A few weeks ago I started a quest for some good mac and cheese. Nancy makes a killer mac-n-cheese but I wanted my own. I’m sure I frustrate the crap out of Nancy sometimes because I’m always looking for something better when it comes to food and recipes. Now mind you , this mac-n-cheese is not Bobby Flay mac-n-cheese with some crazy-sexy ingredients, but it is really, really good! I would make it for any of my friends and be proud.
My first attempt was with a Jamie Oliver version that didn’t include a bechamel sauce but instead called for mixing the cooked pasta with the cheese and then baking it. I found it to be okay, had some nice flavor as he added garlic salt to his, but overall it didn’t make the grade for heart-attack-5,000-calorie-kill-me-now before-I-have-a-stroke-and-die type of mac-n-cheese. This is what I’m looking for. Why make mac-n-cheese if you aren’t going to go for broke? I thought about mixing in bacon or truffle oil, but why make something simple complicated?
The second version, I made a few nights ago for my best bud Chad, Nancy and the boys. I found this version in Kurt Beecher’s book, “Pure Flavor”. I was also able to find Beecher’s Cheddar in the local store and was glad. Nancy and I visited their flagship store in Seattle last year. Great cheese!
Chad is up from San Francisco and has been visiting for the past week. I’m almost out of energy. I think I’m getting about five hours of sleep each day. We are mild though, old guys I guess. Our pattern consists of playing sports games on the Playstation 3, drinking large amounts of liquids, cussing at the TV and throwing controllers and in general fighting for the most wins. We are both super competitive. Most of the time we have a great time but there are nights where we are about ready to kill each other.
Last night was particularly funny though since you can customize your player characters. Chad always plays with a male character, but I always pick a female character. I figure if I’m going to have to watch a cyber-person on the screen for hours and hours, I would rather look at a woman than a man. So, I’m buying some hot clothes for my hot cyber golfer when Chad asks me, just as Nancy appears around the corner, “Can you turn her around on the screen so we can see her a%$?” Bad timing, hahaha, we laughed our a$% off as Nancy gave us a dirty look out of the corner of her eye!
Well back to the mac-n-cheese. It was quite a story. I thought I was going to double the recipe, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Problems from the start, because I was trying to cook and hold a serious political discussion with Chad and Nancy. I doubled the butter, but nothing else in the bechamel sauce. By the time I noticed it was way too late. From there I threw caution to the wind. I ended up doubling the cheese by mistake and the resulting mac and cheese, though incredibly cheesy and awesome had a bit of a texture issue. We ate it, Jacob and I really enjoyed it, but Nancy and Chad complained about the texture.
Chad, who is like me, super-competitive and a bit of a perfectionist said “Let’s do it again and do it right this time!” DOH! “Oh what the hell,” I thought, it was about 9:30 at night, but let’s make it again. Chad started the bechemel while I tried to grate the cheese with the correct proportion this time. It worked out perfectly, and we ate the second version at 11:00pm. Everyone loved it, plain and simple. It was great mac-n-cheese. From what I can tell, the secret to this recipe is the proportions.
Perfect Mac-n-Cheese (serves 4 as a side dish)
- 8 ounces penne pasta (half a box)
- 2 cups Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sauce (see below)
- 1 ounce Cheddar, grated
- 1 ounce Gruyere cheese, grated
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter an 8-inch dish. Cook the penne 2 minutes less than the package directions. You want the noodles not quite done because they will finish cooking in the sauce in the oven. Rinse the pasta with cold water and set aside.
Combine cooked pasta and Flagship Sauce in a medium bowl and mix carefully but thoroughly. Scrape the pasta into a prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the cheeses, then the chile powder. Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, until the top has a nice golden crust. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.
If you decide to make this as a main and double the amounts, use a 9×13 inch baking pan and increase the time to 30 to 35 minutes.
Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sauce (makes 4 cups)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 14 ounces semi-hard cheese, grated (I used Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar)
- 2 ounces grated semi-soft cheese (I used Gorgonzola)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Continue to whisk and cook for 2 minutes. You just made a roux, a substance used for thickening sauces!
Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Now you turned the roux into a bechamel.
