I only give it 3 stars as written because of two things -- 375 for an hour is too hot so your top will BURN (I did 350 for an hour and that was perfect), and it needs at least double the cheese. With these two alterations you'd have a five star classic mac-n-cheese recipe that will be delicious.
I thought this was great, but I made some changes. Reduced cooking temp to 350, used 12oz of noodles instead of a pound, used half mild cheddar and half Kraft Deluxe American Cheese (sandwich slices), and increased the amount of evaporated milk. This was a homerun for all three kids and it reminded me of the way it used to taste when I was growing up.
Finally a recipe for the mac and cheese I grew up with! I followed other reviewer's advice and doubled the cheese and evaporated milk. I also melted the butter and evenly coated each layer of macaroni. I baked it at 375 for 45 minutes uncovered which was a little too long...next time I will either lower the temperature to 350 or shorten the bake time. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I'll be making this again; it was wonderful!
I have tried so many mac and cheese recipes that my family panics when I say I'm trying another one. They have all been failures. But after reading the reviews I decided to give it a shot. I didn't measure anything and only used what I had on hand. 2% milk (and prolly not enough) american slices grated colby. I didn't add the dry mustard...just the salt and pepper. I did make it in 2 pans. My kids raved the hubby went back for more. One pan is empty and the other was hit hard. This is an absolutely incredible fail-proof recipe. Ooey-gooey the way gramma made it macaroni and cheese at it's best.
YUMMY! Out of all the mac n' cheese recipes my famiy has tested this one wins the prize! I followed the advice of another review and used 12 oz. of elbow noodles reduced the temp to 350' used 1/2 sharp cheddar cheese and 1/2 Kraft Deluxe American and increased the evaporated milk to about 15-16 ozs. I also covered the top so I wouldn't end up with some "hard" noodles on top. I think the layering really helped.
Wonderful! This was exactly how I had Mac and Cheese growing up. I used fresh milk since my evaporated milk had gone bad and it worked out just fine. My father used to use fresh milk too. Thank you so much for the recipe!
This is a good skeleton. I definitely altered things on a got-it-don't-got-it basis. The main reason I like this recipe is because of the execution. Layering hard cheese & then pouring some milk (I actually used 6oz half & half with 6oz buttermilk leftover from a cake) over it was novel to me because my family did the heated up milk-egg-cheese combo poured over the noodles. I might have sneaked an egg into the cream and milk just because it didn't seem right without it. The proportions are way off though. I'll have to make it again just to get it exactly right because I had to put some of the extra noodles & cheese in a smaller dish. The butter was unnecessary for me. I used sliced cheese and shredded cheese ('cause I had it) the sliced was American while the shredded was provolone cheddar Monterey Jack and mozzarella. I also lowered the oven temp. like reviewers suggested and didn't really bother with a cook time since there seemed debate on the topic. Did maybe 30 minutes initially and just kept adding ten or so depending on how it looked.
This recipe tastes great. The problem I had with this recipe is that it calls for a 2qt dish. Here's a tip - use a 3 quart dish. Cooking in a 2qt dish caused a major spill-over in my oven. I can only give this recipe 3 stars due to the mess it caused in my oven. When I use a larger dish next time it will prob get 4 or 5 stars. Now....when will the person who wrote this recipe be over to my house to clean my oven?
Love this macaroni and cheese! It's like the old-timey macaroni-and-cheese pie baked to a golden crusty delicousness. The flavor and texture of the cheese really comes through in thsi simple recipe. (I could see trying this recipe using a ripe Camembert or Brie -- yum.) The evaporated milk gives the dish a nice tang. I use two 12-ounce cans because I like my mac and cheese extra rich. This is real comfort food!
