Baked Mac & Cheese (2 Ways)

What's happening? Baked macaroni and

cheese

is comforting and indulgent and has been reliably turning eyebrows for centuries. Today I will show you how to prepare two delicious versions at home. The first way is, to start, a custard-based southern style. About that, I'll need to resolve the

cheese

situation today. I'm going to use three main cheeses plus an optional fourth that I'll talk about in just a second to provide a backbone of strong cheese flavor. I am going to start. with some sharp cheddar cheese, this is just the standard block version you get at the supermarket. Southern mac and cheese isn't about artisanal cheese, so don't use anything fancy on top of that.

I have some colby jack cheese, it's simple, it's mild. and there's nothing fancy melting here, this is kind of a Workhorse cheese and lastly, I've got some yellow Americano that brings that gooeyness and sticks to the palate that we really need in a nuclear orange

baked

Velveeta mac and cheese. It would also be a good option, but it tastes too much like canned nacho cheese to me. Oh, it's so gross. Also, you should probably skip using pre-shredded cheese for this recipe because the pre-shredded pieces tend to be coated in food starches or anti-caking agents which make them melt really weird Now, once all of these cheeses are shredded, I'll combine them in a medium bowl you have 225 grams or half a pound of sharp cheddar cheese, 225 of American cheese and then 225 colby jack now for the quarter and Still, optional cheese.

I'm going to add 125 grams of grated parm. I think adding a little aged cheese flavor to this Mac just gives it a touch of extra complexity without making it taste too fancy. Next, I'll mix all these cheeses together and that's it. Let's go. A perfect blend of creamy gooey and umami on the stovetop. I have a big pot of very salty water up to a boil, so I'm going to pour in my Mac, which will be a pound of whatever macaroni you want. better, I think 100 semolina or Durham pasta holds up better over the long baking time and after a quick stir I will let this pasta cook according to package directions or about five minutes total while it cooks.

I'm going to quickly take out what holds this Mac together, the egg cream, for that I'll set the cheese aside and grab a second medium bowl. Internet goes with three large eggs, these will help set the Mac more and give you a more delicious and creamy mouthfeel than 125 grams. of sour cream and then two cans of evaporated milk, these are 12 ounces or 350 mils each and their high levels of casein protein are essential in my opinion for making more stable and less greasy macaroni and cheese. Lastly, I'll add 2 grams. of black pepper and 8 grams of salt then I'll jump into the bowl and whisk everything quickly to combine and now we have egg milk aka custard on the stove it's been five minutes so I'll go back and check. in the pasta to see how it tastes, five minutes should give me a noodle that still has quite a bit of bite to it, we needed Al Dente because these noodles are going to get really soft and puffy during baking and that's perfect, so I'm going to do that.

Drain them in the sink and then move them to a large bowl so you can combine everything. Then I'll leave this pot of pasta back on the stove and then add a whole stick of butter or 115 grams wouldn't be enough. Southern cooking, if this dish wasn't full of fake cheese, sour cream and butter, I would make it and once it melts, I'll add it to the pasta, then add all of my evaporated milk cream and then most of it, but no everything, from my grated cheese. I'll blend, I'll save about 10 to 15 percent of that to melt on top and once it's all in the pool, I'll take a spatula and stir to combine, it'll probably look thicker than you think it should be at this point and that It's totally Okay, like I said, this pasta will swell and absorb most of this liquid, forming a thick, luxurious sauce.

I will then pour this whole mess into a deep 9 by 13 baking dish and then smooth the pasta into a nice flat layer and then cover it with the reserved cheese mixture, don't be shy with the cheese, make sure you have this pasta covered for the most part and once I have all this with cheese, I'm going to load it up. Put it in a 375 F oven and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes. During that time, the eggs will puff up and the paste will absorb most of the evaporated milk and turn a nice golden color on top when you scoop it out.

When you take it out you can see that it has even melted on the top and we have some fried bubbly edges in the corner, doubly nice and after 10 to 15 minutes of cooling time, when it comes back you can see that this paste has set to a sliceable mask that can easily be cut into squares to serve and oh baby we have some really nice melted cheese hanging on the side, in my opinion this is everything you want in some southern style

baked

mac and cheese, it's outrageously cheesy like stopping your heart levels of melted cheese it's gooey it's creamy and it's mega comforting it's a standalone dish in itself or it's the perfect accompaniment to smoked meats Grilled meats Fried chicken you name it, this Mac will be the life of that party For the next baked mac and cheese, I'm going to use a slightly more sophisticated and flavorful cheese blend and use a slightly more professional alternative method to bring things together, but first let me quickly thank Seed for sponsoring this video for me.

