The Art of Crafting Perfect Mac and Cheese: A Step-by-Step Guide

Macaroni and cheese is a comfort food that never goes out of style. It's a dish that can be both simple and complex, with endless variations to suit every taste preference. In this article, we'll take you through the process of making the perfect mac and cheese, from starting with high-quality ingredients to adding the finishing touches.

The Base Flavor Profile: A Background Note

---------------------------------------------

When it comes to macaroni and cheese, there's a subtle yet crucial element that sets the tone for the entire dish. We're talking about the background flavor note - that unobtrusive yet essential layer of seasoning that brings everything together. For our recipe, we'll use chicken bullan powder as this humble ingredient plays a significant role in adding depth and umami flavor to our macaroni and cheese.

Mixing It Up: The Residual Heat Method

-----------------------------------------

The next step is to mix our ingredients while harnessing the power of residual heat. We want to avoid using high heat, which can cause the cheese sauce to separate or become too thick. Instead, we'll use this gentle warmth to melt our parmesan cheese, followed by mozzarella and cheddar - in that order, with a bit of each added at a time. This slow-building heat will help distribute the flavors evenly and prevent any sudden surprises.

Seasoning with Care

-------------------

Now it's time to add some seasoning to our macaroni and cheese. We've already boiled our noodles in chicken bullan powder, which gives them a pre-existing flavor profile that we'll want to balance out. With this in mind, we'll use a light hand when adding the finishing touches - a pinch of chicken bullan powder, some smoked paprika for added depth, and a blend of all-purpose seasoning (containing salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder). We don't want to overpower our dish with too many flavors at once.

The Cheese Sauce: A Masterclass in Consistency

---------------------------------------------

One of the most crucial elements of making great macaroni and cheese is achieving that perfect consistency. For us, this means aiming for a cheesy sauce that's similar to fondue - rich, velvety, and with just the right amount of chunkiness. When adding our cheese sauce to our cooked pasta, we want it to coat everything evenly without becoming too thick or too thin.

Add Some Cheese-y Goodness: The Finishing Touches

------------------------------------------------

Finally, it's time to add some finishing touches to our macaroni and cheese. We'll top it with a generous helping of melted Kobe Jack - that velvety white and yellow cheese will melt beautifully in the oven and provide an incredible texture contrast to our dish.

The Final Result: A Masterclass in Macaroni and Cheese

---------------------------------------------------------

After patiently waiting for at least 10-15 minutes, we'll be ready to dig into our masterpiece. The macaroni and cheese is out of the oven, golden brown on top, and radiating an irresistible aroma that's sure to tantalize taste buds everywhere.

The Verdict: Practice Makes Perfect

--------------------------------------

When it comes to cooking the perfect macaroni and cheese, practice makes perfect. We've provided you with a tried-and-tested recipe, but don't be afraid to experiment and make adjustments until you find your ideal combination of flavors and textures. Whether you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner or just want to treat yourself to a comforting meal, our macaroni and cheese is sure to become a new favorite.

Get Ready for the Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese Experience

