Got Cheese Ends? Make Mac!
Shawn's "Basic" Mac-and-Cheese
- 3 cups milk
- Bay leaf
- 1 lb. elbow macaroni
- 8 oz. (1 stick) butter
- 3 tbls. flour
- Freshly grated nutmeg (omit if using flavored cheese like truffle or smoked)
- Finely ground black pepper
- 4 cups of grated cheese (your choice, but make sure you have 1/2 cup sharp, salty cheese for sprinkling on top)
- 1/2 cup each of your choice of meat and chopped vegetables
Heat milk with the bay leaf and keep warm.
Cook macaroni, tossing in the vegetables for the last minute of cooking to blanch. Drain and set aside.
In the pot you used to cook the macaroni, slowly melt butter, then stir in flour with a wooden spoon. Cook for three minutes, stirring, on medium-low heat until it starts to brown and smells nutty and toasted.
Add a small amount of warm milk. Whisk rapidly, and keep slowly adding milk and whisking until the sauce is smooth. Take out the bay leaf; add nutmeg and pepper.
Stir cheese, except for the reserved salty grating cheese, into the hot sauce, then add the macaroni, vegetables and meat.
Pour into a buttered baking dish, top with reserved cheese and bake at 400 degrees F. for a half hour or until golden-brown on top.
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What to do with odds and ends of cheese in your refrigerator? Make macaroni and cheese, of course!
Any cheese works. A combination of cheeses, even better.
In France, it’s a gratin, and would use Beaufort, Comte or Cantal. In Switzerland, it most likely would include Gruyere or Raclette and maybe a bit of imported Parmigiano-Reggiano and some bacon.
Here in the United States (and Canada), where we cut our teeth on Kraft and moved up to Annie’s, Cheddar is our standard, and we still long for it even though we may hang out on 9th Street.
I do like to add vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, peas or asparagus, and, often, ham. I especially love to throw in thin slices of Italian rosemary ham. Roasted wild mushrooms are delicious with a truffled cheese in the mix like Cacio de Bosco Pecorino.
Although I don’t have any rules regarding what cheese to use, I always use at least three — usually one creamy cheese like Havarti, Jack or Gouda, one aged Cheddar and one hard cheese that packs a big flavor punch and a bit of salt. A creamy semi-soft cheese helps with smooth texture; if you go too heavy on the sharp and aged cheeses, your mac can become grainy.
Bechamel, or white sauce, is important. It’s the base of Mornay or cheese sauce. Whisking warm milk into the roux (butter and flour stirred together slowly over low heat) is the easiest way to get the sauce started. I add a pinch of nutmeg, but you might want to include a teaspoon of dry mustard powder, cayenne pepper or even hot sauce instead.
I never use a bread-crumb topping because I like way the cheese and pasta get crunchy on top during baking. I usually finish it with a grating cheese like Parmagiano Reggiano.
I encourage you to experiment! In preparing to write this I asked several people about how they do Macaroni and Cheese and read lots of recipes online.