I've been wanting to post my Southern Style Baked Macaroni & Cheese forever but it's one of those recipes you don't actually have a recipe for. You just kind of eyeball everything and use what you have.
This, however, is not my Southern Style Baked Macaroni & Cheese. This is a hybrid of mine and Hooker Catlin's Macaroni & Cheese. (UPDATE: my original Southern Style Baked Mac & Cheese recipe below)
You see, that hooker puts cottage cheese and sour cream in hers, which just blew my face off to hear. The way my family has always made it is to make a custard mixture of eggs and milk and pour it over layers of pasta and cheese (as opposed to the bechamel variety which is also popular).
I decided to make my macaroni & cheese yesterday and document the recipe. When I was grabbing what I needed from the fridge, I spotted a carton of sour cream and thought... meh, why not?
Combining the two recipes was a reallyreallyreallyreallyreally great idea! It still has everything I love about the custard preparation with a little added creaminess. Score!
Baked Macaroni & Cheese
8 ounces uncooked ziti*
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup whole or evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups (12-oz. by weight) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Cook pasta in liberally salted water per package instructions for al dente preparation. Drain pasta and set aside.
Meanwhile whisk egg, sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper and cayenne in a large bowl until well combined and smooth. Add pasta and 2 cups cheese then toss to coat.
Add mixture to a small baking dish (about 1.5 quart). Top mixture with remaining one cup of cheese. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until browned and bubbly (about 35-40 minutes).
*I prefer the extra large elbow macaroni noodles but they're almost impossible to find these days so I use ziti. Any large, tubular pasta will work. You want a large pasta so that the custard and cheese has enough room to really get inside the pasta.
Serve as a side dish for 8 polite or 4 hungry people. Double this recipe if company's coming. Down here we don't serve this as a main course - only as a side dish. Along with six other sides if it's Sunday. We're pretty serious about side dishes, y'all. For reals.
PRINTABLE RECIPE
Speaking of serving it as a side dish only... once when we were visiting my in-laws in Canada, my sister-in-law, Steph whipped up a box of macaroni and cheese for the kiddos' lunch. Angel Baby asked what were were having and when I told her, she asked, "And what else??" Oh... the apple don't fall far from the tree...
Also, it's worth mentioning that most Canadians (at least my family) much prefer the blue box to homemade. Husband LOVES that stuff. I always thought it was funny that they called it "Kraft Dinner" instead of just "macaroni & cheese" until I saw the packaging. Check this out...
Who knew, right?
Southern Style Baked Macaroni & Cheese
16 ounces jumbo elbow macaroni noodles*, uncooked
2 eggs
2 12-oz. cans evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
4 cups (16-oz. by weight) shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter
Cooking spray
Cook pasta in liberally salted water per package instructions for al dente preparation. Drain pasta and set aside.
Meanwhile whisk eggs, evaporated milk, salt and dry mustard in a large bowl until well combined.
Spray a large baking dish** with cooking spray. Layer pasta and shredded cheese (3 layers of each - starting with pasta and ending with cheese) in the baking dish.
Pour milk mixture evenly over pasta and cheese. Slice butter into pats and place evenly over top of cheese layer.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until browned and bubbly (about 35-40 minutes).
*I prefer the extra large or jumbo elbow macaroni noodles but they're not available use any large, tubular pasta such as ziti or rigatoni. You want a large pasta so that the custard and cheese has enough room to really get inside the pasta.
** For best results use a deep dish (4" deep) 9x9 or 10x10 pan or equivalent. You can use a standard (2" deep) 13x9 dish if that's all you have but you'll have to reduce the layers to two layers of pasta and two layers of cheese (instead of 3 layers of each).
PRINTABLE RECIPE
My son, now 21 years old, will only eat Kraft original mac-n-cheese, and he likes it slightly undercooked. From the time he was 12, if I wanted some too, I had to make 2 boxes. An entire box is his "snack". And the bugger is NOT fat.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a homemade mac and cheese!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this macaroni and cheese since Monday night. Oh yes, it's happening today.
ReplyDeleteThe picture looked so amazing that I woke my half-asleep husband and made him look at it. He was as excited as I was, obviously. Good thing he loves me.
Thanks, Amanda! I hope you liked it!
Deletemy oldest loves the box stuff...yuck. lol....I make it from scratch, though...and I'm going to try your sour cream addition...yum!
ReplyDeleteDamn! Kraft Dinner? They would so not know what to do in my house. That's barely an appetizer here. I only feed it to toddlers. Homemade is the way to go, and yours looks delish!
