Will Thompson
Member
The first time I used one slice and should have used 1/2 brick of butter.
The old range top rusted after 40+years
The old range top rusted after 40+years
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My second attempt at MAC & Cheese on our new range top
- Thread starter Will Thompson
- Start date
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I have always wondered what “Mac & Cheese” looked like! Not a thing when I grew up in London, LOL!
I knew about Macdonald so I thought it was something like that. I have even heard my grandkids talk about that coif but I expected it to come in bag not freaky made on a home cook stove!
Looks tasty!
Asher
I knew about Macdonald so I thought it was something like that. I have even heard my grandkids talk about that coif but I expected it to come in bag not freaky made on a home cook stove!
Looks tasty!
Asher
Will Thompson
Member
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
We Canadians refer to the staple simpl6 as “KD”
Interesting factoid - “The brand is particularly popular with Canadians, who consume 55% more boxes per capita than Americans.“
HISTORY : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Dinner
Interesting factoid - “The brand is particularly popular with Canadians, who consume 55% more boxes per capita than Americans.“
HISTORY : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Dinner
Last edited:
Jerome Marot
Well-known member
Isn't this simply macaroni with a cheese béchamel sauce?
Doug Kerr
Well-known member
Hi, Jérôme,
Whether the usual sauce found with this dish would qualify as a "béchamel sauce" is beyond my ken, but it is indeed cooked macaroni with some sort of cheese sauce.
Some writings suggest that the most common sauce formulation could be considered akin to mornay sauce, which I understand is basically béchamel sauce with cheese added.
It is often denigrated as some sort of "poor man's dinner", but it can be very delicious when properly prepared. And the classical "Kraft" kit makes quite a tasty dish.
Best regards,
Doug
Whether the usual sauce found with this dish would qualify as a "béchamel sauce" is beyond my ken, but it is indeed cooked macaroni with some sort of cheese sauce.
Some writings suggest that the most common sauce formulation could be considered akin to mornay sauce, which I understand is basically béchamel sauce with cheese added.
It is often denigrated as some sort of "poor man's dinner", but it can be very delicious when properly prepared. And the classical "Kraft" kit makes quite a tasty dish.
Best regards,
Doug
Jerome Marot
Well-known member
I looked it up.
Indeed some recipes use Mornay sauce for mac and cheese but some recipes for Mornay sauce add egg yolks, which Kraft foods definitely does not use. Kraft foods also uses processed cheese, cheese with added melting salts.
The recipe is not common in France or Germany, although the imported US packs are available. I found this equivalent in Germany:
In France, this kind of pasta is only available in a smaller version, called "coquillettes" and "Macaroni" are straight tubes (like the Italians "Maccheroni"). We do eat these with cheese, but usually "gratiné".
Indeed some recipes use Mornay sauce for mac and cheese but some recipes for Mornay sauce add egg yolks, which Kraft foods definitely does not use. Kraft foods also uses processed cheese, cheese with added melting salts.
The recipe is not common in France or Germany, although the imported US packs are available. I found this equivalent in Germany:
In France, this kind of pasta is only available in a smaller version, called "coquillettes" and "Macaroni" are straight tubes (like the Italians "Maccheroni"). We do eat these with cheese, but usually "gratiné".
Will Thompson
Member
35 years ago Golden Grain elbow Mac & Cheese was a staple of my bachelor diet.
The Golden Grain cheese sauce tasted way better than the Kraft!
I have not been able to find any of the Golden Grain Mac & Cheese in recent years!
Sometimes I would add protein such as hotdogs pork sausage or canned tuna. The tuna I would just stir in after making the Mac & Cheese after draining the water from it. The sausage or hotdogs I would cook with boiling water then use the hot water to cook the macaroni then stir in the meat and cut it into small chunks with the spoon I was stirring with.
As a bachelor I would run out of butter and milk so I would substitute sour cream yogurt and even cooking oil sometimes. The one thing that made it inedible was when I used peanut oil, that time I threw it out as I could not eat it!
When I told my friend Jim about the tuna he gasped tuna casserole l told him the secret was to not cook it a second time and eat the fresh canned tuna after stirring it in!
The Golden Grain cheese sauce tasted way better than the Kraft!
I have not been able to find any of the Golden Grain Mac & Cheese in recent years!
Sometimes I would add protein such as hotdogs pork sausage or canned tuna. The tuna I would just stir in after making the Mac & Cheese after draining the water from it. The sausage or hotdogs I would cook with boiling water then use the hot water to cook the macaroni then stir in the meat and cut it into small chunks with the spoon I was stirring with.
As a bachelor I would run out of butter and milk so I would substitute sour cream yogurt and even cooking oil sometimes. The one thing that made it inedible was when I used peanut oil, that time I threw it out as I could not eat it!
When I told my friend Jim about the tuna he gasped tuna casserole l told him the secret was to not cook it a second time and eat the fresh canned tuna after stirring it in!
Doug Kerr
Well-known member
Hi, Will,
A great set of stories! Thanks.
I think Golden Grain (of Rice-A-Roni fame) no longer makes the Macaroni and Cheese dinner.
But they do publish a suggested recipe for that dish:
goldengrainpasta.com/recipe/old-fashioned-baked-macaroni-and-cheese
As an interesting side issue, It seems that for a while they owned the Ghirardelli Chocolate business.
Best regards,
Doug
A great set of stories! Thanks.
I think Golden Grain (of Rice-A-Roni fame) no longer makes the Macaroni and Cheese dinner.
But they do publish a suggested recipe for that dish:
goldengrainpasta.com/recipe/old-fashioned-baked-macaroni-and-cheese
As an interesting side issue, It seems that for a while they owned the Ghirardelli Chocolate business.
Best regards,
Doug
Jerome Marot
Well-known member
That recipe is indeed Béchamel sauce (with mustard), but I use half the amount of butter.
There is a trick to make Béchamel sauce without the lumps. Heat the butter, toss the flour and let it roast to a golden colour. Then add a bit of milk to dilute the paste and then add the whole rest of the milk and stir vigorously, so that the flour is spread into the whole volume of milk.
At that point, you have an emulsion of flour in milk and you want to cook it so that the flour sets and gives a thick sauce. So you turn down the heat and stir all the time till the sauce thickens. You stir so that you get a constant temperature over the whole volume. If you don't stir, the bottom will overheat, cook earlier and that layer of overcooked sauce will give the lumps.
If you miss and get lumps, use a blender...
I would also not add the grated cheese to the Béchamel sauce, that is not likely to work. I would mix the pasta and the grated cheese and then add the Béchamel sauce. The cheese will melt in the oven.
There is a trick to make Béchamel sauce without the lumps. Heat the butter, toss the flour and let it roast to a golden colour. Then add a bit of milk to dilute the paste and then add the whole rest of the milk and stir vigorously, so that the flour is spread into the whole volume of milk.
At that point, you have an emulsion of flour in milk and you want to cook it so that the flour sets and gives a thick sauce. So you turn down the heat and stir all the time till the sauce thickens. You stir so that you get a constant temperature over the whole volume. If you don't stir, the bottom will overheat, cook earlier and that layer of overcooked sauce will give the lumps.
If you miss and get lumps, use a blender...
I would also not add the grated cheese to the Béchamel sauce, that is not likely to work. I would mix the pasta and the grated cheese and then add the Béchamel sauce. The cheese will melt in the oven.