As I've said in a few earlier posts I work for an energy consulting firm here in the Bay Area. One of my first jobs was working in an implementation program for a Southern California utility. We had a client site visit and we weren't sure where exactly we were supposed to be going. So it was my job to find out. I went to see if Land O' Lakes (the parent company) website happened to list their production facilities anywhere. I just happened onto the fact that Land O' Lakes was celebrating Mac n' Cheese month when I was looking things up. They had a recipe on the site and I figured why not try it. It looked easy enough and up to that point, I had never made any good home made mac n' cheese meals myself.
Since then, this meal has become my go to home make mac. It gets made every few months and has become the primary side dish for our Xmas dinners (it goes great with the ham we always have), been brought into work for movie night and was most recently made for all of our Chicago friends who came out for Sharen's birthday this last week.
The Review
Recipe Title:
Land O' Lakes 'Best Ever Macaroni and Cheese' (This recipe is no longer on the Land O' Lakes site)
Cooking Time:
~ 20 Minutes prep time
20 Minutes baking time
Cost:
Prices will vary widely depending on what cheese(s) you use for this. Following the recipe you'll only need 8oz (half pound) of cheese, which depending on the kind you use will directly affect the cost of the meal. Fancy craft cheeses will cost much more than a store branded block. Everything else you tend to have on hand already save for maybe the bread crumbs and elbow noodles, which are both pretty cheap. For this meal I spent was gifted a half pound each of Cabot's Reserve aged 5 year cheddar (a sharp yellow cheddar) and a one year aged Wisconsin Flagship (a mild, smoother white cheddar) from the Oxbow Cheese Merchant at the Oxbow Market in Napa that ran approximately $23. Due to the number of people and potential for wanting a second helpings, I did a 2x on the below recipe, so the needed cheese (and other ingredients) were doubled (thus why I had a pound in total of cheese).
Ingredients Needed:
7oz (2 cups) of uncooked dry elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flower
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
8oz (a half pound) Cheddar cheese, cubed 1/2"
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs** (I use Panko bread crumbs, they are finer, unseasoned and brown up nicely)
1 tablespoon butter, melted**
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Preparation:
*Make sure that you've got a 2 or 3 quart sauce pan, a large pot for the pasta, a small frying pan and a 2 quart casserole dish.
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| The pots and pans needed for the prep work |
*Prep time will be ~20 minutes and will involve doing a few things at the same time.
*Pre-heat oven to 350
*Start the water for the pasta.
*Melt some butter into the small frying pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan and once it has melted evenly drop in the bread crumbs. They won't all be touching the bottom of the pan, it's ok.
*Be VERY mindful of the breadcrumbs, stirring often as these will quickly begin to brown. After
they start browning, place them into a container. These will be needed later.
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| The bread crumbs cook quickly so I didn't have time to take a picture of them cooking. This however is what they looked like browned up. They were completely white when placed into the pan. |
**The first time I made this I wasn't paying attention and instead of combining melted butter and breadcrumbs just before placing in the oven, I browned them in a pan. They come out crispier being pre-browned and less clumpy than if following the recipes directions. I recommend this slight change in preparation over the recipe as printed.**
*As you are waiting for the water to boil, pull out the cheese and begin cutting it into smaller chunks. You can use a knife or cheese slicer. I use a slicer to get smaller pieces off the block and then a knife to get the desired chunk sizes
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| The slices are being cut off from the blocks in the upper right side of the picture and stacked for cubing. |
*If you are using multiple kinds, I recommend alternately stacking the flavors before you cut them into the smaller chunks. It allows for a more even distribution of cheese.
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| The blocks of cheese have been turned into slices and are being cubed up. I stack the alternate colors so I get a better mix when I combine the base with the cheese. |
*Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook to box directions (usually ~12 minutes).
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| Cook pasta! Cook! |
*Put the 1/4 cup butter into the sauce pan and begin to melt it.
*Once the butter has melted add in the 2 tablespoons of flour and stir.
*The flour and butter will quickly combine, make sure that you've stirred out any lumps of flour.
*Add in the 2 cups of milk and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the butter/flour combination and stir.
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| Just added the milk and salt. Notice the golden color, if you don't stir it regularly, this golden color appears. |
*You will need to stir the mixture frequently. As the milk heats up if you don't stir it, it will burn on the bottom. You don't want burned parts in the sauce base. I do this on medium heat so though it takes a little longer, it's a little more forgiving as well when stirring.
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| Action shot! |
*As it heats up, the mixture will thicken. Once it has fully thickened (~5 minutes) pull it off the heat.
*Your pasta should be fully cooked by now. Strain it and put it back in the pot it was boiled in.
*Add the cheese to mixture and briefly stir.
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| Cheese added, just stir a few quick times to blend before adding to the pasta. Don't wait for the cheese to melt. The slurry is hot, the noodles will be as well and the oven will do the rest of the melting while it's cooking. |
*Combine the mixture into the pot with the noodles.
*Stir up everything to mix it all together.
*Pour the pot into the 2 quart un-greased casserole dish.
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| This blog is now rated R for full frontal mac n' cheese nudity |
*Grab the bread crumbs and sprinkle over the top of the dish.
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| Suddenly, PG-13! |
*Place into the heated oven for 20 minutes
*Pull out when the timer goes off.
*Let the dish rest for a few minutes
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| Wait for it, wait for it... |
*Scoop into your favorite bowl.
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| When scooping, try to keep the breadcrumbs on top. The crunch is worth it. |
*Commence with the nomming!
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| A cross section of the mac after a scoop has been pulled. The best parts of a mac like this are the edge portions. The exposure to the wall of the casserole dish and the oven air gives it a great crunchy texture. |
Taste:
This mac (which I've made more than a few times since finding the recipe back in Jan 08) had a whole new taste that I've never experienced before. Using the high quality cheeses (especially the aged sharp cheddar) really gave it a nice flavor. I cooked the noodles a little longer than what I prefer, leaving them soft but firm (not al dente). The bread crumbs give this otherwise soft meal a welcomed crunch. The Flagship gave this a nice smooth taste and help cut the sharpness of the Cabot Reserve.
Final Score:
A homemade mac, even using the same recipe will never taste the same each time it's prepared. There are just so many little things that go into shaping the flavor and one subtle difference will change the outcome dramatically. Though different than what I've made in the past because of the kinds of cheese used, I was still very happy with the end result. This has a pretty easy to follow recipe and I haven't had a bad batch yet. This mac was made as a double batch and when all was said and done, there was only enough leftovers for one serving (that means all 6 of us who ate it, each went back for more). It was a huge hit and was given an empty bowl rating by everyone who had it. How, as the chef of this meal am I going to argue with a review like that?
Nutritional Information:
1 Serving (Recipe yields 6 servings, calorie info taken from recipe)
Calories 430
Fat 24g
Cholesterol 70mg
Sodium 620mg
Carbohydrates 38g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Protein 18g
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