Stove-top Macaroni & Cheese
*Stove-top Macaroni & Cheese
Metro newspaper, Philadelphia February 19, 2010, recipe modified especially the instructions.
This was very good for a quick fast stovetop version of Macaroni & Cheese, and it reheats well, so it's the one Brian and I usually make. The sauce is creamy giving it a totally different texture than a baked macaroni and cheese (I think we added the flour and made a white sauce with added cheese). It also doesn't use eggs as Alton Brown's and John Thorne's recipes on this page do to help thicken the sauce and give it a more custardy texture. I have not tried these other recipes that use egg as I don't like custardy mac and cheese.
Note: I think this recipe needs to start with a roux, like making a cheese sauce) and think the cheese would mix in better. Melt the butter, then mix in 2 Tbsp. flour; cook the flour for a a minute, add the half and half and let the sauce thicken. Add the seasonings, then the grated cheese. Heat until the cheese melts.
1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
1 pound shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 cups) [mild cheddar melts better than sharp]
2 cups half-and-half
4 Tbsp. butter (1/2 stick)
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard (important for flavor & you can't taste it)
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt (use less if table salt)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. hot sauce, such as Tabasco (optional)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until slightly undercooked. It will continue to cook in the sauce. Drain the pasta but do not rinse the starch off.
Add remaining ingredients to the pot you cooked the pasta in, and stir until cheese is melted. Season with additional salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed. When ready to serve, bring the cheese sauce almost to a boil and add the macaroni noodles. Heat through and serve.
6 servings (this would be more than 6)
3-Ingredient Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
The Food Lab, Unraveling the mysteries of home cooking through science by J. Kenji López-Alt
This macaroni and cheese—this pot of creamy, gooey, cheesy, glorious macaroni and cheese—was made with three ingredients in about 10 minutes. Seriously. That's one fewer ingredient than you need to add to the pot to make a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Not only that, but all three ingredients are staples, with shelf lives of weeks or months, which means that a simple lunch is always on hand.
Why It Works
Cooking in a small volume of water concentrates the starch from the pasta, helping the cheese form a creamy emulsion.
Some similar recipes call for cooking pasta in milk, which can scorch. Cooking in water and adding evaporated milk toward the end avoids this problem.
Evaporated milk contains protein micelles, which help keep an emulsified sauce smooth and creamy.
6 ounces (170g) elbow macaroni
Salt
6 ounces (180ml) evaporated milk
6 ounces (170g) grated mild or medium cheddar cheese, or any good melting cheese, such as Fontina, Gruyère, or Jack
Place macaroni in a medium saucepan or skillet and add just enough cold water to cover. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Continue to cook, stirring, until water has been almost completely absorbed and macaroni is just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes.
Immediately add evaporated milk and bring to a boil. Add cheese. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continuously, until cheese is melted and liquid has reduced to a creamy sauce, about 2 minutes longer. Season to taste with more salt and serve immediately.
Yield: Serves 2
Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Similar to John Thorne's Macaroni & Cheese, below. The key to adding eggs seems to be to keep stiring to keep the cheese sauce so the eggs thicken the sauce without setting it.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.
John Thorne's Macaroni & Cheese
Uses eggs to thicken the sauce instead of flour.
Faith's note: tastes like the macaroni and cheese your grandmother made or that you would get in a diner. Good.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Faith: we used only 13 oz. cheddar cheese and it was plenty cheesy)
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon dry mustard , dissolved in 1 tsp water
Salt
Pepper
Toasted common crackers
Preheat oven to 350.
Boil the macaroni until just barely done in salted water. Drain and toss with the butter in a large, ovenproof mixing bowl.
Mix the Tabasco into the evaporated milk. Reserving about 1/3 cup, stir the milk into the macaroni, then add 3/4 of the cheese, the eggs and the mustard. When well combined, season to taste with salt and pepper and set the bowl in the oven.
Every five minutes, remove it briefly to stir in some of the reserved cheese, adding more evaporated milk as necessary to keep the mixture moist and smooth. These frequent stirrings allow the eggs to thicken without setting, resulting in an incredibly smooth sauce. When all the cheese has been incorporated and the mixture is nicely hot and creamy (which should take 20 minutes all told - no more), serve at once with a plate of toasted common crackers to crumble over.
You could also make your own bread crumbs for topping the casserole using:
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 1/2 tbsp salted butter
Melt the butter in a cast iron pan. Add the bread crumbs and brown, turning frequently.
Note: If you use a heavy-bottomed pot and cook over medium-low heat, you can heat the macaroni and cheese on top of the stove rather than in the oven.
The Best One-Pot Mac & Cheese
from https://www.thekitchn.com/
FMM: I tried this recipe and it wasn’t too bad for a quick stovetop Mac and Cheese, but I do not think I would use it again. It had a pasty consistency, probably from the pasta water used. I did make some adjustments.
The magic in this recipe comes from two things: using the pasta water as a base for the sauce, and cream cheese as the binder. By cooking the macaroni in a measured amount of water, you don’t have to drain it at the end, and the starchy liquid that’s left over helps to melt the other cheeses and turn it into a creamy, dreamy sauce. Cream cheese has the right mild creaminess and stabilizers when melted to basically make a white sauce without the use of any flour or butter.
6 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound dried short pasta, such as macaroni
12 ounces shredded melting cheese, such as Fontina, mozzarella, sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Colby [I added less]
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup grated hard cheese, such as Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
Bring the water and salt to a boil in a [covered] large, wide pot (such as a Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, stirring occasionally, until tender. Do not drain the pasta.
Be careful of the amount of salt you add. You will not be draining or rinsing the pasta.
Reduce the heat to low. Add the shredded cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan, and mustard. [A reviewer suggested melting in the cream cheese to make a creamy base, then adding the other cheeses.] Stir until all the cheeses are melted and the sauce is creamy. If the sauce is very thick, add water or milk a few tablespoons at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Taste and season with salt as needed. Serve immediately.
I did find the cheese sauce a bit pasty, probably due to using the starchy pasta water. I added some heavy cream that I had on hand, and it helped, but I still got that pasty feel from the sauce. Water may work better. Maybe draining the water, or most of it, and not rinsing the pasta would work better.
Baked mac and cheese: If you have a little extra time, you can bake the macaroni and cheese to give it a golden crust. Pour the prepared mac and cheese into a casserole dish, cover with a lid or foil, and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a few pats of butter, and bake uncovered for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden and the interior is bubbly.
Serves 4 - 8
