Macaroni Cheese To Die For Recipes

Steps:

• Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until it's barely al dente. (It should be more al dente than your average pasta: It's going to continue to cook in the oven.) Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat butter in a medium pot over medium heat. (The pot should be large enough to hold all the pasta when cooked.) Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the flour is foamy and just starting to turn a light golden brown, about 4 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk to avoid clumping. Add garlic, paprika and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly and paying special attention to the edges of the pot to make sure the flour mixture is totally incorporated.
• Add grated cheese and whisk to blend until the cheese is completely melted. (The sauce will seem thick at first and thin out as the cheese melts; it will thicken while it bakes.) Season with salt and pepper and add cooked pasta, stirring to coat well.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (to catch any cheesy drips).
• Make the optional topping: Combine bread crumbs, melted butter and Parmesan, if using, in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper and, using your hands, mix well to ensure the bread crumbs are evenly coated.
• Transfer the macaroni and cheese mixture to a 3-quart or 9 x 13 baking dish and scatter bread crumbs, if using, evenly over the top. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake until macaroni and cheese is bubbling, thickened and creamy, and bread crumbs are evenly golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Steps:

• Start by cooking 1 pound of elbow macaroni until "el dente", drain & set aside.
• Cut the crust off of white bread (set crusts aside for later) and line a very large baking dish with them. (I ended up needing one large 9x13 pan and another 8x8 pan to fit it all).
• Melt 8 Tablespoons of butter in Microwave then brush all over the bread. (YES this is one entire cube of butter.).
• Take the crusts & spread on a cookie sheet & put into a 200 degree oven until nice & dry. I deviated from JoAnne's recipe here and sprinked the crusts with a bit of Garlic Powder.
• Put 5 1/2 cups of WHOLE milk into your pot and don't try to make it with skim milk. You just got done brushing all the bread with one cube of butter. Don't you think skim milk is pointless by now? (Also, make the pot a large one).
• On a lower heat setting warm the milk a bit then slowly add 1/2 cup flour as you whisk to prevent lumping (you can also use another thickening agent like corn starch etc).
• Add 1/4 tsp White Pepper (you can use regular black pepper if you don't have white), 1/4 tsp Cayanne Pepper & 1/4 tsp Nutmeg.
• To the milk, flour, spice mixture you add 4 1/2 cups of White Cheddar (I used Tilamook Vintage White). Now I didn't want to shred it all so here was my conversion -- 8 oz to a cup -- so basically I just cubed up an entire two pound block of it and put it into the pot. I could be totally off but it turned out great anyway.
• Add 1 cup Swiss & 1 Cup Romano.
• Keep stirring over low to medium heat until the cheese is melted & everything is mixed creamy together.
• When it's all mixed and creamy mix in your elbow macaroni.
• Pour the mixture into the white bread lined baking dish (or dishes).
• Crumble up your dried out bread crusts to make coarse bread crumbs.
• Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the macaroni mixture.
• Put pans into a 350 degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes until bubbly & browned on top.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Spread the baguette chunks over a baking sheet, drizzle with the melted butter and season. Bake for 6 mins until crisp, then set aside.
• Boil the pasta for 2 mins less than stated on the pack, then drain. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the garlic and English mustard powder, cook for 1 min, then stir in the plain flour.
• Cook for 1 min more, then gradually whisk in the milk until you have a lump-free sauce. Simmer for 5 mins, whisking all the time until thickened. Take off the heat, then stir in the cheddar and half the parmesan.
• Stir the pasta and some seasoning into the cheesy sauce. Tip into a large ovenproof dish, or four individual dishes.
• Scatter over the bread and the remaining parmesan, then bake for 20 mins until crisp and golden. Can be frozen before baking - defrost thoroughly before cooking.