing that comes from a box is the pasta itself. Basic ingredients are generally pasta, cheese, butter, milk. I add sauteed onions and a little flour. The onions really add something to overall flavor. I abhor the use of breadcrumbs before you pop it in the oven. I understand it soaks up the oil that comes out of the cheese, but it's gross. It gets mushy, and the texture is not really my jam. But if you like them, sprinkle some panko breadcrumbs on top. They're the better choice, and don't overdo it. And for those that are lactose intolerant or vegan, there's an easy button for that.


Milk & Butter - 
I mix and match when it comes to the dairy used in mac n cheese. I've started to use skim milk because I use WAY too much cheese and feel like I'm making this slightly less heart-clogging. But, if you want decadent cheese sauce, I'd aim high and go with heavy cream. It really thickens the cheese which mean you can use just a tad less flour to get it nice and creamy. Otherwise, any grade of milk is fine, and on occasion when I ran out of milk, I've used half and half which does the trick nicely. Butter is essential. It's gross to think how much is used, but don't think, just eat. Any will do.
You can absolutely sub in soy milk for the real milk, but use ORIGINAL. Nothing is grosser than "vanilla" flavored mac.... blech. And if you're going that route, get vegan cheese and vegan butter. It actually works quite well. I love using vegan butter/spread. It holds up well, and I've started using it in everything that calls for butter. If only I could easily find it in sticks!

Flour - 
All-purpose flour works great. Though on occasion, you can use a bit of cornstarch. This is your thickening agent to turn your "cheese soup" into a yummy sauce (or roux if you want to go all technical). You can definitely add more or less flour, but be careful, too much flour can turn your sauce lumpy and it will have a distinctive mealy texture and taste.

Pasta -
I'm going to have to tout the macaroni as the ONLY pasta you should be using for this dish. It's called mac n cheese for a reason. Some people think they're cool using rotini, ziti, fusili, tagliatelle, orrechiette, and other pastas that usually end with me pronouncing them in a Mario Bros. voice. Macaroni is perfect. Small with a hole. It soaks up the cheese sauce, and it's easy to evenly mix the sauce in as well. Also, it's aesthetically pleasing. A friend of mine makes fun of the fact that I talk about plating a dish like it's important. Well it is. Sorry dude. If it looks like it was meant for a puppy, chances of it being consumed go from 92% to 19%. That goes for the cranberry sauce in a can... mash it up please! Don't just let it slide out of the can and serve it like it's some can-shaped Jell-O.... Anyways, nothing makes you think of home and good, warm, fuzzy times like a casserole dish filled with macaroni and cheese.
Any kind of macaroni is great. I love using ones made of rice. The upside is that they cook faster, the downside is that they get overdone if you're not paying attention. But, undercook them just a tad and then it'll soak up that cheese sauce like no one's business. Essentially, if you use rice pasta, you got yourself some homemade "Annie's" microwave mac n cheese.

Cheese - 
It is out of control awesome. I love cheese. I'll go into that in another post at another time. For mac n cheese you have to go with the staple cheddar. Yellow, white, sharp, mild, whatever. If you want a fast dish, just use the one cheese. But if you're feeling adventurous, mix it up. Gruyere is my add on cheese cause it is just soooo tasty and has that amazing smoky kind of flavor. Or add a little pecorino or something similar. It changes the flavor which is fantastic. I once, in a fit of indecision, bought some ricotta to mix in the sauce. Interesting flavor but tasty! Buy it pre shredded or shred it yourself. Try to keep the shredded cheese on the small side, like if you used a microplane. This helps it melt a lot easier, thus creating a creamy, fondue-like sauce. (In some instances you could probably make the cheese sauce from the recipe for fondue.) And as pointed out earlier, vegan cheese is good for those lactose intolerant peeps. 

Salt and pepper - 
I love pepper so am always quite liberal with it, but salt, oh salt, you salty salt. Be careful when salting to taste. One minute it may taste delightful, but you will be cooking down the sauce just a little bit and the cheese already has some savoriness in it. So, just a word of caution because your dish may go from glorious to "oh my god!!!! it's like eating a handful of salt!" and then your mouth will curl into your jaw and you'll look like that guy from that Indiana Jones movie.


Basic Macaroni and Cheese
(Serves 6-8 as a side dish)

1 box - Macaroni pasta
2-3 tablespoons - butter
1/4 cup - diced onions (preferably yellow)
1 1/2 Tb. - All-purpose flour
1/2 cup- 3/4 cup - milk
2-4 cups - shredded cheese + 1/2 cup for garnish (this is a ballpark amount as I add at will until I get the consistency I like)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1 large casserole dish or pyrex (around 9x11)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the box for al dente.
3. When the pasta is al dente, drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
4. For the sauce: In a medium saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and then sauté the onions until softened.
5. With a whisk, slowly add the flour into the butter/onion mixture. Make sure you whisk constantly until all the flour is incorporated into the butter and there are no lumps. (You just made a roux! yay!)
6. Still whisking, add the milk. Continue to stir until milk is hot but not boiling.
7. In small handfuls, add the cheese. Whisk cheese into milk mixture until completely blended. (You may initially see clumping and sticking to the whisk, but just constantly whisk and it will all go away).
8. Continue to add cheese until it reaches a smooth consistency and the thickness of just made hot oatmeal.
9. Salt and pepper to taste.
10. Remove the cheese sauce from the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes to slightly thicken.
11. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni. Make sure to scrape all the sauce out, you don't want to waste any of that precious liquid gold.
12. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the macaroni and cheese sauce. Make sure to break up any clumps of pasta that are stuck together.
13. Pour macaroni and cheese into the casserole dish.
14. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of remaining cheese over the top of the dish (you can now add some breadcrumbs if you'd like.)
15. Place dish in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is bubbling. (This gives the macaroni time to soak up all that delicious sauce.)
16. Remove and enjoy! But be careful it's wayyyyy hot! 

And there you go, some mac n cheese just for you. Overall timing for prep and cooking is about 35-45 minutes, you'll get faster as you make the dish more often.

Also, you can skip putting it in the oven if you like a creamy "just out of the box" mac n cheese. And play with cheeses, you'd be surprised at all the tasty variations you can make.

What are some of your favorite comfort-y foods?