Kee’s Big Mac & Cheese (Big Momma’s Mac & Cheese) Recipe

Big Momma’s Mac and Cheese Recipe

Serves a family of four (multiply accordingly to scale up)

INGREDIENTS:

• (12) ounces of cheese (mild or sharp cheddar, colby and monterey jack are good combinations!)
• (1) 16 oz. box of noodles (elbow macaroni, cavatappi, penne are good choices)
• (2) cans of evaporated milk
• (2-4) tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• (1) 4 oz. stick of butter or margarine (for creating the roux)
• (2-4) tablespoons of salt (sea, kosher, Himalayan pink or iodized; season to preference)
• (2-4) tablespoons of paprika
• (2-4) tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
• (1/4) of shortening (all-vegetable) Crisco
• (2-4) teaspoons of nutmeg

COOKING UTENSILS:

• Large spoon with long handle
• (1) minimum 3 quart pot or saucepan (metal or pyrex for boiling water)
• (1) 3 quart Corning Ware baking dish (preferably ceramic for creating the béchamel cheese sauce)
• (1) minimum 10in x 8in x 2.5in casserole dish (aluminum, pyrex or ceramic for baking the dish)
• Aluminum foil (for covering the casserole dish while baking if the dish doesn’t have its own top)
• Oven

PREP TIME:  ~45 minutes
COOKING TIME:  50-60 minutes
TOTAL:  1 ½ -1 ¾ hours

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. If cheese isn’t precut, cut it up into square ½ x ½ inch pieces
3. Grease casserole dish with the shortening; covering the sides and base
4. Bring a pot of water over a high flame to a boil with a few dashes of salt and 1 tablespoon of butter or oil; the water should be enough to cover the noodles in STEP 5
5. Cook noodles until al dente in boiling salt water (8 minutes); drain in a colander and lightly salt
6. Melt between ½ – ¾ stick of butter in the casserole dish over a low flame (salt the stick of butter until lightly but completely covered)
7. Maintaining a low flame, add 2-4 tablespoons of flour to the butter; stir until creamy (this is your roux)
8. Maintaining a low flame, add a ~half a can of milk to the roux while stirring to a consistent smoothness
9. Add the remaining milk and nutmeg into the casserole dish and slowly stir CONTINUOUSLY with large spoon (scraping the sides and bottom of the dish to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn/stick to) until the texture begins to thicken (this may take between 10-20 minutes depending on the flame of the stove and material of your dish)
   *SPECIAL NOTE:  you just made a basic béchamel sauce for Alfredo pasta!*
10. Add the cut up cheese and continue slowly yet thoroughly stirring until the mixture becomes saucy, cheesy goodness! (this may take up to 10 minutes)
11. Place about half of the noodles into the casserole dish
12. Pour béchamel sauce over the noodles and mix so that the noodles are completely covered; add more noodles to the sauce until there’s enough but don’t overcrowd as the cheese sauce will become too stiff as it bakes); freeze the leftover noodles
13. Cook at 350° with top or aluminum covering for 45 minutes
14. Combine paprika and grated parmesan
15. Remove the top or foil after 45 minutes then sprinkle the parmesan paprika mixture over top of the macaroni and cheese
16. Cook for an additional 10 minutes TOPS then remove from the oven
17. GRUB!