Remove from the heat. Add the cheese, salt, chile powder and garlic powder. Stir until the cheese is melted and all the ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes. If the cheese isn’t melting completely you can put the pan on low heat.
Use immediately or refrigerate for up to three days!
I am always looking for a good mac and cheese. At first I thought oh no I am not making a bechamel it’s too much work but the way you put it, it didn’t sound to bad. I will give this a try. Thanks !
I made this recipe the other day and let me tell you it is delicious! I decided to try making it into a meal instead of a side dish by sauteeing up some chicken breast with similar seasoning as whats in the mac and cheese and adding it before the whole dish went in the oven. It turned out delicious! i would reccomend this dish to anyone looking for a decadent mac and cheese recipe!
bechamel sounds great in a mac and cheese. If you’re going to eat 5,000 calories in a sitting, it better be worth it! This looks amaaaaaazing!
Sounds delicious. Think I will definitely try this sometime soon!
haha. that’s a funny story.
This sounds yummy. Gruyere and gorgonzola and chile flakes — what a combination!
What a great combination of cheeses in your mac & cheese. We like to add a little caramelized onion to ours, yummy
That looks incredibly creamy and delicious. Love the use of chipotle powder!
Drool. Just stopped by from Tastespotting and felt the need to tell you that this is going in my “must make soon” file. I love that you added gorgonzola to the cheese sauce — it sounds divine.
I’m always looking for new dishes to go on the winter menu at home. I’m looking forward to contributing to my eventual heart attack.
That cheddar sauce sounds really good. Love the combo of cheeses and the addition of the chili powder rather than using straight cayenne. I always add some dry mustard to my bechemel as well. I also like that your recipe has more milk..most don’t have enough to get a creamy enough sauce after baking. Thanks for this!
Oh my that looks so sinfull and I am not in the mood to be a ‘good’ girl! haha.
Be still my beating heart!
You’ve got a point there: what’s the point of mac and cheese if it’s not heartbusting? Okay then. That’s my go signal to make mac and cheese. 😉
Great-looking mac and cheese!
I usually don’t click on strangers’ blogs, but who can resist the perfect mac n’cheese? I’ll try your recipe, thanks!
That looks totally YUM!!
Mmmm…I feeling a craving coming on!
It must be that time of year! I had an insane craving for it about a week ago, and wrote a blog about the very same subject. I’m going to try your recipe next time!
Great. What I was looking for: A perfect recipe for Mac-n-Cheese. I dont normally cook, but the picture looks nice. Although I just might order pizza for tonight.
mmm that sounds delicious! i can’t remember the last time i had mac and cheese. maybe it’s time i tried this out!
Great recipe! How about attracting more people to your blog so more people can learn to cook such good food?
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mmmm…..I was wondering what to fix for lunch, definitely something hot on such a cold day! Who would have known that browsing a new blog site would help out with lunch planning! lol
gotta go, have lunch to make =)
This is what really I call blog . . a Really Useful Blog . . . Really . .
This is what I do with my bechamels . . put a dash of curry paste in it – any curry paste – any size of dash – oh boy, does this win the big cigar . . . .
I have Kurt’s book and this mac n cheese is on my list of things I will be making. Did you get to sample some when you visited the store @ Pike Place? Between that and grilled cheese sandwiches, I’m usually down for the count 😉
This is just one more mark in the “make it sooner” (rather than later) column.
I’ve put gorgonzola cheese in a few mac & cheese dishes and never looked back.
Love that you used penne.
Thanks for the turkey day idea.
the bechamel looks like it really makes it creamy and keeps the cheese in tact w/o separating. isn’t that usually the key to great mac and cheese , to have a cheesy sauce? mmm… it looks like you did the most simplest of foods justice! great job.
That mac & cheese looks so creamy and good!
If you preheat the milk, you can just pour it all into the roux and it will combine really easily with no lumps. I knew I watched TV chefs for a reason.
This DOES look perfect!
This is how i make my mac and cheese. My family calls it Fat Macaroni and Cheese…..deelish!
Dang. I never saw such a good photo of mac-and-cheese.
I am from Belgium.I just bookmarked your site!
