Stove Top Mac-N-Cheese by Alton Brown

PickledSeeds's Note:

This is from Alton Brown's Good Eats show and it's an easy and good mac n cheese recipe to have on hand. You won't be buying the boxed stuff again after eating this. (edited 8/15/2008 - This was initially posted with 3/4 tsp of dry mustard but after making this a few times I agree with the reviewer that said this amount is too much so I've reduced it to 1/2 tsp.)

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.
2. Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Reviews

[LianneNC]

I was very surprised at just how good this was-- I am *not* a fan of eggs in my mac & cheese, so much so that when I make Alton Brown's baked mac & cheese recipe I've been known to "forget" about the egg it calls for. I just don't like how it makes it set up all "custardy" because I prefer a much smoother sauce. This, however, was unbelievably good! Even with all the eggs in it, it came out creamy, cheesy (not at all bland) and perfect. At my husband's request, I put it in a baking dish, sprinkled over some buttered fresh breadcrumbs and ran it under the broiler. That made it "set up" somewhat which was okay but not my favorite (again, I'm more a fan of the Stouffer's-type creamy sauce). Next time-- and there WILL be a next time because this was super fast and easy, much faster than regular baked mac & cheese-- I will make part of it like that for him, and the rest I'll eat right out of the pot!!

[Casey in DC]

I've made this three times. The first time, I followed the recipe, using all sharp cheddar. Sharp Cheddar is my favorite cheese, but it was a bit overpowering for the recipe. Now I make it with half sharp cheddar and half white American (cut up into small pieces) from the deli. It's perfect! Just enough bite from the cheddar, and smooth and creamy from the American. I'm done searching for the perfect mac and cheese recipe.

[embuggy]

This was a pretty good recipe. I've had better mac and cheese recipes, but this one is really quick and easy to make so it deserves 4 stars on that fact. I usually don't have milk or cream on hand so the evaporated milk was really great. This recipe reminds me of Stouffer's mac and cheese. It's really good and cheesy. I used the food network recipe which calls for 3/4 tsp of dry mustard. The only difference I would make to the recipe is to go ahead and boil a whole pound of pasta. I made half a pound of spiral pasta and it was literally swimming in cheese sauce. It seem like a huge waste, so I made half a pound more of pasta and mixed it in. This is a great starter recipe, I definitely see myself making this again with some add-ins.