How do you like your Mac and Cheese?

My favorite comfort food is mac and cheese and after travelling all over, when I eat out I always order mac and cheese {if it's on the menu}. I find that every region has its own way of making it. The best I think is when it is baked with breadcrumbs on top. When i am home the best is Kraft in the blue box with the powdered cheese. So, how do you like it?

I like a baked mac and cheese and tuna casserole. The recipe is on the box. I use the Kraft Shells and Cheese mix.

I agree with Chicagostyledog! I like my Mac and Cheese Tuna Casserole Style. Just make the recipe, add a can of Cream of Mushroom, 1/2 can of milk, some tuna and some peas. You can eat it like that or toss it in a casserole dish, sprinkle some italian style bread crumbs and parmesian over the top and bake it for a few!

Sorry folks, but I'm, a bit of a purist. When you add tuna then, while it may be tasty, it's not mac-n-cheese: it's a frickin' tuna casserole!!

Baked--with a crust of crumb and grated romano cheese mix--even did it once with minced pecans tossed in--,with a healthy splash of tabasco splashed on top and sitting next to porkchops and steamed brocolli!!....and Pogo is absolutely correct---tuna casserole may be fine but it aint mac and cheese!!---oh and that stuff in the box----thats mac and cheese flavored powder!!! give me a thick cream sauces with several varieties of cheese any day---(sharp chedder,parm,some swiss and even a little stinky blue!!)

I don't like the dry baked stuff, crust or not.

Mac-n-Cheese should be wet - a creamy sauce clinging to the pasta -with some fine ground black pepper added in. I generally grate in a little parm - romano if I have it - and some cheddar when using a packaged product with sauce mix.

I don't much like the shell pasta variation. The difference in texture just doesn't seem right to my mind.....

My grandson detests any macaroni and cheese that doesn't come in a box. His favorite, Velveeta shells and cheese.

I like the baked, doing mine with a combination of velveeta,( a must for the my boy wonder to consume) fontina, extra sharp white cheddar, gruyere and large curd creamy cottage cheese. A nice white sauce with a few dashes of ground mustard ,nutmeg and fresh snipped parsley. After a bit of baking, I sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs and a fresh grated parmesean, asiago and romano on top. I usually use a combination of rotelli, macaroni and bows, to entice the little guy even more.

I love Mac and Cheese, I eat it with tabasco all over it. Yummmmmmy

quote:

Originally posted by pogophiles

Sorry folks, but I'm, a bit of a purist. When you add tuna then, while it may be tasty, it's not mac-n-cheese: it's a frickin' tuna casserole!!

It's especially relaxing with a warm cup of rabbit tobacco tea.

As long as it has massive quantities of cheese, I'll all for it.

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

I like the baked, doing mine with a combination of velveeta,( a must for the my boy wonder to consume) fontina, extra sharp white cheddar, gruyere and large curd creamy cottage cheese. A nice white sauce with a few dashes of ground mustard ,nutmeg and fresh snipped parsley. After a bit of baking, I sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs and a fresh grated parmesean, asiago and romano on top. I usually use a combination of rotelli, macaroni and bows, to entice the little guy even more.

WOW! That sounds like "million dollar mac"! I still don't think my kid's would think out of the box though, me on the other hand YUM! Hmm, I wonder if I could catch a ride with clothier???? We could discuss Sunday's race!

I like to make a vat of Kraft Dinner and let it sit a day. Then put it directly into a frying pan and crisp it up a bit. I know that probably constitutes Mac & Cheese sacrilege but to each is their own...

I boil up a pound and a half of Barilla elbows (the ridged kind) while I make four cups of bechamel. Into that I add eight ounces of cream cheese, eight ounces of Cabot's hunter-style extra-extra-sharp cheddar, a handful of shredded parmesan and the remains of anything that's lurking in the cheese drawer, which is usually either a little boursin or some Maytag blue. Very important: I also toss in about a 1/4 teaspoon of ground mustard with the cheese. The sharpness helps. Mix the sauce with the elbows, cover with crushed potato chips and a cup of sharp cheddar and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Serve as entree.

If my wife doesn't take the leftovers to work for lunch, I make up another cup or so of the sauce, reheat the mac about halfway in the microwave and then combine on the stovetop until heated through. Serve as the side starch with something like meatloaf or pork chops.

quote:

Originally posted by pogophiles

Sorry folks, but I'm, a bit of a purist. When you add tuna then, while it may be tasty, it's not mac-n-cheese: it's a frickin' tuna casserole!!

Well, it started out as Mac-n-Chez... Just got doctored a bit!

I want to eat at Lucky Bishop's!!

quote:

Originally posted by UncleVic

quote:

Originally posted by pogophiles

Sorry folks, but I'm, a bit of a purist. When you add tuna then, while it may be tasty, it's not mac-n-cheese: it's a frickin' tuna casserole!!

Well, it started out as Mac-n-Chez... Just got doctored a bit!

Yep!! Probably improved it too (I'm not very fond of the box kind, though my kids prefer it)...

