Macaroni and Cheese

My husband and I love macaroni and cheese. Seriously…what’s not to love about noodles covered in a cheese sauce? As convenient as the box mixes are, it really does not take much more time to make it from scratch. Well semi from scratch as I’m not making my own noodles. We prefer the stop top method as we are not big fans of the crumbly topping that normally comes with the baked version.

Bechamel Sauce
1 cup shredded cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
8 ounces of dried noodles (elbow macaroni is what we normally use)
Salt, pepper to taste

Using the basic Bechamel Sauce recipe (for the purpose of this macaroni and cheese I use 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon of flour to one cup of heavy cream. I know the recipe calls for milk but my husband and I love the added richness the cream gives the sauce.)

While cooking the Bechamel Sauce, bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles per instructions. Drain well but do not rinse. Rinsing will take the starch off the noodles and they need that starch for the sauce to cling to.

Once the Bechamel is ready, add the Worcestershire and slowly add the shredded cheese. You can use any good melting cheese. I have a soft spot for Gruyer. Chedder and Fontina also work well. Stir until all the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper if you think it needs it (the Bechamel should have already been seasoned). Slowly add the cheese sauce to the noodles, mixing until every noodle is covered with cheesy goodness.

Serve and enjoy! This makes four servings. Normally I have a little bit of sauce left over, steam some broccoli and/or cauliflower and pour over that! YUM!

Bechamel Sauce

In my opinion every cook should know how to make a few of the mother sauces, especially Bechamel. What is a mother sauce, you ask? I am very happy to tell you! There are five mother sauces as described by chef Auguste Escoffier in his book: A Guide to Modern Cookery. These sauces, in both French and Italian cuisine, are the basis for most of the other sauces you will find. The five mother sauces are Bechamel, Espagnole, Veloute, Hollandaise and Tomate.

For this post we are going to talk about Bechamel, which is one of my favorites. There are so many things you can do with a Bechamel sauce…you can turn it into a Mornay sauce (a cheese sauce with Gruyere and Parmesan cheese), or the English version Cheddar cheese sauce. Bechamel Sauce on it’s own is used in a wide array of dishes as well.

The basic recipe for a Bechamel is 1 to 3 tablespoons of butter and flour to one cup of milk. It is most important to keep the ratio of butter and flour equal. Otherwise your sauce will have an overly starchy non good eats flavor. Trust me I know this from experience. What you need the sauce for will depend on how many tablespoons of butter and flour you use honestly.

One tablespoon each of butter and flour per cup of milk makes a thin, easily pourable sauce. Two tablespoons of each makes a medium thick sauce. Three tablespoons of each makes an extra thick sauce.

Melt the butter and whisk in the flour until smooth. This forms a roux.

Cook the roux for about five to seven minutes. You don’t want it to get dark, but stay a light golden sandy color. Make sure to stir frequently. 

 Depending on the recipe…some say to warm the milk, some say to leave it cold. The whole purpose of it is to prevent lumps. Honestly I’ve never found it to make much of a difference. I just pull out my milk when I start so it can get to room temperature. Add the milk slowly, whisking it constantly. If you are making more than one cup…add a cup at a time, mixing well each time. Whisk together until smooth. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. The milk will thicken with the roux. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg (freshly grated is best). Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

That’s the basic mother sauce…now you can get creative!

One of my favorite variations is to make a cheese sauce for homemade mac cheese. I make the thin sauce version as the cheese will thicken the sauce. I add a teaspoon of Worcestershire and a cup of shredded cheese. (A ½ cup to a cup of cheese per cup of milk is my normal ratio.)  As for what type of cheese to use? Any cheese that has a good melting point is good. Really it will be up to your tastes. Just make sure to have the cheese shredded (it melts better) and to add it to the sauce in small quantities, stirring well each time.