Macaroni cheese... your best recipe please

[bogie]

I have only ever tasted one Mac and cheese that I have really really loved and that is the one they sell at the Hard Rock cafe.

I really want to make one like this (or just a super yummy one) on friday for ds' birthday tea.

If you put some dairylea triangles in it tastes yummy

A little bit of french mustard brings out the flavour of the cheese.

For grown ups, a tiny bit of white wine vinegar will make it a bit more zingy.

Gosh I want it for my tea now!

I add made up mustard and Worcestershire sauce, to my cheese sauce .

Dh adds boiled eggs and lardons, not traditional but still yummy.

I first of all steep an onion in hot milk to let the onion flavour infuse into it.

I make a cheese sauce using butter, dry mustard, flour, and the oniony milk, and a strong cheddar.

I mix this in with cooked macaroni and put into an ovenproof dish. I put on a layer of breadcrumbs, grated cheese, and tomato slices, and bake for 20 - 30 minutes.

That's my 'going all the way' recipe. Sometimes I just whip up a sauce with butter, flour, milk and cheese (no mustard or onion), and omit the breadcrumb and baking step.

I make my white sauce then whilst it is still hot add the cheese but don't heat it again so the chesse just melts with the sauce heat and doesn't 'cook' so stays very cheesy. I don't add anything else fancy just loads more cheese than you think you need.

This is fab. I don't make the sauce this way. i do (Delia's) all in one recipe and I have made it with just cheddar and parmesan as well as the fancy schmancy cheeses and it is still lush. The egg whites turn it into something else. The kids will eat mounds of it.

made it last night

We do it with bacon and leeks ( fried before you add them) , then macaroni, delia's all in one cheese sauce, and a breadcrumb topping - yumm

I tend to keep it really simple and just use Butter, Flour, Milk, Cheese and Pepper for the sauce. Oh, I also add an egg towards the end - helps to colour the sauce.

Has anyone tried adding Creme Fresh? I've got some that needs using up, so wondered if I could add it to cheese sauce... can't see why not, though not sure. Best added when sauce is a little cool?

I've added it to cheese sauce lots of times nannynick. Is very good and makes it a bit lighter.

thanks nikki. I ended up adding it but I can't say I like it that much. Prefer it with lots and lots of cheddar cheese (value range usually).

There's a Nigel Slater recipe which I have used - it makes a really velvety luxurious version. Link here. (You have to scroll down to find it.) But our usual recipe is one that DH favours using gruyere. He adds pancetta and a tiny hint of cayenne pepper, but I must admit I slightly prefer the mustard version to cayenne. I do think that infusing the milk with onion / bay leaf helps the flavour.