I like mine hot, cheesy, and fattening, with perhaps a few little oven-browned pieces of mac on the top layer. Bring it on!

I tried this the other night and it was amazing. Normally I use Shells and cheese as the Mac and Cheese base. Then I had bacon bits, Louisiana Hot Sauce, and Cavender's Greek Seasoning. This has always worked well for me. But I've found something new -- Horseradish. Not the mayo-looking quasi-horseradish, but the good stuff. One spoonful of that and I was in heaven (and my wife was horrified). I highly recommend it.

quote:

Originally posted by Tuck

One spoonful of that and I was in heaven (and my wife was horrified). I highly recommend it.

I concur. Anything that horrifies the wife MUST be worth doing...

oh boy!!! Mac n' cheese, I love it all,but as in so many things, I refer back to memories of my mothers way(rest her soul)....lotsa cheese(including white cheddar from neighboring Vermont), but with a few tomato's and she used ziti noodles, baked with a brown crust
cannot remember the last time I had 'bad' M+C

My God.....i just read 'REDTRESSED' recipe........sounds absolutely wonderful, I wonder where he lives?

She lives in West Virginia, I believe...

quote:

Originally posted by garykg6

cannot remember the last time I had 'bad' M+C

Then head on over to your nearest Ponderosa's, my friend :-)

All you can eat bad M&C on the buffet.

quote:

Rusty246
Cheeseburger



448 Posts
Posted - 02/23/2004 : 16:10:53
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quote:
Originally posted by redtressed

I like the baked, doing mine with a combination of velveeta,( a must for the my boy wonder to consume) fontina, extra sharp white cheddar, gruyere and large curd creamy cottage cheese. A nice white sauce with a few dashes of ground mustard ,nutmeg and fresh snipped parsley. After a bit of baking, I sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs and a fresh grated parmesean, asiago and romano on top. I usually use a combination of rotelli, macaroni and bows, to entice the little guy even more.


WOW! That sounds like "million dollar mac"! I still don't think my kid's would think out of the box though, me on the other hand YUM! Hmm, I wonder if I could catch a ride with clothier???? We could discuss Sunday's race!

Rusty, g/f........come back home to the mountains, I'll show you what all is new, and iffen' you want I'll even puts ramps in the Mac and Cheese.

quote:

garykg6
Hamburger



60 Posts
Posted - 02/25/2004 : 14:28:41
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My God.....i just read 'REDTRESSED' recipe........sounds absolutely wonderful, I wonder where he lives?


pogophiles
Cheeseburger



371 Posts
Posted - 02/25/2004 : 14:35:18
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She lives in West Virginia, I believe...

Thank you Gary and pogophiles is right on the mark. I'm in Morgantown(The Home of the Mountaineers) about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh. It's kind of the best of both worlds. I'm exactly 5.3 miles below the Mason-Dixon Line so I can claim southern hospitality. But the lovely southern drawl is not as predominate here so I can claim being a Yankee too.

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

quote:

Rusty246
Cheeseburger



448 Posts
Posted - 02/23/2004 : 16:10:53
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quote:
Originally posted by redtressed

I like the baked, doing mine with a combination of velveeta,( a must for the my boy wonder to consume) fontina, extra sharp white cheddar, gruyere and large curd creamy cottage cheese. A nice white sauce with a few dashes of ground mustard ,nutmeg and fresh snipped parsley. After a bit of baking, I sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs and a fresh grated parmesean, asiago and romano on top. I usually use a combination of rotelli, macaroni and bows, to entice the little guy even more.


WOW! That sounds like "million dollar mac"! I still don't think my kid's would think out of the box though, me on the other hand YUM! Hmm, I wonder if I could catch a ride with clothier???? We could discuss Sunday's race!

Rusty, g/f........come back home to the mountains, I'll show you what all is new, and iffen' you want I'll even puts ramps in the Mac and Cheese.

RAMPS?!?!?!??! YIKES!!!!!! Please, oh, please spare me the RAMPS! I abhor those. I can almost smell them from here. Would love to come back home and hope to visit soon. I need some new Mountaineer garb, and a Dairy Queen ifin you put ramps in the Mac & Cheese!

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

quote:

Originally posted by garykg6

cannot remember the last time I had 'bad' M+C

Then head on over to your nearest Ponderosa's, my friend :-)

All you can eat bad M&C on the buffet.

My experience has been that ANY all-you-can-eat buffet place has bad (translate that "tasteless", "mushy", or "watery") mac & cheese, probably somewhat due to sitting on a steam table much too long.

quote:

Originally posted by 6star

My experience has been that ANY all-you-can-eat buffet place has bad mac & cheese

I'd disagree. It *can* be made well, well enough to sit on a steam table buffet setting. I think the main problem is that the buffet operators tend to look down on this as kid's food, ie the kids will eatr it no matter what, so why try?

I've had good (not great, but good) Mac n cheese on a buffet, albeit not often....

Yum. Ramps. Mac n cheese. Morels. Redtressed do you have a spare bedroom for me?