Curtis Mac And Cheese Recipes

CORY'S FAMOUS MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Melt the butter in a cast-iron skillet set over low heat¿it is very important that this step be on low heat! Add the cubed cheddar and melt until creamy, stirring constantly. Stir in the egg, taking care not to let it scramble.
• While the cheese is melting, add the olive oil and salt to the pot of boiling water. Add the pasta; cook for 10 minutes. Strain and return the pasta to the pot.
• Add the melted cheese and egg mixture to the cooked pasta, along with the cream of mushroom soup, the evaporated milk and the sour cream; stir, then add half of the cracker crumbs. Mix together until the pasta is well coated and the sauce comes together.
• Add half of the pasta mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and top with half of the shredded cheddar. Add the remaining half of the pasta, followed by the remaining shredded cheddar. Sprinkle the remaining cracker crumbs over the top. Bake for 40 minutes.

MAC 'N CHEESE WITH BACON AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small saucepan heat the milk with the thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Strain the solids out of the milk and whisk it into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
• While that bakes, heat a saute pan. Add the bacon, render the fat and cook until crispy. Add onion, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, scatter the bacon mixture over the mac and cheese. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.

HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
• In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
• Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

CURTIS' MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook the bacon in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat until golden brown about 5 minutes;using a slotted spoon transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and reserve.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings.
• Add the shallots to the bacon drippings, sprinkle with salt, red pepper flakes & black pepper and sauté until translucent about 2 minutes.
• Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the flour.
• Cook the flour for 1 minute stirring constantly.
• Gradually whisk in the milk and cream, bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat about 10 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and gradually add the cheese stirring to blend.
• Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Cook the pasta in the boiling salted water for 8 minutes stirring often to prevent it from sticking.
• Add the peas and continue boiling until the pasta is tender but still very firm to the bite and the peas are bright green and crisp-tender about 1 minute.
• Drain the pasta and peas.
• Stir the bacon into the cheese sauce.
• Stir the pasta and peas into the cheese sauce.
• The sauce will look loose but will continue to thicken once the pasta is added.
• If the sauce begins to thicken too much add more milk or cream to thin it to the desired consistency.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Butter 8 individual 6-inch-diameter casserole dishes or one 2 1/2-quart casserole dish; transfer the pasta to the buttered casserole dishes.
• Sprinkle the parsley over the pasta mixture then stir some of it into the pasta mixture.
• Preheat the broiler.
• In a small mixing bowl toss the breadcrumbs with the melted butter to coat well.
• Season with salt and sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the pasta.
• Broil until the topping is golden brown watching closely about 2 minutes.
• Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.