Macaroni and Cheese

[ßli乙乙y]

Macaroni and Cheese
This is the general recipe for macaroni and cheese. After I have gotten a chance to make it, I will post a second recipe that includes exact measurements, extra details, and my personal touch.

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of	All Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon of	Corn Starch
1 pinch of	Salt
1 pinch of	Pepper
Half a stick of	Unsalted Butter
One Cup of	Half & Half
12 oz of	Extra Sharp Cheddar (because the sharper, the more cheesy tasting it'll be) Also, it should be shredded before you start.
13.25 oz of	Macaroni Noodles
(Optional)	Whatever other cheeses you like

I've made macaroni and cheese for my family, and every time it has been super great. I hope you all can make this dish just as yummy has I'm imagining it tasting right now. XD If you love cheesy macaroni and cheese, you'll love this recipe. The secret to great mac and cheese is the roux (pronounced "roo", like the kangaroo from Winnie the Poo). The roux will act as a thickening agent for the cheese sauce, making it much much better than that Kraft macaroni and cheese stuff.

This recipe can feed a lot. It could feed six twice and still have a bit left over. I will keep it the same; you may choose to make it bigger or smaller.

This recipe also assumes that you know how to make noodles. I've always used two bags, although I cannot remember their sizes. The important part is the sauce, and you can always add more or less sauce to the noodles to get it just as you like it.

From now on, when I type anything in parentheses, (like this), then I am only speculating. I've followed this recipe by the book, but for those who don't have an ingredient or have dietary restrictions, I can suggest alternatives.


Instructions

1. Start making the noodles. They ought to be ready when it's time to mix them and the cheese sauce.
2. Get a sauce pan and add the flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and unsalted butter.
   • (If all you have is salted butter, then I would just skip the salt and just add your salted butter.)
   • (Perhaps you can just add four tablespoons of cornstarch. I've just used cornstarch before to make Mexican hot chocolate, and it came out just fine.
     
3. Heat everything on medium high heat for four minutes. Now, you have a roux.
   
4. After the four minutes have gone by, pour the half & half in.
5. Dump half of the cheese (6 oz) into the mixture as well.
6. Stir and cook for two minutes.
   • Unless you like a thick cheese sauce, don't let it boil. The milk and cheese will curdle, making the sauce thick.
   • If it boils, take it off the heat.
   • If it gets too thick, add some more half & half to thin it out.
   • When the cheese is melted and nice and creamy, you're good.
7. In a large bowl, add your cooked noodles and the other half of cheese (6 oz) and mix it up.
8. When that's mixed, add the sauce and mix that up.

That oughta do it! Enjoy!

[ßli乙乙y]

This is the updated recipe that I made tonight with more details, instructions, and an extra ingredient, garlic because I looooove garlic XD. Some things will be crossed out and new additions will be in blue. My intentions for this recipe is to have something pretty cheap while still being pretty good. Therefore, I replaced the unsalted butter with salted butter, and I will offer up suggestions for the half & half.



Macaroni and Cheese
This is the general recipe for macaroni and cheese. After I have gotten a chance to make it, I will post a second recipe that includes exact measurements, extra details, and my personal touch.

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of	All Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon of	Corn Starch
1 pinch of	Salt
1 pinch of	Pepper
Half a stick of	Unsalted Salted Butter
One Cup of	Half & Half (Can also use one part whole milk and one part heavy whipping cream) (Can also use canned evaporated milk, which usually comes canned, for longer preservation.)
12 oz of	Extra Sharp Cheddar (because the sharper, the more cheesy tasting it'll be) Also, it should be shredded before you start.
13.25 oz of	Macaroni Medium Shell Noodles
2 cloves of	Minced Garlic
(Optional)	Whatever other cheeses you like

This recipe can feed around 7-10 people.

This recipe also assumes that you know how to make noodles. I've always used two bags, although I cannot remember their sizes. The important part is the sauce, and you can always add more or less sauce to the noodles to get it just as you like it.

From now on, when I type anything in parentheses, (like this), then I am only speculating. I've followed this recipe by the book, but for those who don't have an ingredient or have dietary restrictions, I can suggest alternatives.


Instructions
This is the order in which I cooked everything:

1. Mince the garlic
   
2. Pour hot water in the pot and turned heat on to boil
   
3. Shredded the cheese.
   
4. Started to make the cheese sauce.
5. Water started to boil during step 3, so I put the noodles in.
6. Finished up the sauce and noodles.
7. Followed rest of instructions.
   

If you prefer to work on one thing at a time, I suggest the following order:

1. Shred the cheese, mince the garlic, and set them both aside in separate containers.
   
2. Put extra quart of water in pot and set fire to boil. (That way, you have extra water in case you let it boil for too long. If you do let it boil for too long, like 10 minutes after the water starts to boil, while you're cooking the noodles, stir twice instead of once.)
   
3. While water is being heated, make the cheese sauce.
4. After sauce is ready, cook the noodles when water is boiling.
5. Follow rest of instructions.
   

Noodles

Instructions provided for cooking your specific noodles should supersede my own instructions. I will provide how I cook my noodles just in case.

1. Pour four quarts of hot water--however hot your sink water can get--into a pot and set the heat to high. (Pouring hot water reduces the time it takes to boil water.)
   
2. Wait for water to boil.
3. When it boils, pour your 13.25 oz of noodles into the pot.
4. (Now, it's just like Papa's Pastaria. XD) Wait 3.5 minutes. Then, stir the noodles well for a five seconds.
5. After another 3.5 minutes, check your noodles.
   • You want them to al dente, which is a fancy way of saying the noodles are a bit firm. When that happens, drain the pot. (You may want to save the stock. I ended up using a bit to get some hot liquid into the final dish to make it easier to melt the cheese and stir everything.)
     
   • It's okay because they'll continue to cook and will get softer.
     
   • Rule of thumb: If you can squish the noodle with your fingers, they're done, so get them out of the heat.
     
6. Get the noodles into a big bowl and add two cloves of minced garlic and half of the cheese (6 oz). Toss the noodles to mix up the garlic and cheese. Set aside when done.
   

Cheese Sauce

1. Get a sauce pan and add the half stick of butter. Set the heat to medium.
   
2. In another bowl, add in the flour, cornstarch, and pepper and mix the dry ingredients up.
   
   • (Perhaps you can just add four tablespoons of cornstarch. I've just used cornstarch before to make Mexican hot chocolate, and it came out just fine.
     
3. When the butter is all melted, slowly add the dry ingedients. (Sprinkle and stir. Sprinkle and stir. Should be over in less than 10 seconds.
4. Keep everything on the medium heat for four minutes. After that, you have a roux.
   • I didn't bother mixing the dry ingredients, so everything decided to clump together.
5. After the four minutes have gone by, pour the half & half in and dump half of the cheese (6 oz) as well.
6. Stir and cook for two minutes. (Will take longer for thicker cheese sauce.
   
   • Perhaps this is what happens when salted butter is added instead of unsalted. Not sure. So, that's why I suggest to add the dry stuff slowly.
     
   • At any case, if it clumps, don't fret. Move immediately to the next step.
   • Now, I like a thick cheese sauce. So, as I'm cooking, I let a few bubbles come up.
     
   • As I stir, I think it's ready when I think I'm stirring oatmeal, gravy, or apple sauce.
     
   • SPOILER: Click to show
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     SPOILER: Click to show

     
7. In that large bowl where you left the noodles, add the cheese sauce and mix.
   

That oughta do it! Enjoy!

Questions, commends, or concerns? Please don't hesitate to post!