---------------------------------------------------------

If you're looking to take your macaroni and cheese game to the next level, be sure to check out our brand-new cookbook - Meet Me in the Kitchen! With over 100 recipes inside, we've got everything from classic comfort food to innovative twists on timeless favorites.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys welcome back today we're in the kitchen making the most important side dish of all time if you ruin this your family may never forgive you but don't worry I've got you covered today we're making mac and cheese meet me in the kitchen let's make it happen all right that's mac and cheese today we got a couple options to increase the flavor or enhance the flavor one of the things I like to do is eat either boil my pasta in chicken broth or just use chicken bullan powder and water you could also just salt the water totally up to you but I feel like that extra uh flavor from the chicken bullan powder really works its way into the macaroni and cheese and gives it a different flavor element we got heavy cream and half and half that's going to be uh used for our cheese sauce parmesan Kobe Jack cheddar cheese and mozzarella we got sour cream we got my AP seasoning and my secret ingredient which is controversial every year but everybody that's made this before knows that it's delicious a little sweet anded condensed milk the reason for the sweet anded condensed milk is you're using a lot of different flavor combinations in different types of cheese some of them are sharp some of them uh are Smoky if you're using smok guda things of that nature that little hint of sweetness marries everything together think about the utilization of uh sugar in pasta sauces like you know spaghetti sauce for example it balances the acidity a little bit and just marries the flavors together that's where that comes into play all right guys obviously you can't have good mac and cheese without good quality cheese so a couple Pro tips right out the gate I recommend shredding your own cheese for a number of reasons first and foremost uh store-bought shredded cheese has anti-caking agents things like potato starch which prevent it from clopping up in the bag but it also prevents it from M melting nicely and a lot of times it'll make your uh cheese sauce gritty and your end product's not going to be as good so I like to like break it down into flavor profiles right so I got my colby jack which in my opinion melts the prettiest on top of the mac and cheese to give you that nice color and it Browns up nicely that's going on the top of the mac and cheese when we're building our flavors on the inside or the cheese sauce we got something that's pretty mild in flavor like mozzarella that's going to be kind of the base then we have our cheddar which is you know traditional in your mac and cheese and then we got something like a smoked gouda also like things like Monster uh Fontina are good options as well but these are the ones we're going with with the addition of Parmesan cheese too which is going to bring a little nuttiness and uh some salt so we're going to go ahead and shred our Kobe Jack first and set that to the side because that is going to be the topping you can also throw it in the cheese mixture too it's delicious but I really like I really think that it you know melts the nicest and gives you the prettiest presentation when you go to do your Mac and Cheese cheddar a lot of people put on top but I don't think it melts that well not nearly as good as colby jack and I think it Browns up a little bit too much not exactly sure why I'm sure there's some scientists in the comments that that'll let me know but kobby Jack in my opinion for somebody that's been making mac and cheese forever it's the best so once you have your cheese shredded often times you're left with these little end pieces that didn't quite make the cut you got a couple choices for that you you can make like a shury board as an appetizer for your guest for Thanksgiving or one of the things that I like to do is save them cut them into bite-sized pieces and then sprinkle them throughout the casserole dish so that as the mac and cheese bakes you get little pockets of extra cheesiness you're going get a really great cheese pull when somebody Fork hits that pocket so another Pro tip for you all right guys now it's time to make the cheese sauce and I am a fan of using a rof for the cheese sauce for mac and cheese I don't really use egg with mine so today we're going to go ahead and melt a half stick of butter to that we're going in with two or three tablespoons of allpurpose flour the more flour you use to thicker the consistency of your mac and cheese is going to be so if you like the the Brick style mac and cheese you want to go a little heavier on the rof if you like yours a little bit more loose and creamy then you can just use the two or three tablespoons that I just discussed so we're going to mix that in we want to cook that raw flour taste off you want it to become one with the butter classic roof style we're making a blonde R here so just get your spatula working make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom and burning let give it a good one or two minutes to really cook that raw flour taste off you don't want that ruin in our delicious cheese sauce we're about to make next up we're going in with four cups of cream you can use heavy cream half and half or a blend of the two four cups in total for one lound of macaroni pasta we're going to break out the Whisk give that a good mix then we want to bring this up to a boil once it reaches a boil you'll notice that it starts to thick up a bit and that is because the flow has worked its way into the cream and you have yourself