I'll read your links, but the best Mac & Cheese: The Food Lab's Ultra-Gooey Stovetop Mac and Cheese
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 8:53 PM on December 4, 2015 [8 favorites]

Canadian history of Kraft Dinner
posted by blob at 8:55 PM on December 4, 2015 [6 favorites]

I made a mustardy beer fondue recently and saved all the leftover fondue in a mug and put it in the fridge and I've been wondering if I could use it as a baked mac and cheese base....
posted by The Whelk at 9:39 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Put Old Bay seasoning on your mac and cheese. Seriously, go do it now. It's amazing.
posted by namewithoutwords at 10:15 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hell, yes, The Whelk.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:59 PM on December 4, 2015

True Canadian Kraft Dinner.
posted by jeribus at 11:01 PM on December 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

Mei's lost sandal: I'll read your links, but the best Mac & Cheese: The Food Lab's Ultra-Gooey Stovetop Mac and Cheese

I implore anyone who makes homemade mac 'n cheese to try this recipe. I've made many versions of this delicious dish, and The Food Lab's truly was a standout. And quick!

namewithoutwords: Put Old Bay seasoning on your mac and cheese. Seriously, go do it now. It's amazing.

Maryland-bred girl here! I couldn't agree with you more on this point. (But it's difficult for people in other regions of the US to get it).
posted by honey badger at 11:24 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Ban this filth"
posted by gingerest at 1:41 AM on December 5, 2015

A mac and cheese restaurant opened up near where I lived. I only found out when I opened a menu and saw that it consisted of M&C dishes priced as gourmet entrees and very little else. I still am not grasping the concept.
posted by telstar at 5:25 AM on December 5, 2015

It's bechamel or bust in this house!
posted by STFUDonnie at 6:32 AM on December 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

I summoned Parks; he appeared bearing a silver casserole.

"What's that?" Jamie asked.

"Nouilles et fromage en casserole," Parks answered.

Claudia showed interest. "I'll have some, please. Sounds like something
special."

Parks served. Claudia looked down at her plate, looked up at me and
moaned, "Why, it's nothing but macaroni and cheese."

"You see," I laughed, "under the fancy trappings, I'm just a plain
lady."

Claudia laughed then. We all did, and we began enjoying our lunch.

- Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler *
posted by jammy at 6:36 AM on December 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

As long as we are advocating for regional additions to macaroni and cheese, I must point out that putting chopped, roasted green chiles in makes for a fantastic meal, and I don't think you can go wrong with adding red chile sauce, either.
posted by heurtebise at 6:49 AM on December 5, 2015

Fundamentalist Macaroni and Cheese
posted by JDHarper at 7:10 AM on December 5, 2015 [4 favorites]

Paprika makes it all grown-uppy.
posted by Chitownfats at 9:06 AM on December 5, 2015

Macaroni is a valuable food, as it is very cheap and nutritious; but being deficient in fat, it should be combined with cream, butter, or cheese to make a perfect food. -- Fannie Farmer, 1896.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:27 AM on December 5, 2015 [3 favorites]

Bacon is lovely, but I tend to like a splash of sriracha or similar. I like the extra heat added, and the sort of tomatoey flavor complements the cheesy flavor.
posted by Samizdata at 10:58 AM on December 5, 2015

I'll read your links, but the best Mac & Cheese: The Food Lab's Ultra-Gooey Stovetop Mac and Cheese

Ergh evaporated milk. I never have it. It gets me every time, and if I decide 'no, this time, I'm going to buy this and I'm going to have this on hand' six years pass and I throw it out and then come across an awesome mac and cheese recipe.

I hate you, evaporated milk.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:42 PM on December 5, 2015 [3 favorites]

blob's Canadian history of Kraft Dinner link is so good! So interesting and surprisingly wide-ranging. Unfortunately, knowing me, the only thing I'll probably end up remembering from it is the Canadian spelling "yogourt."
posted by knuckle tattoos at 11:46 AM on December 6, 2015

I implore anyone who makes homemade mac 'n cheese to try this recipe. I've made many versions of this delicious dish, and The Food Lab's truly was a standout. And quick!

Okay, I did (after putting evaporated milk on the shopping list today, converting all the US measurements to metric, and substituting UK Mature Cheddar and Mild White Cheddar for Sharp Cheddar and American Cheese). And it was absolutely delicious. And quick. But the serving size was insane. "Serves 4-6" actually meant that two adults and two kids in our family could only get through half of it. If you ate a quarter of this you'd be consuming almost 300g of dairy, half an egg and maybe 200g of cooked pasta.

In future I'll make a half amount and serve it with a side salad. Also invert the 2/3 mature and 1/3 mild cheddar proportions so the kids don't find it so intense, although I liked that. (I already substituted a few shakes of paprika for the hot sauce.)

Thanks for the tip, though - best mac and cheese recipe I've tried so far, in my eternal quest to recreate the stuff I ate at the uni refectory as an undergrad.
posted by rory at 2:18 PM on December 6, 2015

A quick glance at that serious eats recipe brought to mind john thorne.
posted by valkane at 2:35 PM on December 6, 2015

You're right, valkane, that's pretty much the same thing. A hunt around turned up this article on the Thorne recipe, which gives the same sort of explanation for why it works as the Food Lab's explanation of theirs. Everything old is new again.
posted by rory at 2:54 PM on December 6, 2015

Whelk, that sounds like the sauce for Welsh Rabbit (rarebit is a corruption).
posted by brujita at 7:01 PM on December 6, 2015

I use sodium citrate + cream/milk + cheese for the sauce, the sodium citrate makes the cheese emulsifiable in liquids, I like it better than the evaporated milk version. And you can go from there adding either sriracha, frank's red hot, porto, etc....
posted by coust at 7:25 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

I did the Serious Eats version recently, and it made far too much mac n cheese. It was tasty, but not mindblowlingly tasty. Also grating your own cheese ups the prep time significantly, depending on the cheeses you have and their gratability. And it' wasn't really a new technique for me--one of my editions of the Joy of Cooking also has a rather similar stovetop mac n cheese recipe. Anyway, I am still a fan of the Food Lab and it was a tasty dinner, but I certainly would only make a half batch if I do it again.
posted by matematichica at 9:21 PM on December 6, 2015

Best thing ever to top mac n cheese is gomashio, toasted sesame seeds and coarse salt. Glorious.
posted by davelog at 9:28 PM on December 6, 2015

No love for Mac & C.H.E.E.S.E.?
posted by Chrysostom at 6:24 AM on December 7, 2015