Homemade Mac & Cheese Recipe

Mac & Cheese can be considered one of the most basic dishes for someone to make. The dish itself requires very little in the way of ingredients and prep time needed. It is a quick, simple meal that you can make and modify with relative ease. Here, the instructions provided will explain the process, while giving a special focus on making a cheese sauce from scratch.

Ingredients

• One pound of block cheese
• Two tablespoons of butter or margarine
• Two tablespoons of all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon of salt 1 cup of milk, any percent.
• One pound of pasta

Tools and Utensils

• One 8 to 12 quart pot
• Cutting board Preferred kitchen knife, paring knife or larger, non serrated
• One large strainer or colander
• One 6 to 10 quart pot, optional
• One measuring cup
• One measuring tablespoon Wooden spoon meant for stirring

• If not already gathered, go and purchase any required ingredients for the recipe.
  • Cheese melts differently depending on the type and brand. Research the block of cheese you prefer before using it, though sharp cheddar blocks work well.
  • Do not use shredded cheese, it often is coated in an anti clumping agent and can affect the sauce.
  • Avoid long noodle pastas like angel hair, spaghetti, and fettuccine. Elbow, shells, and penne work wonderfully, but this is a matter of preference for use in the recipe.

• Clear away a space on your stove for your pots or pot, and a space for your cutting board and ingredients on your counter or a sturdy, stable table.
  • DO NOT PUT ANYTHING OTHER THEN THE POTS ON THE STOVE! This can create a fire hazard very quickly if you put any form of item that can melt on the heating elements or even near the, and double check to make sure your stove is off before you start preparing your ingredients and pots.
  • NEVER TOUCH THE BURNERS! Even if you believe a stove has been off for sometime, never touch, nor let anything flammable or plastic near the burners.
  • USE CAUTION WITH A KNIFE! Generally you want a slightly larger knife than a paring knife, as a block of cheese can be a bit tough to cut through. Do not use serrated knives to cut the block however.
  • Set your colander or strainer in the sink, making sure the sink is completely empty. This will allow you to strain the pasta later on without risking damaging a glass or other object within the sink.
  • Using a wooden spoon is best to help later move the butter around in the pot, stir the cheese, and various ingredients together, but you can use a silicone spatula or other similar utensils if preferred. Do not use metal utensils in the pot, as metal utensils can easily scratch cookware.

• Fill the pot with the amount of water detailed in the instructions on your desired box of pasta.Turn on the burner the pot is resting on. Set the burner to medium high heat unless box instructions say otherwise and wait till water is boiling.

• All pastas have different but similar instructions, so following the instructions as detailed on the pasta box is better then giving a generalization.
• The instructions can often be found on one side of or the back of the specific box of pasta you wish to use.

• Once pasta is tender or done as the box details, lift the pot carefully by its handles and dump the pasta into the colander slowly
  • THE POT AND WATER WILL BE HOT, USE CAUTION! Move slowly with the pot, hold it by its handles, and possibly even use pot holders or oven mitts to protect your hands in case the handles themselves have gotten hot.

  • It's often better to boil the pasta first before making the cheese sauce. You can however boil the pasta and make the cheese sauce at the same time in different pots, but that's mainly a matter of preference.

  • Remember to set the pot back down on an unused burner until needed once again.

• Cut the cheese into cubes an inch or smaller and set them aside.

  • Smaller cubes mean the cheese melts faster, but it's a matter of preference if you want the cubes smaller.

• Place the stove on the unused burner that fits the pot.
  • You can put it on the burner you had already used to boil the pasta if using one pot, but it is better to use an unheated burner as to not be forced to rush the next steps.

• Take the time to measure out each ingredient you need separately. Once done, add the measured out butter directly to the pot.

• Different stoves can be hotter or cooler than others, if your worried medium may be too high, keep it to medium low heat instead to give yourself some room for error.

• As the pot heats up, proceed to move the butter around with a wooden spoon or spatula until the butter is completely melted.

  • Make sure not to touch the metal of the pot with your hand or anything plastic.

  • if using the same pot, the pot will likely still be hot, so be cautious when handling it.

• Slowly add flour and salt into the melted butter, then begin to stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until all flour has been mixed with the better and no more remains white.

  • Don’t let this mix sit too long, or it will become burnt and unusable.

• Stir in the milk by slowly pouring it into the the mixture until no clumps of the flour butter mix remain.

  • You can add the milk all at once if you wish, but results are better with a slow mix.

• Add the cheese cubes to the pot carefully, and continue to heat at medium or medium low heat. Stirring the cheese block and milk until the cheese has completely melted.

  • The cheese must be completely melted, and stirred frequently. Cheese can burn quickly, and can separate if heated too much causing the sauce to be very greasy.

• Once the cheese has fully melted and mixed with no cubes visible even when you stir, remove the pot carefully from the hot burner to a cold one.

  • TURN OFF THE HEAT BEFORE YOU MOVE THE POT! Leaving the burner on by accident can be dangerous, and can lead to a fire or burn out of the burner if left on without anything to heat.

  • CAUTION, POT WILL BE HOT! Handle the pot with pot holders and only use the handles to make sure to avoid burns.

• Pick up the colander or strainer full of pasta and carefully add it to the pot. Once fully in, stir in the pasta with the cheese fully so all the pasta and cheese is mixed.

  • Sometimes pasta can clump together when left to sit, running some hot water over the pasta can help unclump it.

  • You need to add the pasta quickly once it's off the heat. The cheese sauce can settle and stiffen if left alone for too long.

• Now its up to you how you serve it. You can scoop the mix directly from the pot on the stove, or you can pour the mix into an oven safe glass dish. The choice is yours there.
  • Be careful when moving from metal to glass if you decide to put it in a oven or temperature safe glass serving dish. Sometimes glass can not handle the quick temperature change.