the the basics of a sauce here once that happens we'll start adding in our cheese one another Pro tip is to not add your cheese when the liquid is boiling hot because what'll happen is the fat will start to separate from the cheese and it'll get oily so if you ever had a mac and cheese that's usually what happened there so we're just going gradually bring this up to a gentle boil then turn it down to a simmer start adding in our cheese season to taste and we'll be right where we want to be all right so our our sauce has come together nicely now it's time to start adding the cheese before we do that though I'm going in with 1/4 cup of sour cream you could also use cream cheese if you want to I like the flavor of the sour cream kind of Blends well with everything else but the cream cheese if you want to do that it's going to add a nice creamy note to it sour cream does that also but cream cheese is obviously a little creamier all about how you want your Mac and Cheese to turn out I'm going sour cream sometimes I do do cream cheese if I'm trying to keep it a little bit more on the mild side flavor-wise we're going to mix that sour cream in and then in goes one tablespoon of the secret ingredient inevitably somebody's going to comment about this and say something bad and that same person has never tried it one tablespoon it is impossible for one tblspoon of sweet and condensed milk to make this big pot of mac and cheese sweet it's just there as a background flavored note to kind of you know bring everything together so going to give that a mix and now it's time to start adding in the cheese you want the residual heat in there to start melting the cheese you don't want the the Heat or the flame on high so in goes the parm first as always guys specific measurements and ingredients for this recipe can be found on Mr makea happen.com got principle directions printable recipes on the website smoke gluta is going in mozzarella's going in and then finally the cheddar just add a little bit at a time give it a mix just let that residual heat melt the cheese nicely no fat separating no sauce breaking then we'll start to season this up remember we boiled our noodles in chicken bullan powder which is pretty salty so you don't want to go too crazy on the seasoning too early you want to taste your noodles taste the sauce there's a lot of sodium and a lot of these cheese chees too so you want to taste everything before you get heavy-handed on the seasoning as you can see the cheese is melting beautifully and you just keep adding a little bit at a time all right so now I'm going to season it up just a pinch of chicken bullan powder that's going to add a little MSG and deliciousness some smoked paprika that's going to play off the smokiness from the smok gouda don't go too crazy on that though you use regular paprika if you want to and then my allpurpose seasoning which is a blend of salt pepper garlic and onion powder and that's really all you need guys you got plenty of flavor in your pasta plenty of flavor from the seasonings we just used don't get too crazy just going to mix that in and we'll be ready to put this in the cassle dish and get that in the oven that's the consistency you want to see though on your cheese sauce it should almost be like a fondue for anybody that's ever been to fondue station at a at an event or all right so now you're going to add your cheese sauce right on in there to your cooked pasta that's the sounds of love right there but again this is kind of a personal preference thing you can make it as you know cheesy as you want to as thick as you want to or as Loose as you want to this is about the consistency I like of mine which is probably about you know 34s of the cheese sauce that we made but everything is well coated like you see here all right guys so if it's not cheesy and flavorful enough it's time to sneak in some little pockets of cheesy deliciousness that way if you ever want to take a video you know you going have a adequate cheese pull just space them out nice these are going to melt right on into the center and this is a thick enough mac and cheese that's kind of going to hold it right there so when you go to hit it with your fork you should have a nice little cheese pocket obviously you can skip this St guys this is kind of some behind the scenes Magic on how we get cheese pulls in the industry that I'm in but if you like cheese I mean it is mac and cheese right is second second thing listed in the title I think we're good though now we're going to go ahead and top it with that uh Kobe Jack I talked about just a nice thin layer of that it's going to melt beautifully give you that dual color that white and that yellow that's going to Brown up nicely in the oven and you will win this show at uh Thanksgiving this year or Christmas or friends giving or whenever you decide to make this all right people it's time time the mac and cheese is out of the oven we're going to let it rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes before you slice into it or scoop it out whatever you want to call it this the part why say brace yourself for a trademark money shot say it with me guys looking good the only thing left to do is dig in for the taste test but before we do that please take a quick second to subscribe to the channel make sure you hit that Bell to Notifications as well all right people this recipe and 100 plus more can be found in my brand new cookbook meet me in the kitchen this cookbook is very high quality got tons of great recipes in it all right guys enough running my big mouth it's time to dig in for the taste test AKA my favorite part of the job fellas if you having trouble with her mom or her dad and they invite you over to Thanksgiving and you bring them this