Macaroni and Cheese - failure, then success

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

Of course there's the leftover Easter ham (again!) and I need to use some up. One of my favorites is macaroni and cheese with ham.

Failure
The last time we had left-over ham, I had the same goal.So I go to my now favored first cookbook Cook's Illustrated "America's New Best Recipe" and make their version. It's the first dud out of that book which up until then had been all smash hits. Their version involved 4 Cups of shredded cheese (equal cheddar and monterey jack) and 5 cups of milk. Then they have you just toss it on the stovetop and finish by running under the broiler to toast the crumb topping. Long story short - so dairy leaden that it was close to inedible in my opinion. People struggled to finish just a little glop of it.

Success
My husbands version, which has equal parts chicken stock and milk (plus a little roux) and just 2 cups of cheddar for the cheese sauce. Topped with breadcrumbs and baked in oven. The resulting mac and cheese was lighter, tastier,better cheese flavor, and more toothsome and had people going back for seconds.

In looking at zillions of mac and cheese recipes on the web, 99% of them are all milk in the cheese sauce. I really recommend trying the lightened up (in a taste sense) version with the chicken stock.

[Warpy]

1. ....or water, even

The trick is really the roux. I can see any mac and cheese made without a roux to smooth the sauce and keep the cheese from ending up oily strings would be inedible.

I tend to lighten up the whole business, only I've used beer in the past with great success.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. Well, the Cooks Illustrated had roux too

which made their gloppy concoction even gloppier.

Now beer sounds very interesting. I could see that working well.

[The empressof all]

3. I also find using Sharp Chedder gives a far better flavor

I'm also able to use far less cheese and therefore have a lower fat product if I replace all or part of the Chedder with Sharp or Extra Sharp. It's a bit more expensive but a little goes a long way.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. I totally agree. More flavor, less cheese, less overall fat. nt.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. I've found that most mac & cheese recipes are too gloppy and not very cheesy.

I use skim milk and white wine for the liquid -- stock sounds like a good choice. I always add sauteed minced onion. The onion seems to complement the cheese and make the whole thing taste cheesier.

I also agree on using sharp cheddar as the cheese -- lots of flavor with far less cheese in the sauce.

[NashVegas]

6. Simple, Tasty, Spicy Mac & Cheese w/Blackened Chicken

FYI, the chicken will add tons of bite to the meal. Just cover a pounded breast w/spice and stick it under the broiler. Cut it up into strips and then into 1-inch pieces.

To your pasta, add shredded / grated:

2 oz comte, gruyere or cheddar
2 oz fontina
2 oz mozz
2 oz parm

toss together loosely (don't over-stir or goop will stick to your spoon) and stick it right in the oven, covered w/parm and panko.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. Sounds simple and yummy - thanks! nt.

[pipoman]

8. I do several mac and cheese variations,

usually with light chicken stock and 2% milk, then finishing with a little heavy cream. By light chicken stock I mean diluted with water. The chicken stock carries/takes on other flavors better than most other liquids. I usually use sharp cheeses, cheddar (white cheddar is good), asiago, etc.,and a smoother melting cheese like muenster or jack. I add some rue at the end, I leave my pasta just a little over half cooked and my sauce fairly runny, the pasta will absorb some of the liquid. I like adding blue cheese or Gorgonzola crumbles to the top.