ReplyDeleteNew fan here! I am always looking for new recipes. This looks really good! I found you through The Country Crook and would LOVE for you to come share at my Farm Girl Blog Fest: http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/11/farm-girl-blog-fest-9.html
ReplyDeleteLisa
Fresh Eggs Daily
Hi there. The current Food on Friday is all about pasta and noodles! There is already a great collection of dishes but it would be great if you linked this in. This is the link . Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog... AWESOME! Real Ontarians would change the last two letters in Kraft to a P when discussing it. LOL :)
ReplyDeleteI made this mac and cheese for Thanksgiving on Thursday. It is the BEST I've ever had! My cousin asked me for the recipe because her boyfriend loved it so much. I will definitely add this to my list of favorites!
ReplyDeleteI made this mac & cheese today and my boys and I just loved it! My middle son said it was the best I ever made, that I out did myself, lol, My youngest who only eats the blue box actually said it was pretty good and ate it all up!!! Thank you so much for the recipe, I am definitely adding this to my rotation of recipes....The hubby might not even get to have any since the kids and I already ate so much....I added a tablespoon of dijon mustard because that is how I always make my own, and instead of milk used light cream....But otherwise you have a great recipe Mandy! Love you Blog by the way...
ReplyDeleteI don't know why its say amp;amp; I didnt write that,lol
DeleteGlad y'all liked it! Those pesky internet bugs throw the "amps" in there when you use the "and" symbol sometimes. Thanks for your comment - you made my day!
DeleteHave you ever wondered how Kraft Macaroni & Cheese gets its electric orange-yellow glow? Let us introduce you to Yellow Dye #5 and Yellow Dye #6, two potentially harmful chemicals used in the North American versions of Kraft’s macaroni products.
ReplyDeleteAlso known as Tartrazine and Sunset Yellow respectively, both yellow dyes are man-made chemicals derived from petroleum, a crude oil. These yellow dyes already been banned in countries like Norway and Austria and are linked to a host of disturbing side-effects like asthma, eczema and migraines, in addition to hyperactivity and learning impairments in children. The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports that both dyes are also “contaminated with known carcinogens.”
heard this on my radio station last week...SO glad I only make the homemade kind -- and can't WAIT to try this one!
DeleteNo wonder my daughter likes box mac and cheese, shes not supposed to have food with those dye's.
DeleteMy kids love the box stuff as well. However, I now 'cream' the noodles by slightly overmilking it and letting the milk slowly simmer longer to 'thicken' a bit and they seem to like it even more. At least I do. But I've noticed now that my daughter has kids of her own she loves it when I make the homemade stuff once in awhile. But she says to her it's like two completely different sides.
ReplyDeleteHi, I made this mac and cheese today and it was delicious but I have a question. Do you measure your cheese by the actual cup or do you go by ounces. I've seen before that 4 oz. will yield 1 cup but my 8 oz. block of cheese yielded a loose 3 cups. I doubled the recipe so I ended up using 3 8oz blocks in the casserole and another 8oz on top. Like I said, it was delicious but didn't know how creamy it was supposed to be. Am I using too much cheese?
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is by actual cups but I manage to get 4 cups out of 16 ounces of cheese that I shred. I posted the recipe this way because SO many people don't shred their own cheese and I didn't want to confuse anyone but... seems like I managed to do that anyway! Ha! I'm so glad you asked, though, because I should make a note about ounces here, which I think I'll go do now :)
DeleteThank you so much. I'm about to make this for Easter dinner, I know my family will love it. Happy Easter!
DeleteI always use Velveeta but will try this. We put hamburger and sometimes pepperoni in ours and sometimes biscuits on top like a casserole. It is like left over night and I put everything in. I never made it plain for myself. Will have to try it.
DeleteSO delicious! Made this tonight and I loved the ease of the custard instead of a béchamel sauce….(béchamel and I are not always friends!)
ReplyDeleteI always add a topping to mine that I find is a nice touch….four slices of bacon, chopped, then cooked crispy…drain off most of the bacon grease...add a finely chopped onion to pan...and a few minced garlic cloves…a couple of tablespoons of fresh thyme….let the flavours blend a bit…sprinkle onto bubbling mac and cheese when it is fresh out of the oven.
Thank you for a great recipe!!!!
OMG I AM SO happy to find this!! This is what Mac and Cheese is supposed to look like!!! Thank you for posting this I can't wait to make it!!!This looks like my MOM'S
ReplyDelete