you could be good or if you mess it up it might ruin everything practice a couple times before you do that sweet it's just there God damn it bloopers that's what I get for talkingwhat's up guys welcome back today we're in the kitchen making the most important side dish of all time if you ruin this your family may never forgive you but don't worry I've got you covered today we're making mac and cheese meet me in the kitchen let's make it happen all right that's mac and cheese today we got a couple options to increase the flavor or enhance the flavor one of the things I like to do is eat either boil my pasta in chicken broth or just use chicken bullan powder and water you could also just salt the water totally up to you but I feel like that extra uh flavor from the chicken bullan powder really works its way into the macaroni and cheese and gives it a different flavor element we got heavy cream and half and half that's going to be uh used for our cheese sauce parmesan Kobe Jack cheddar cheese and mozzarella we got sour cream we got my AP seasoning and my secret ingredient which is controversial every year but everybody that's made this before knows that it's delicious a little sweet anded condensed milk the reason for the sweet anded condensed milk is you're using a lot of different flavor combinations in different types of cheese some of them are sharp some of them uh are Smoky if you're using smok guda things of that nature that little hint of sweetness marries everything together think about the utilization of uh sugar in pasta sauces like you know spaghetti sauce for example it balances the acidity a little bit and just marries the flavors together that's where that comes into play all right guys obviously you can't have good mac and cheese without good quality cheese so a couple Pro tips right out the gate I recommend shredding your own cheese for a number of reasons first and foremost uh store-bought shredded cheese has anti-caking agents things like potato starch which prevent it from clopping up in the bag but it also prevents it from M melting nicely and a lot of times it'll make your uh cheese sauce gritty and your end product's not going to be as good so I like to like break it down into flavor profiles right so I got my colby jack which in my opinion melts the prettiest on top of the mac and cheese to give you that nice color and it Browns up nicely that's going on the top of the mac and cheese when we're building our flavors on the inside or the cheese sauce we got something that's pretty mild in flavor like mozzarella that's going to be kind of the base then we have our cheddar which is you know traditional in your mac and cheese and then we got something like a smoked gouda also like things like Monster uh Fontina are good options as well but these are the ones we're going with with the addition of Parmesan cheese too which is going to bring a little nuttiness and uh some salt so we're going to go ahead and shred our Kobe Jack first and set that to the side because that is going to be the topping you can also throw it in the cheese mixture too it's delicious but I really like I really think that it you know melts the nicest and gives you the prettiest presentation when you go to do your Mac and Cheese cheddar a lot of people put on top but I don't think it melts that well not nearly as good as colby jack and I think it Browns up a little bit too much not exactly sure why I'm sure there's some scientists in the comments that that'll let me know but kobby Jack in my opinion for somebody that's been making mac and cheese forever it's the best so once you have your cheese shredded often times you're left with these little end pieces that didn't quite make the cut you got a couple choices for that you you can make like a shury board as an appetizer for your guest for Thanksgiving or one of the things that I like to do is save them cut them into bite-sized pieces and then sprinkle them throughout the casserole dish so that as the mac and cheese bakes you get little pockets of extra cheesiness you're going get a really great cheese pull when somebody Fork hits that pocket so another Pro tip for you all right guys now it's time to make the cheese sauce and I am a fan of using a rof for the cheese sauce for mac and cheese I don't really use egg with mine so today we're going to go ahead and melt a half stick of butter to that we're going in with two or three tablespoons of allpurpose flour the more flour you use to thicker the consistency of your mac and cheese is going to be so if you like the the Brick style mac and cheese you want to go a little heavier on the rof if you like yours a little bit more loose and creamy then you can just use the two or three tablespoons that I just discussed so we're going to mix that in we want to cook that raw flour taste off you want it to become one with the butter classic roof style we're making a blonde R here so just get your spatula working make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom and burning let give it a good one or two minutes to really cook that raw flour taste off you don't want that ruin in our delicious cheese sauce we're about to make next up we're going in with four cups of cream you can use heavy cream half and half or a blend of the two four cups in total for one lound of macaroni pasta we're going to break out the Whisk give that a good mix then we want to bring this up to a boil once it reaches a boil you'll notice that it starts to thick up a bit and that is because the flow has worked its way into the cream and you have yourself the the basics of a sauce here once that happens we'll start adding in our cheese one another Pro tip is to not add your cheese when the liquid is boiling hot because what'll happen is