• kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    I make it my goal in life to defy the white people can’t cook stereotype. My wife’s family is the epitome of this, so I’m the designated chef for a lot of out family dinners. My Mac n Cheese is stupid good though.

    Freshly grated cheeses (sharp cheddar, gruyere/fontina, smoked gouda, parmigiano reggiano) and a bit of American for that sodium citrate emulsifying power, melted into a piping hot beschemel with Dijon, mustard powder, paprika, a pinch of thyme, and a hit of cayenne. Mix in some drained elbow or penne pasta, cooked to just al dente in well salted water, in a baking dish. Depending on my mood/desire for texture, either top with reserved cheese or some seasoned, buttered, well-crushed Ritz crackers. Bake until browned nicely.

    Been making Mac like this for a few years and it is regularly the favorite of the meal. Gotta use a variety of cheeses that give you strong cheesy flavor, creaminess, smokiness and nuttiness. The mustard is also important to cut the richness of the cheese.

  • orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts
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    4 hours ago

    White dude here. Growing up, my mom always baked it like the left one. She would drop pieces of bread on top so it would toast up. It’s still the best mac and cheese I’ve had to this day and now I need to make it. RIP mom.

  • pachrist@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Just so everyone here knows, these pictures do not need to be mutually exclusive. You can do both.

  • remon@ani.social
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    3 hours ago

    Not sure what a Juneteenth is, but everything is better when gratinated.

  • KuroiKaze@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    Every single time someone tells me they put their heart and soul into something like the left one full of ingredients that sound magic,I take a bite and it’s hella mid.

    Dickeys BBQ makes the best version of the one on the right of any chain I’ve been to. Dip waffle fries in it for majesty.

    • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 hours ago

      You can absolutely make baked mac like the left and have it be amazing, but I’m with you that most people don’t make “proper home made” mac and cheese nearly as well as they think they do, even if the top looks ll delicious like in the pic. Coincidentally, the best mac and cheese I ever made looked like the right, but that was only because people were getting impatient so I decided to skip the baking part.

  • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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    3 hours ago

    Is the joke that white people don’t know how to bake macaroni and cheese? Because that’s patently false and honestly kinda offensive.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Dumb question but what’s the difference? As someone who grew up on the orange stuff from a box, and learned to make the one on the right in recent years, what am I looking for? Is the left just baked? I’ve done that. Is it a topping or spice that encourages browning?

    • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      If you’re making the one on the right using flour + butter-> brown -> Milk -> cheese then you’re mostly there. You just slightly undercook the noodles before mixing in the cheese sauce and cover with shredded cheese and bake until the top browns. Some people will add panko/breadcrumbs for a bit of crunch.

      • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
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        3 hours ago

        I would absolutely make it this way with a roux to bake it. If I’m not baking it though you can for sure one pan it. Drain mostly cooked noodles, milk, butter, Velveeta, cream cheese, and a little bit of any other hard orange cheese you might have. Principally, this is I believe the main application for Velveeta besides queso and it’s the star of Mac and cheese on the stovetop.

        • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Velveeta is a lot safer in these kinds of recipes because it’s less likely to clump if your roux/milk/cheese ratio is off.

          However, you can just use the same cheat that Velveeta uses, a culinary emulsifier, to get the same results while also using high quality cheese. Traditionally the roux acts as an emulsifier but it’s easy to have too much fats for the amount of roux that you’ve made so you get the clumping/grainy texture. Using sodium citrate you can just mix the cheese and milk directly without needing to make the roux. It’s very convenient to just heat milk and put cheese in it without fussing with the roux.

          Here’s a recipe if you want to try it (spoiler: it’s basically milk, cheese, sodium citrate):

          https://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/

    • smh@slrpnk.net
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      5 hours ago

      Same. I might be biased because my mom would get the frozen mac&cheese dinner and bake them, and the macaroni was always over done and grossly mushy. The cheese also tasted weirdly grainy.

        • smh@slrpnk.net
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          2 hours ago

          That’s exactly how it is. If the first 10 times you have baked macaroni and cheese it’s awful, you’re not going to want to try it again.

          I also don’t like baked apples because I was violently ill after eating apple crumble once. Same with grape Smirnoff Ice.

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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    11 hours ago

    Baked Mac and cheese is the only Mac and cheese. I miss my mom’s so fucking much it’s crazy. I can make it, but nobody made it like her.