Video:Tips for Making Mac and Cheese

Transcript:Tips for Making Mac and Cheese

Hi, I’m Caitlyn Becker for About.com and today I’m going to share my tips for making delicious mac and cheese.

Use Cheeses Good for Melting

Get creative with your cheeses, the sky’s the limit. You do want to start with about a cup of a good melting cheese, like a fontina, cheddar, American, gruyere, and then you can kind of mix and match. Whether you want to add a goat, or a cream cheese, or a harder cheese like a parmesan or a locatelli. The more creative you get, the more complex your dish is going to be, and it won’t be the boring mac and cheese that your kids eat.

Textured Macaroni Holds the Cheese Sauce Best

When you’re making mac and cheese, any kind of short pasta will work. It doesn’t always have to be the classic elbow. I like something with some texture because it really does hold the sauce together, which makes for a really decadent mac and cheese.

For a creamy mac and cheese, you’re going to want to cook the pasta al dente, so it has a little bit of a crunch to it, because it’s going to cook a little more in the sauce, and you don’t want it mushy. If you’re going to bake your mac and cheese, you want to cook it just shy of al dente, so that when you put it in the oven, it cooks all the way through.

Mac and Cheese Stars With a Béchamel Sauce

The base to any good mac and cheese starts with the béchamel sauce. The basis of our béchamel begins with a roux. So we’re gonna get our pot on a low temperature, and then drop in our butter so that can melt up. We want a blond roux, which is exactly that, it’s blond in color. If you’re doing a heavier mac and cheese you want maybe a heavier roux, let it brown up a little bit, but don’t let it burn. Stir that last bit of butter so it’s nice and melted, and we’re gonna add our six tablespoons of flour. It’s going to form sort of a paste. Stir that up, let it reduce a little bit, darken up in color, see how that’s real thick? Let’s add our two cups of whole milk, mix that up, and we’re just gonna let that reduce. This is a béchamel sauce.

You want it to thicken up before you start adding your cheeses. This is also the spot where you can really flavor your mac and cheese. A little dry white wine, or some dark beer, is really delicious depending on which kind of cheese you use. If you’re short on time and you can’t make a béchamel, you can actually open up a can of condensed cheddar cheese soup, heat that up. Doesn’t have as complex of flavor, but it really does lend itself to a creamy mac and cheese.

Mac and Cheese is Great for Baking and Experimenting

For another variation on the mac and cheese, you can always bake it. Remember not to cook your pasta all the way through. You want to have a little crunch so it can finish cooking. Pour your mac and cheese with your sauce into the dish, and then I like to top it with some breadcrumbs. I’m using panko breadcrumbs because they have a nice crunch to them. So now you just pop it in the oven, at about 375 until it is golden brown. When reheating your mac and cheese, it’s best to do it at a low temperature on the stove so it doesn’t dry out.
Add a splash of milk or a little pad of butter, to bring back some of that moisture.

Once you have your basic cheese sauce, you can really mix and match any kind of flavor combination and additives to make a whole dish. My favorite thing to do is to add shellfish in here. I have some beautiful jumbo lump crab meat, and add a little bit of our cheese sauce. Give that a good mix- Jumbo lump crab meat mac and cheese. Another way to do it is to add a little bit of a Mexican flare. Some of the cheddar from earlier, and then some chopped jalapeños for a little kick. Oh that looks good! A quick stir, and there’s your cheddar cheese-jalapeño mac and cheese.Try my tips the next time you make mac and cheese, and for more cooking tips, visit About.com.