/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.9794075]

how do you make actually good mac n cheese?
is it possible?

[Anonymous No.9794081]

>>9794075
Either underage or shitty family.
You bake it in the fucking oven, stupid.

[Anonymous No.9794086]

Make a sauce using real cheese and not some packet mix crap.
>>9794081
Also this, bake it.

[Anonymous No.9794092]

>>9794075
make this: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/10/the-food-labs-ultra-gooey-stovetop-mac-cheese.html
cover it in extra cheese and butter-soaked panko bread crumbs, bake it until it's golden brown.

[Anonymous No.9794099]

>>9794092
That looks like shit

[Anonymous No.9794108]

>>9794099
great contribution, any more wisdom to share?

[Anonymous No.9794112]

>>9794075
It depends what you consider to be good. If you're trying to replicate the processed american-style macaroni and cheese, then the secret is to add some yellow mustard.

If however you're trying to make something more sophisticated, then the options are almost limitless. Use your imagination OP.

[Anonymous No.9794128]

>>9794075
>how do you make actually good mac n cheese?
By picking good cheeses. Quality cheese is a fuck of a lot tastier than power mix or cheaper brands. And if you choose the right kinds of cheese that melt well you get a much better texture, and you don't have to fuck around with making a roux.

Boil pasta in a thick heavy pot. When the pasta is done, drain in a colander. Immediately put the pasta back into the pot. Add some grated cheese that melts well, like gouda, gruyere, most blue cheeses, etc, plus a splash of cream. The heat remaining in the pasta and the pot will melt the cheese into a nice sauce.

You can stick it in the oven if you want a crispy top, though I usually avoid that because it tends to overcook the pasta. If you want to make it extra fancy then you can saute some other things like bacon bits, pieces of broccoli, chopped peppers, etc, in advance and stir them in when you add the cheese.

[Anonymous No.9794131]

>>9794092
>that link
>Starting the pasta in cold water works just as well as adding it to already-boiling water but cooks faster and with less energy.
>A combination of multiple thickeners and emulsifying agents—cornstarch, evaporated milk, eggs, and American cheese—ensures an extra-gooey texture with real cheese flavor.
ABSOLUTELY NOT
JUST
NO.
That looks fucking TERRIBLE.
>>9794108
>great contribution, any more wisdom to share?
You're talking about mac and fuckin' cheese. If you can't figure it out you might actually be retarded.
A quick google for baked mac n cheese gives you a plethora of better ideas.
http://www.recipetineats.com/baked-mac-and-cheese/
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/classic-baked-macaroni-cheese
http://divascancook.com/southern-baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/

Literally anything is better than shit stove top synthetic trash.

[Anonymous No.9794146]

>>9794075
I made it once with a good quality pasta and cheeses, stirred in thinly sliced onions and orange bell peppers, greates almonds on the top. My junk food spoiled kid hated it and wanted the packet shit

[Anonymous No.9794159]

>>9794146
And when do they come back from military school?... Kids now want the quick easy packets, hell they'll eat candy over something savory every day of the week.

I was cooking some rib steaks for friends, and some petite sirloins for their kids(8-10) and they literally drank the salad dressing during the 10 minutes it took to cook everything. Insane.

[Anonymous No.9794164]

>>9794146
>>9794159
Newsflash: Children are cunts.

[Anonymous No.9794871]

>>9794075
Consider a crumb topping before baking, too.

[Anonymous No.9794929]

Add sweet sriracha and garlic

[Anonymous No.9794938]

>>9794929
Explain vegan cheese to me

[Anonymous No.9794963]

>>9794938
Nutritional yeast tastes and feels like cheese when pan cooked with almond/soy milk.

https://minimalistbaker.com/best-vegan-gluten-free-mac-n-cheese/

Add cinnamon to sriracha or make your own and add garlic and you have yourself the destroyer-of-vagina-tier cooking vegan mac.

[Anonymous No.9794966]

>>9794963
>like cheese
Which one?

>>Add cinnamon to sriracha
Sounds like some kind of disgusting slop dreamt up by an intoxicated student with little cooking skill.

[Anonymous No.9795034]

>>9794963
Thanks for the explanation
Not a fan of cinnamon but sounds decent

[Anonymous No.9795045]

>>9794075
soimilk

[Anonymous No.9795052]

>>9794938

[Anonymous No.9795085]

make a roux for the cheese with soft cheese bake it with sharp cheese on top

[Anonymous No.9795131]

Nudelauflau^^
Noodle casserole for you yankies :D

[Anonymous No.9795508]

of course it is, if you make it properly, from scratch.
the waifu makes a great mac n cheese.
she'll often use end pieces of cheese we have bought, so once it had 7 different cheeses in it.

