Quintessential Mac & Cheese

And other uses for cheese sauce.

It’s timeless, comforting and written just for you. It’s my Mac and Cheese sauce.

This recipe is the perfect blank canvas for a weekend main event, to serve with fried fish, braised beef or perfectly caramelized onions and mushrooms.

Even if you don’t want this sauce with Mac and Cheese (I won’t ask); it lends itself perfectly on nachos, pretzels, inside sandwiches, with eggs, with ham, you get the idea? Pretty much everything.

I know that with this recipe, you can become a master of the Mac.

Ingredients

2 cups dry macaroni or shells

400 mL milk (1%)

150 mL whipping cream

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup unbleached white flour

1.5 - 2 cups shredded cheese - older and smoked, the better.

1.5 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp fresh black pepper

1/4 cup chives (optional)

2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Boil pasta in boiling hot, salted water. Strain, run under cold water for 1 minute. Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil and shake in strainer; set aside.

In a large measuring cup, combine milk and cream.

In a small bowl, combine your dry seasoning.

Shred your cheese and set aside.

Using a heavy bottom dutch oven or deep skillet, melt your butter over medium-low heat to make a roux.

Once your butter is melted, add your flour and spices and whisk continuously for 1 minute. Use your senses to approximate if the flour has cooked through; it should smell slightly toasty.

Start gradually adding your milk. Combine 1/4 cup at a time until milk becomes homogenous with the roux and repeat.

Once all the milk/cream has been used in the sauce, continue stirring for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken - you can turn the heat to medium at this stage.

Once the sauce thickens and bubbles throughout, turn your heat element to off.

Once the heat has been shut off,

add your grated cheese. Do this gradually while whisking until all the cheese is incorporated and melted into the sauce.

Add your cooked pasta and serve a velvety and comforting homemade mac and cheese to your family.

I also give you permission to drizzle the sauce over nachos or add to a roast beef sandwich! (hehehe, are you hungry yet?)

Thanks for reading!

Bonne Bouffe.