Macaroni cheese

[TheCutter]

I'm making macaroni cheese tonight for dinner and wondered if you put your Mac and cheese in the oven to bake or just do it all in the frying pan?

Thanks everyone

Love a proper baked dish, but for a quick meal I just mix the sauce and pasta together, then serve.

For an even quicker dish with small hungry mouths to feed, boil pasta, drain and put it back in the pan with a tiny bit of the cooking water. Throw in a few cheese triangles or some soft cheese, a lump of butter and a dash of milk to create an instant sauce. Add pesto or a teaspoon of marmite if you like. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan or cheddar.

Pioneer Woman's website has a version which is good. It's great for learning how to cook because she posts step by step photos along with the description. (She also has a cooking show on an American food channel.) Beware her recipes are really large and often serve 8-12 people, so you might need to scale it back. Also she loves her butter, but I've found you can often reduce the amount and it still comes out ok. One more thing, the measurements will be all in cups, etc by volume instead of weight. I forget whether the website does a metric version. Her recipes are yummy! Especially the cinnamon rolls!

Wow I didn't expect so many replies! Thank you to everyone who took the time to offer encouragement and tips!

I will check out the recommendations for cooking for my son. And I've also noted lots of your suggestions (I do love the idea of bacon, mushrooms, caramelised onions and broccoli!). And I definitely need breadcrumbs for the top.

I made it last night using cheddar, flour, parmesan and some garlic. It's shopping day today so I didn't have much else in to add. It turned out not bad! It wasn't very crispy on top despite the oven but I also didn't leave it in very long as I was concerned I didn't have enough sauce, despite that, it actually tasted pretty good! Husband had seconds and has taken some to work today for lunch and DS ate a full plateful (with a tad ketchup of course 😅)

Thanks all, another one ticked off the list!

(And sorry to those who suddenly had a craving for mac and cheese 😅 - hope you managed to whip some up!)

@ShirleyJackson I beg to differ! See the picture below and description- sweet and silky.

Condensed milk is thick and very sweet this is a thin sweet milk (not as sweet as condensed.

I've used evaporated milk to make frosting on cakes and I use condensed to make a key lime pie!

Oh yes!

The presence of the tomatoes is vital: they make the cheesy taste far MORE cheesy.

It's no good without tomatoes

@alwaysfactor50

Ah, but look here…
#mumsnetmilkwars

@ShirleyJackson 🤣🤣🤣

I'm still not shoving it in my mac and cheese!!

Nice one OP!

@bellac11 , a roux based cheese sauce will certainly be cheesy enough if you add enough really good mature Cheddar, plus a dollop of English mustard.

Sounds fab and like it was a great success @TheCutter

If you make sure the sauce isn’t too thick (but not too thin either, you’ll find your sweet spot the more you make it) you won’t need to worry about it being in the oven for longer. Alternatively you could grill it at end of cooking time to get the browned/crispy top.

We usually have ours without breadcrumbs because that’s how we prefer it, but if you want to use them you can leave any bread ends to dry, then freeze them until you need them. On the day, whizz them up in a processor and there you go! Or you can use the ready made ones of course but in that case panko breadcrumbs are much nicer imo.

Don’t add too many things into one dish is my advice - one or two, maybe at a stretch three complementary ingredients can add just the right hint of interest but too many quickly gets too rich and too much. I usually add one or two from my list above.

I’m making it tomorrow so thanks for the inspiration! Looking forward to it already...😋😋

For a different, but very tasty option that doesn't involve making a white sauce, try traditional Southern US mac and cheese. It's custard (savory) based. Note that it uses evaporated milk. It's traditional for Thanksgiving, especially with African American families.

www.southyourmouth.com/2018/02/southern-style-macaroni-cheese.html

I wonder how many of us are having Macaroni Cheese this week, because of the OP?

Mmmm

Bacon lardons and the veggie version are both fab in this!

I just did the crème fraiche thing, with Gruyère, cheddar, and some garlic mushrooms.

Lush.

Oh @ShirleyJackson that sounds delicious.

Here’s our dinner tonight, fresh out of the oven!

Cheese and mustard sauce with crispy bacon. Garnished with more bacon, and jalapeño slices. We’ll have garlic French beans on the side. It’s SO HARD to wait a sensible period of time before digging in - I’ve already burnt my mouth once.

Tonight's the night, for us... macaroni cheese for dinner!