I usually add a pinch of black ground pepper into the bechamel sauce.And I even tried some with finger sized sticks of boiled white celery that I mix before serving:it adds some ingredient on the mac-&-cheese and…It’s de-li-cious!
Thanks for the review on our Mac & Cheese! We appreciate you taking the time and would love to thank you with a sampling of some new frozen sides we’ve been working on – all just as cheesy as our macs! If you’re interested, shoot your contact/shipping information to cheesemonger@beecherscheese.com and we’ll drop some in the mail. We’re happy to delete your info after we ship you the goods, just let us know! Thanks again!
Lovely blog! I’ve really enjoyed looking at all your recipes. Will defnitely be back 🙂
I too am a mac n cheese fan although I have to say, I find it extremely bland without the addition of a little veg. Just a personal thing and I suppose I could be told its not a true version of mac n cheese but the addition of scallions, crispy bacon, peppers/red onion and mushrooms take this up a notch for me xx
Okay, I made this the other night and it’s HEAVEN. Instead of Gorgonzola I used Velveeta (it’s all I had! don’t judge me), but it still turned out wonderfully. I’ll probably make this at least once a week.
I made this for dinner last night with some minor changes (gigli pasta instead of penne; blacksticks blue instead of gorgonzola; gouda instead of gruyere; cayenne instead of chipotle). I think it was probably the best mac & cheese I’ve ever tasted! Foodgawker has you in their most gawked at recipes for a reason 🙂
Loved the mac and cheese! Had three plates worth and I may go back for four! We replaced the gruyere with gouda but the chipolte and chili powder add an excellent touch!
ohh my. Made this deliciousness last night and my husband loved it! It was just nice and creamy and rich, perfect indeed. :]
Thanks for this awesome recipe guys!
I just made this for my family tonight. It was sooooo good! I will definitely make it again! I made no changes to the recipe and I wouldn’t dare change a thing!
I.LOVE.YOU.
My boyfriend and I made this for my parents, along with some delicious meatloaf. Of all the dishes we’ve cooked together, I still vividly remember that meal.
No other mac n’ cheese compares!
Literally one of the best recipes I’ve ever made.
[…] Mac & Cheese. YUMMO! […]
I Made this last night… A. M. A. Z.I.N.G!!!! haha im in college and i live by the worst-stocked wal-mart EVER! So they didnt have any gorgonzola cheese… haha so i just used cheddar and mozarella.. and it was DELICIOUS! I put some breadcrumbs on top and ate it for every single meal today haha. Thanks for posting this!!
Oh that looks so good!
I’ve been looking for a good mac and cheese recipe! I can’t wait to try this!
Found you through StumbleUpon. Made this dish last night for my husband and myself and we loved it! Added some cracker crumbs to the topping to make it a little more crunchy.
KILLER – for a change I followed this (almost) to the letter. Used Kroger Sharp Cheddar and Mozzarella. Quantities filled a 8″ round shallowish dish and a glass loaf dish (put in lots of pasta – shells, white red green rotinni). hAd the tound dish with stuffed cabbage leaves. Can’t wait to slice the bread dish.
OMG! sounds amazing!
so happy I stumbled upon your blog! omg!
-Misty
I tried this recipe yesterday. It turned out great! Do you have any recommendations for putting breadcrumbs on top to give it a crunchy crust?
My favorite comfort food – will try you recipe – sounds sooooo good
Hmm, been looking for some Mac and Cheese recipes to try out this weekend. This one looks awesome!
JoAnn Ryan
Food4um.com
It’s a good recipe. Try Horseradish cheddar in the mix sometime. I also like to put just a but of smoked gouda for something different.
Garlic powder?? Well, then enjoy this “delicious” meal, you funny Americans!
I have ate the Mac and Cheese at Beechers in Seattle. The best, I love mac and cheese , theirs was cheesy and flavorful. Great atmosphere.
Yum, this mac and cheese really does look perfect! It’s totally making me hungry! 😀
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This is amazing! Best I have ever made!
WOW, looks amazing 🙂
I made this with as a meal & added some shrimp.. mmmm
This is an awesome mac and cheese recipe!