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The DSO capsule within a capsule system protects bacteria from moisture, heat, and stomach acid, so it's alive and ready to party when it finally reaches your colon, so if you're interested in controlling the health of your gut and your skin, head over to c.com Brian and use code Brian at checkout to get 15 off your order, we'll ship it to you in this pretty sustainable packaging. and it comes with a free refillable glass jar and travel vial, that's great, thanks seed. Now let's talk about the cast of cheeses I'm using for this Mac first. I have some very spicy pecorino cheese.

I'm using this because it's strong and dense. the smoothness is going to cut through all that luxurious creaminess, as this cheese is very dry, although it will need to be shredded very well for it to melt properly and form a sauce, so I'll grate it with the feather side of my box grater and on total I need 150 grams. Next I have some aged gruyere cheese with walnuts. I will grate it on the medium holes of my box grater and in total I need 250 grams. The last aged cheese I have here is Italian. telesio, this one has a peculiar buttery flavor and that is due to this rind washed light pink during the Asian process, they are not aged in Asia during the aging process, it is washed with a solution called brevobacterium Linens and that forms the outside of the cheese .

Smelling like a mushroom diaper sounds harsh but it tastes incredibly good to prepare this one for the sauce. I'm actually going to remove the peel because Telegio tends to have paper attached to it and that doesn't melt into the sauce at all. I'll need 250 grams of telegium if you want something less stinky. I would say use Brie or Cam and keep in mind that they have a milder mushroom flavor rather than a plain flavor. Now, once all my cheese is prepared, it's time to convert it. a cheese sauce or, more accurately, in French cuisine, a Mornay to start, I will pour 80 grams of butter into a 2 quart saucepan and melt it, then add 60 grams of all-purpose flour, then a whisk and stir everything together to combine.

I will cook this for about a minute on high heat to unify the butter and flour and remove the raw pasty taste and once the roux starts to brown like this I will add 1200 grams or about 5 cups of whole milk and add it to the roux from here. I'll bring it to a simmer and once it starts to thicken, make sure you stir it constantly because it will burn the flour and milk together, it can be quite sticky. and burning will be much easier than you think. Next, the heat is reduced to low so I can add my cheeses first.

The oldest, that is the pecorino. I find that I get the creamiest and least grainy result when working from the oldest. The youngest is followed by Gruyere, I'll add that and then my chopped telechio. I'll skip and stir it again and since this cheese is quite thick, it will take at least two or three minutes for it to melt evenly. Once the till has melted into this sauce it will thicken and look very cheesy, but at this point it's not as creamy or luxurious as it should be, it's just a little grainy, the cure for that is to add 225 grams of mascarpone cheese, this is essentially Italian cream cheese and will help make this sauce lighter and give it a bright cultured milk flavor, which makes a Mornay with purely aged cheeses tend to be a little grainy by adding a little cheese cool like this.

It helps give everything a softer body and once it is incorporated I will transfer it to my cutting board to finish, there are two grams of black pepper, five grams of salt and then a few strips of nutmeg, the warmth that this brings really. It helps round out the sharp edges of this sauce and complements the famous Gruyere Nutty, a quick whisk to combine all that and there we have a creamy, velvety Mornay sauce that is fit for a king to prevent a skin from forming while I cook the pasta. I'll cover it and then I'll go to the stove and cook some pasta, which will be a pound of Mac thrown into some salt water.

I'll cook it for five minutes, at which point I'll come back and try it. It's Al. Dente, so I'll drain it once it's cooked, throw it in a big bowl and then add all my Mornay, oh look how silky it is, then stir it to combine and voila, we have noodles. Swimming in a luxurious sauce, this looks super different from the first round where things were just sitting in cheese milk. I will then pour this into a 9 by 13 depth as before and from there I will top it with grated gruyere and grated pecorino cheese. I al

ways

like to have a top of some type of cheese right on top to capture a little browning and give it a darker, rounder flavor along with a little extra texture.

A quick bird's eye view to see what it looks like before baking. It looks good, so I'll upload it. Put it in a 375 F oven to bake for 35 to 40 minutes. One more quick look at the time lapse which looks great and once this Mac looks bubbly and slightly golden, it's time to take it out and it looks gorgeous after 15 minutes. rest time when I pull out a piece you can see again we have a block of pasta held together by a beautiful melted sauce guys this version has all the convenience and pleasure of the first with just a little more.

R-rated flavors, it's funky, creamy, sheepy and deeply nutty all at the same time, one second it tastes like Katya Pepe and the next it's like Swiss fondue, whether you choose the nuclear orange southern style or the funky version more sophisticated, you will be excited. I hope you try this recipe soon, let's eat this and if you want more macaroni and cheese content, I'll link it to my stovetop macaroni and cheese on the screen right now.