the fat will start to separate from the cheese and it'll get oily so if you ever had a mac and cheese that's usually what happened there so we're just going gradually bring this up to a gentle boil then turn it down to a simmer start adding in our cheese season to taste and we'll be right where we want to be all right so our our sauce has come together nicely now it's time to start adding the cheese before we do that though I'm going in with 1/4 cup of sour cream you could also use cream cheese if you want to I like the flavor of the sour cream kind of Blends well with everything else but the cream cheese if you want to do that it's going to add a nice creamy note to it sour cream does that also but cream cheese is obviously a little creamier all about how you want your Mac and Cheese to turn out I'm going sour cream sometimes I do do cream cheese if I'm trying to keep it a little bit more on the mild side flavor-wise we're going to mix that sour cream in and then in goes one tablespoon of the secret ingredient inevitably somebody's going to comment about this and say something bad and that same person has never tried it one tablespoon it is impossible for one tblspoon of sweet and condensed milk to make this big pot of mac and cheese sweet it's just there as a background flavored note to kind of you know bring everything together so going to give that a mix and now it's time to start adding in the cheese you want the residual heat in there to start melting the cheese you don't want the the Heat or the flame on high so in goes the parm first as always guys specific measurements and ingredients for this recipe can be found on Mr makea happen.com got principle directions printable recipes on the website smoke gluta is going in mozzarella's going in and then finally the cheddar just add a little bit at a time give it a mix just let that residual heat melt the cheese nicely no fat separating no sauce breaking then we'll start to season this up remember we boiled our noodles in chicken bullan powder which is pretty salty so you don't want to go too crazy on the seasoning too early you want to taste your noodles taste the sauce there's a lot of sodium and a lot of these cheese chees too so you want to taste everything before you get heavy-handed on the seasoning as you can see the cheese is melting beautifully and you just keep adding a little bit at a time all right so now I'm going to season it up just a pinch of chicken bullan powder that's going to add a little MSG and deliciousness some smoked paprika that's going to play off the smokiness from the smok gouda don't go too crazy on that though you use regular paprika if you want to and then my allpurpose seasoning which is a blend of salt pepper garlic and onion powder and that's really all you need guys you got plenty of flavor in your pasta plenty of flavor from the seasonings we just used don't get too crazy just going to mix that in and we'll be ready to put this in the cassle dish and get that in the oven that's the consistency you want to see though on your cheese sauce it should almost be like a fondue for anybody that's ever been to fondue station at a at an event or all right so now you're going to add your cheese sauce right on in there to your cooked pasta that's the sounds of love right there but again this is kind of a personal preference thing you can make it as you know cheesy as you want to as thick as you want to or as Loose as you want to this is about the consistency I like of mine which is probably about you know 34s of the cheese sauce that we made but everything is well coated like you see here all right guys so if it's not cheesy and flavorful enough it's time to sneak in some little pockets of cheesy deliciousness that way if you ever want to take a video you know you going have a adequate cheese pull just space them out nice these are going to melt right on into the center and this is a thick enough mac and cheese that's kind of going to hold it right there so when you go to hit it with your fork you should have a nice little cheese pocket obviously you can skip this St guys this is kind of some behind the scenes Magic on how we get cheese pulls in the industry that I'm in but if you like cheese I mean it is mac and cheese right is second second thing listed in the title I think we're good though now we're going to go ahead and top it with that uh Kobe Jack I talked about just a nice thin layer of that it's going to melt beautifully give you that dual color that white and that yellow that's going to Brown up nicely in the oven and you will win this show at uh Thanksgiving this year or Christmas or friends giving or whenever you decide to make this all right people it's time time the mac and cheese is out of the oven we're going to let it rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes before you slice into it or scoop it out whatever you want to call it this the part why say brace yourself for a trademark money shot say it with me guys looking good the only thing left to do is dig in for the taste test but before we do that please take a quick second to subscribe to the channel make sure you hit that Bell to Notifications as well all right people this recipe and 100 plus more can be found in my brand new cookbook meet me in the kitchen this cookbook is very high quality got tons of great recipes in it all right guys enough running my big mouth it's time to dig in for the taste test AKA my favorite part of the job fellas if you having trouble with her mom or her dad and they invite you over to Thanksgiving and you bring them this you could be good or if you mess it up it might ruin everything practice a couple times before you do that sweet it's just there God damn it bloopers that's what I get for talking\n"