[Anonymous No.9795774]

if you're buying mac and cheese in a box at least buy the Cracker Barrel stuff.

[quiche !!T2UdrWkLSWB No.9795789]

>>9794075
If you're willing to go the whole 9
Make your mac from scratch, don't skimp on the flour (has to be 00, ideally Italian durum)
Make a proper bechamel (infuse milk with a studded onion, nutmeg, and bay) into which you add choice cheeses (one that works wonders is cheddar:comte:scaramorza:roquefort in a ratio of 3:3:2:1) and finish in the oven with a little breadcrumbs and a whole lotta love
Most importantly use good cheese and do as much as possible from scratch

[Anonymous No.9796023]

Fgts, listen very well, make your white sauce with half and half instead of milk. Thank me later.

[Anonymous No.9796026]

>>9794075
Thanksgiving style, oven baked mac obviously reigns supreme. But disregarding that and assuming you’re working with the standard kraft bullshit. Add cheddar to it, along with butter and a tiny splash of milk. I shouldn’t have to tell you salt n pepper as well. Doing it this way makes it not half bad. Rather flavorful.

[Anonymous No.9796041]

>>9795508
Stop saying waifu, it makes people disregard your opinion.

[Anonymous No.9796048]

I have some sodium citrate to try the modernist mac and cheese. Has anyone tried it? I'm worried it will add a shitty sour flavor

[Anonymous No.9796066]

>>9796048
It works great.
It doesn't add a sour taste at all--very little of it is needed so you can't taste it.

[Anonymous No.9796070]

>>9796048
it's fine. the tiny amount of sourness is balanced by the sugars in the cheese and pasta

sodium citrate is the non-bullshit way to make creamy mac and cheese out of anything. everything else involves carefully blending melting cheeses together to maintain the balance

[Anonymous No.9796143]

4 tbl spoon unsalted butter. sweet cream or cultured.

4 tbl spoon all purpose unbleached flour

1 nutmeg nut

black peper

salt

400 ml warm milk

2 cups rotini

1 lb of extra sharp cheddar.

olive oil

salt and olive oil in a pot. fill with water and bring to a roiling boil. put in pasta.

butter in a pan melt over low heat. then add the flour. keep the heat low and dont' stop whisking. you want the roux you are making to have the flour flavor cooked out, but don't let it brown.

then start adding warm milk. cold milk will ruin the texture of the sauce. add it a little at a time and whisk until incorporated. then you add a little more and repeat.

once the milk is incorporated you grind in half or a third of the nutmeg nut. depending on the size of the nut.

throw in the black pepper to taste.

throw in freshly grated extra sharp cheddar. little bits at a time and making sure to fully incorporate the cheese before adding more. keep whisking, or using a silicone spatula. don't let the sauce burn on the bottom. keep that heat low. keep adding cheese until you reach the taste you want. throw in a teaspoon of salt upon sauce completion.

drain your al dente pasta and immediately into the saute pan with the sauce. incorporate.

serve.

[Anonymous No.9796150]

>>9796143
>salt and olive oil in a pot. fill with water and bring to a roiling boil. put in pasta.
bait. nobody should put olive oil in a pot with pasta, under any circumstances

[Anonymous No.9796153]

>>9796150

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYhKDweME3A

Gordon Ramsay thinks you should.

a little oil in the boiling water prevents it from boiling over.

[Anonymous No.9796359]

>>9794075
Teriyaki sauce
Hot sauce
Ranch
Maple syrup

Mix in meat of veges as you see fit

Put it in a casserole dish, sprinkle cheese and bread crumbs on top and bake it.

Just think of it as a blank canvas and go from there.

[Anonymous No.9796390]

>>9796153
Gordon Ramsay has not yet graduated to tongueing my testicles. He's still on the level of sweeping my dirt trail. Do you really want to take advice from a guy with gnarly old pubes stuck in their nose?

[Anonymous No.9796398]

>>9794075
Follow the directions on the box. Top with black pepper.

[Anonymous No.9796402]

>>9796153
>Gordon Ramsay thinks you should

That retard thinks you should add binders to hamburger patties as well. Tbf, he probably thought he was making bangers, a british sausage with rusk as a binder, the fucking spoog.

[Anonymous No.9796526]

>>9794963
As a non vegan who enjoys his mac and cheese, one of the best ive ever had was with nutritional yeast and pistachio breadcrumbs. Didnt add cinnamon or anything though

[Anonymous No.9796658]

>>9794131
don't knock it until you've tried it. I've made it and it was one of the best mac & cheeses I've ever had. ludicrously gooey and cheesy.

[Anonymous No.9796852]

>box of kraft mac and cheese
>cook it all and mix the powder in
>shred some real cheese of your choice with it

[Anonymous No.9797034]

>>9794963
Nutritional yeast is also amazing on popcorn.