Carey's Homemade Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Simple cheesy goodness...a true comfort food you'll crave again and again. This is the macaroni and cheese recipe that I grew up with, plus some additions to improve it. It's very easy to make, very tasty, and far better than the kind out of the box. I like the recipe because it's so classic and so simple. It makes a great side dish, especially for fried chicken, chops, or meatloaf.
Simple cheesy goodness...a true comfort food you'll crave again and again. This is the macaroni and cheese recipe that I grew up with, plus some additions to improve it. It's very easy to make, very tasty, and far better than the kind out of the box. I like the recipe because it's so classic and so simple. It makes a great side dish, especially for fried chicken, chops, or meatloaf.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups elbow macaroni uncooked
- 1/2 cup butter (1-stick)
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste (optional)
- 2 cups half-and-half cream
- 1/2 cup cream cheese softened
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (8-ounces), grated
- 1 cup smoked gouda grated
- 1/2 tsp garlic minced fine
- 1/2 tsp onion powder or granulated
- Carbohydrate 65.9619511804821 g
- Cholesterol 181.076166666667 mg
- Fat 57.477125 g
- Fiber 2.73527712076902 g
- Protein 34.4875385416667 g
- Saturated Fat 35.3853964166667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (282g)
- Sodium 860.21297221852 mg
- Sugar 63.226674059713 g
- Trans Fat 4.18765166666667 g
- Calories 918 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
- While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour, salt, pepper, mustard, cayenne and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly.
- Remove from heat, stir in cream, garlic, onion powder. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat, stir in both cheeses, cream cheese and cook, stirring occasionaly, until cheese is melted.
- Drain macaroni and gently stir into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Bake uncovered until bubbly, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving. ENJOY!!
Starch control dictates whether a baked pasta dish achieves a velvety emulsion or turns out grainy and greasy. Achieving a stable sauce requires understanding how flour, dairy fats, and proteins interact under heat.
- Cook the elbow macaroni in rapidly boiling water salted to a seawater concentration until the interior retains a firm bite, preventing structural collapse during the subsequent oven phase.
- Whisk the all-purpose flour directly into the melted butter over low heat for precisely two minutes to eliminate the raw starch taste while preserving maximum thickening power.
- Incorporate the grated sharp cheddar and smoked gouda off the direct heat source to prevent the milk proteins from seizing and expelling their fat into oil slicks.
- Rest the ungreased casserole for five minutes post-bake at room temperature to allow the internal temperature to drop below 180 degrees Fahrenheit, which thickens the cheese sauce for clean portioning.
- Substitute gluten-free flour blends at a one-to-one ratio for the wheat flour without altering the butter quantity when adapting for dietary restrictions, though extended whisking may be required to smooth out grittiness.
Precision in dairy selection prevents the sauce from breaking under thermal stress. Half-and-half supplies the ideal fat-to-protein balance necessary to suspend the melting cheeses evenly.
