There are a lot of recipes these days for all different variations of Mac and cheese.  Mac and cheese with lobster in it, with bacon, with ham, with all different kinds of cheeses.  I thought I would share with you what I call Straight Up Mac and Cheese – elbow macaroni, butter (or margarine), milk, flour and cheddar cheese.  Straight Up Mac and Cheese is basic.  Once you master this you can then start to create your own variation.  It can be a side dish or you can make it a complete main course.

The first thing is the pasta. Traditionally Mac and Cheese is made with elbow macaroni and that is what I’m using in this recipe.  You can use any brand that you like.  Start a pot of boiling water large enough to boil the pasta in.  When the water is at a rolling boil add salt to the water, enough salt so that the water is salty.  Then pour the pasta into the water, stir it. You will want to stir it occasionally to keep it from sticking.  Once the pasta is cooked al dente if you plan on baking it, (more on that later) and cooked until soft if you’re not baking it.  Drain it well.

The basic white sauce that makes up Mac and Cheese (before the cheese) is called a béchamel. It’s made up of equal parts of fat (butter or margarine usually) and flour.  They are cooked together to make a thickening agent that will thicken the milk.

When the margarine is melted then add the flour.  Stir to combine on medium heat.  Cook the flour in the butter for a minute to cook out the raw flour taste.  Don’t cook the flour too long or it will brown.  For a white sauce you just need to cook it long enough to cook out the raw flour taste.  The flour and butter together is called roux.  Once the roux is cooked you can add the milk (1 ¾ cups), stirring constantly to work out the lumps.   Once you add milk, the heat can be raised to medium high heat.  Once the roux and milk come to a boil (just starting to boil, not a rolling boil) it will thicken.  

<TIP>   Be sure to keep the heat to medium high, if the milk boils over you will have a HUGE mess to clean up.  

Now you can season the sauce with salt and pepper.  Be sure to stir it constantly.  Once the béchamel is thick and cooked then you can add the cheese.  I use 4 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded.  Using a whisk stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.  Now you can add the macaroni to the sauce and combine.

Baked Mac and Cheese usually has a topping of bread crumbs.  To make the topping take 1 cup store bought plain bread crumbs and add 2 tablespoons of melted butter (or margarine) and combine.  Turn the mac and cheese into a buttered casserole dish and top with bread crumbs Bake the casserole at 375 degrees until the top is brown and crispy. 

<TIP> Remember everything is cooked, you’re just browning the bread crumbs on top.

I usually serve it right out of the pan without baking.  When I serve it I like to have either a vegetable or a salad and sometimes I add grilled chicken or even hot dogs. 

That’s it, straight up Mac and Cheese.  Make it this way a few times until you’ve got it down then you can experiment.

If you’d like to try this basic version of Mac and Cheese, here’s what you’ll need:

A pot large enough to boil the pasta and combine the sauce and pasta together in.

A buttered baking dish – if you plan on baking it

 4 Tablespoons Butter or margarine plus more to butter your baking dish with

1 ¾ cups Milk

4 Tablespoons Flour

4 ounces Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1 lb. Elbow macaroni

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot on medium heat.  Add all of the flour and cook together until smooth.  Add milk and stir to combine.  Raise heat to medium high until mixture begins to boil.  Turn down heat and season with salt and pepper.  Add shredded cheese.  Stir to combine.  Add cooked, drained  macaroni and stir to combine.  ENJOY!