I had a sudden cravings for Mac & Cheese yesterday afternoon and I made a decision then to cook this as dinner. Went off to the supermarket during my lunch break to gather all the necessary ingredients.
As usual I got the elbowed macaroni and when I told DinoBoy I am making macaroni later he requested to have it with "spiral pasta please Mama." So I have to chuck my newly bought macaroni into my cupboard and bring out the fusilli instead. Now, usually Mac & Cheese has got nothing inside, only well, macaroni and cheese! I'll be happy to have it just this way but since the boy is eating, he MUST have a balanced meal so I added in fresh bacon bits which I fried it myself. DinoPapa decided to thaw the cod loins and added that in.
Guess what? It only take about 45mins to prepare this hearty meal! And it gets 2 thumbs up from DinoPapa and DinoBoy.
Start by cooking your macaroni or pasta according to the time indicated in the packing. After that melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium heat, be careful not to burnt the butter, this should take 2 to 3 mins.
Add in the flour, salt and pepper, stir to mix them up. Pour the milk gradually, you sauce should look something like this. When it bubble after a min or two as you can see from the photo that small bubble on the top left corner, it means the sauce is ready.
Now add in the cheddar cheese and keep on stirring. It does not matter if you choose to use white or orange cheddar cheese, there is no difference in taste, unless you are talking about the different grade of the cheddar cheese; mild, medium or sharp. A coloring additive was added to the cheddar cheese to give it the almost orange color. This additive comes from a plant extract of the achiote tree called annatto.
The next step is to mix the macaroni with the sauce, dish and ENJOY!
A note of caution though, I would suggest that you spoon the sauce and pour over the macaroni in a plate because the sauce in the pot will solidified a bit and becomes sticky dough like. I am sure the macaroni will turn soggy or overcooked if left with the sauce too long. I did not add my macaroni to the sauce and when it turned dough like, I simply heat it up on low or medium heat then spoon over my macaroni after that.
The Mac & Cheese sauce consistency really depends on your preference, I like mine to be more creamy and thick but if you prefer it to be watery, just add in more milk to thin out the thickness. As for the salt and pepper, I did not follow the recipe but just add them in base on my "feeling" and I definitely added in more shredded cheddar cheese then stated.
Have fun making this simple hearty meal! I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did!
Have fun making this simple hearty meal! I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did!
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Ingredients (Serves 3)
* 170g elbow macaroni or any type of pasta you fancy
* ¼ cup butter
* ¼ cup flour
* ⅜ teaspoon salt
* ¾ dash black pepper
* 1½ cups milk
* 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese.
Method
1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain it and leave it aside.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat; stir in flour, salt and pepper; stir and gradually add in the milk.
3. Cook and stir until bubbly.
4. Stir in cheese until melted.
5. Add the macaroni to cheese sauce; stir to coat.
6. Serve and enjoy while its hot.
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Oh yum!
ReplyDeleteIts definitely YUM! Now I'm craving for it just by looking at the photo :P
DeleteI should try this someday! Pardon me but how do you know the plant addictive is achiote in orange cheddar? May I know which brand do you usually buy?
ReplyDeleteSweetday, I googled to find the answer. I don't stick to a particular brand, I go by the amount of cheese I need. For this I used Cold Storage brand because it was smaller pack and I wanted to used it for 1 cooking, but I'm still left with about 1/4 of it. Well, that gives me an excuse to cook this again right? hehehe~
DeleteWould love to try this! May I know where to get the orange cheddar cheese?
ReplyDeleteHi Sweetday, you can get it in any supermarket.
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