20 January 2014

The Best and Easiest Macaroni & Cheese!


My eldest is always a big fan of mac n cheese. Amongst all, he loves the ones served at Kenny Rogers (normally we pick them as one of the side dishes accompanied the chicken meal) and Sweet Chat café.
I’ve always wanted to make my very own mac n cheese version, of course it has to be simple, quick, and yet cheesy and tasty enough so that everyone can just have it at home whenever they feel like to! So the google effort begins for the ultimate (and easy!) mac n cheese recipe, but before that I dropped by at the neaby AEON after last Thursday office hour to buy the cheddar block. Ohhh a block of cheddar seriously was very costly, but it’s ok mama remember you wanted to make the best for the household don’t you? hihi and so I picked up the Bega brand (after all I couldn’t find much choice on the shelf at that point of time) and paid RM13.50 for that 200g block (or was it 250g lupa dah!).

Out of so many recipes you can find on the internet, I finally landed on this page and decided to give it a go at this recipe. I omitted the dry mustard and did not follow the measurement as indicated in the recipe exactly, but the end result is really satisfactory. Everyone loved it!!

Author:
Ingredients:
  • 8 oz. (1/2 pound or about 1¾ cups) macaroni or other medium tubular pasta (like penne or conchiglie)* - i used elbow macaroni
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt - pakai agak2 jer, make sure you don't underSALT your mac n cheese :)
  • ½ teaspoon dry mustard - i omit this
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika plus more for sprinkling on top
  • 2½ cups 2% milk - i used lesser...agak2 jer
  • 3 cups grated medium cheddar cheese* - i used 1 cup + only
Instructions
  1. Boil the pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking, and return to the pan you boiled it in. Set aside. (Mix in a little butter to keep the noodles from sticking if it’s going to be awhile before you make the sauce)
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  3. Over medium heat, melt the butter.
  4. Add the flour, salt, dry mustard, pepper, and ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika. Stir constantly over medium heat for about three minutes.
  5. Stir in the milk.
  6. Keeping on medium heat, whisk constantly for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
  7. Remove from heat, and stir in 2 cups of the cheese, stirring until melted.
  8. Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles and toss gently until all noodles are covered.
  9. Add half the noodles to a two quart casserole dish.
  10. Sprinkle on half the cheese.
  11. Add the rest of the noodles.
  12. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese, and dust lightly with the smoked paprika.
  13. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until it starts getting a slightly dry and a tiny bit brown on top. Serve, topping individual servings with cooked, chopped bacon if desired.
 
 The plain version for kids. I posted this pic on the FB last Friday morning and it triggers lots of comment from my friends. Guess what, this mac n cheese finally led us to the ex-Raudhah BBQ gathering on the Saturday nite at Zarid's...very impromptu & short notice yet we made it! :)

The 2nd round mac n cheese (adult's version) for the gathering. I added in some diced chicken, button mushroom, carrot and holland onion which resulted in a much superb and tasty mac n cheese :)

Please give it a try. Simple and tasty, yet it can becomes a perfect n healthy breakfast bento for ur kids :)

6 comments:

atulhani said...

kak.. saya nyer version mac & cheese lagi senang.. without cooking pun.. in 10 minutes dah siap. sebab my daugther tu bila2 masa mintak mac & cheese..

yatiscloset said...

ok cuba share sket resepi awak :)

atulhani said...

tapi rasa dia taklah sehebat mac& cheese akak punya ni. ni tahap buat side dish aje.. dan bagi toddler makan.

resepi sy tu, guna cheddar cheese slices, serbuk cheese(yg org jual utk makan ngan cheesy wedges tu), fresh milk sket, dan butter.

caranya just rebus macaroni semangkuk, once dah masak, tos air. masa tengah panas tu, masukkan butter sesudu dan cheese slices (2-3 slices) ikut suka. kacau sampai cheese cair. then masukkan bancuhan serbuk cheese dan sedikit fresh milk.

tu je kak. ;)

yatiscloset said...

ok mmg sempoi!! utk kekanak kecik bole la buat camni kan senang :) cam akak kalo kosong kitorang plak x lalu nk mkn...tu buh ayam segala kasik ade protein sket :p

Unknown said...

Sedaaaapppnya..
Dua2 resepi pun sempoi... Baru baca dah terasa Kat tekak. Nak Cuba jugak...
Tq sebab sudi kongsi resepi ni..

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SAYA MAS JOKO WIDODO DI SURABAYA.
DEMI ALLAH INI CERITA YANG BENAR BENAR TERJADI(ASLI)BUKAN REKAYASA!!!
HANYA DENGAN MENPROMOSIKAN WETSITE KIYAI KANJENG DIMAS DI INTERNET SAYA BARU MERASA LEGAH KARNA BERKAT BANTUAN BELIU HUTANG PIUTAN SAYA YANG RATUSAN JUTA SUDAH LUNAS SEMUA PADAHAL DULUHNYA SAYA SUDAH KE TIPU 5 KALI OLEH DUKUN YANG TIDAK BERTANGUNG JAWAB HUTANG SAYA DI MANA MANA KARNA HARUS MENBAYAR MAHAR YANG TIADA HENTINGNYA YANG INILAH YANG ITULAH'TAPI AKU TIDAK PUTUS ASA DALAM HATI KECILKU TIDAK MUNKIN SEMUA DUKUN DI INTERNET PALSU AHIRNYA KU TEMUKAN NOMOR KIYAI KANJENG DI INTERNET AKU MENDAFTAR JADI SANTRI DENGAN MENBAYAR SHAKAT YANG DI MINTA ALHASIL CUMA DENGAN WAKTU 2 HARI SAJA AKU SUDAH MENDAPATKAN APA YANG KU HARAPKAN SERIUS INI KISAH NYATA DARI SAYA.....

…TERIMA KASIH ATAS BANTUANNYA AKI KANJENG…

**** BELIAU MELAYANI SEPERTI: ***
1.PESUGIHAN INSTANT 10 MILYAR
2.UANG KEMBALI PECAHAN 100rb DAN 50rb
3.JUAL TUYUL MEMEK / JUAL MUSUH
4.ANGKA TOGEL GHOIB.DLL..

…=>AKI KANJENG<=…
>>>085-320-279-333<<<