Southern-Style Custard Baked Mac and Cheese
The first way is a custard-based southern American style. To get started on that, I’ll need to sort out the cheese situation. Today, I’m going to be using three main cheeses plus an optional fourth that I’ll talk about in just a second. To bring a backbone of strong cheesy flavor, I’m gonna start with some sharp cheddar. This is just the standard issue block version that you get at the grocery store. Southern mac and cheese is not about artisanal cheese, so don’t use anything fancy. Next to that, I’ve got some Colby jack cheese. It’s plain, it’s mild, and it melts.Nothing fancy here. This is kind of a workhorse cheese. And then lastly, I’ve got some yellow American. This brings that gooeyness and stick to the roof of your mouth-ness that we really need in a nuclear orange baked mac. Velveeta cheese would also be a good option, but it tastes a little bit too much like canned nacho cheese for me. Oh, it’s so gross.Also, you should probably skip using pre-grated cheese for this recipe because pre-shreds tend to be covered in food starches or anti-caking agents that make them melt really weird. Now, once all these cheeses are shredded, I’m going to combine them into a medium bowl. That’s 225 grams or a half pound of sharp cheddar, 225 of American cheese, and then 225 Colby jack.
Now for the fourth and still optional cheese, I’m going to add in 125 grams of grated parm. I find adding some aged cheese flavor to this mac just gives it a touch of added complexity without making it taste too fancy. Next, I’ll toss all these cheeses together and there we go. A perfect blend of sharp, creamy, gooey, and umami.
- Over at the stove, I’ve got a large pot of heavily salted water up to a ripping boil, so I’ll drop in my mac. That’ll be one pound of whatever macaroni you like best. I think 100% semolina or durum pasta holds up best during the long bake time. After a quick stir, I’ll let this pasta cook per package instructions or about five minutes in total.
- While that cooks, I’m gonna quickly bust out the thing that holds this mac together: the egg custard. For that, I’ll set aside my cheese and grab a second medium bowl. In that goes three large eggs. These are going to help make the mac more set up and give it a more luscious creamy mouthfeel, then 125 grams of sour cream, and then two cans of evaporated milk.
These are 12 ounces or 350 mls each, and their high levels of casein protein are essential in my opinion to making a more stable, less greasy mac and cheese. Lastly, I’ll add in 2 grams of black pepper and 8 grams of salt. Next, I’ll jump into the bowl and give everything a quick whisk to combine. And now we have egg milk, also known as custard.
Back at the stove, it’s been five minutes, so I’ll come back and check on the pasta to see how it tastes. Five minutes should yield me a noodle that still has quite a bit of bite. We need it al dente because these noodles are going to soften and swell up a lot during the bake, and that’s spot on. So I’ll drain these over at the sink, then move them over to a large bowl so I can combine everything together.
Next, I’ll drop this pasta pot back on the stove and then drop in one whole stick of butter or 115 grams worth. It wouldn’t be southern cooking if this dish wasn’t full of fake cheese, sour cream, and butter, would it? And once that’s melted, I’ll add it into the pasta. Then in goes all of my evaporated milk custard and then most of, but not all, of my grated cheese blend. I’ll save about 10 to 15 percent of that to melt on top.
Once everything’s in the pool, I’ll grab a spatula and stir to combine. It’s probably going to look soupier than you think it should be at this point, and that’s totally okay. Like I said, this pasta is going to swell up and absorb most of this liquid, making a thick luxurious sauce.
Next, I’ll pour this whole mess into a deep 9 by 13 baking dish and then I’ll smooth that pasta out into a nice flat layer. Then I’ll top it with the reserved blend of cheeses. Don’t be shy on the cheese, make sure that you’ve got this pasta mostly covered. Once I’ve got this all cheesed up, I’m going to load it into a 375 F oven and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes.
During that time, the eggs are gonna puff and the pasta is going to absorb most of that evaporated milk, and it’s going to take on some nice golden brown color on top. When I pull it out, you can see we’ve got even meltage happening on top, nice, and we’ve got some fried bubbly edges in the corner, double nice.
After 10 to 15 minutes of cool down time, when I come back you can see that this pasta has set up into a sliceable mass that can easily be cut into squares for serving. Oh baby, we’ve got some really nice cheese melt dangling off the side. In my opinion, this is everything that you want in a southern style baked mac and cheese.
It’s outrageously cheesy, like stop your heart levels of melted cheese. It’s gooey, it’s creamy, and it’s mega comforting. It’s a standalone dish in and of itself or it’s the perfect side for smoked meats, grilled meats, fried chicken, you name it. This mac is gonna be the life of that party.
Let’s talk about the cast of cheeses I’m using for this mac. First up, I got some very sharp pecorino. I’m using this because its strong, dense, piquant sheepiness is going to punch through all that luxurious creaminess. Since this cheese is so dry though, it’s going to need to be very well broken down to melt properly into a sauce, so I’m going to grate it on the feather side of my box grater.
In total, I need 150 grams worth. Next, I’ve got some aged nutty gruyere cheese. I’ll grate this on the medium holes of my box grater and in total I need 250 grams worth. The last aged cheese that I’ve got here is Italian telegio. This one has a funky, buttery flavor to it and that’s thanks to this light pink wash rind during the aging process. This gets washed with a solution called brevobacterium linens, and that makes the outside of the cheese smell like a fungal diaper. Sounds rough, but it tastes super freaking good.
To prep this one for the sauce, I’m going to actually remove that rind because telegio tends to have paper stuck to it and that won’t melt into the sauce. In total, I’ll need 250 grams of telegio. If you want something less stinky here, I would say use brie or camembert. Those have more of a mellow mushroomy flavor instead of straight up funkiness.
Now, once all my cheeses are prepped, it’s time to make it into a cheese sauce, or more accurately in French cookery, a Mornay. To get started on that, I’ll drop 80 grams of butter into a 2 quart saucepan and give it a melt. Next in goes 60 grams of all-purpose flour, then a whisk and I’ll get everything stirred to combine.
I’ll cook this for about a minute over high heat to unify the butter and flour and remove the raw pasty flavor. Once the roux is just starting to turn golden like this, I’ll add in 1200 grams or about 5 cups of whole milk and I’ll stir that into the roux. From here, I’ll bring this up to a simmer and once this starts to thicken, make sure to stir it constantly because it will scorch. Flour and milk together can be quite sticky and burning will happen a lot easier than you’d think.
Next, the heat goes down to low so that I can add in my cheeses. First in is the most aged, that’s the pecorino. I find I get the creamiest, least grainy result when I work from oldest to youngest. Next in goes gruyere. I’ll stir that in and then in goes my chopped telegio. I’ll jump in and stir that again, and since this cheese is quite chunky, it’s going to take at least two to three minutes for it to melt evenly.
Once the telegio is all melted in, this sauce is going to be thickened and very cheesy looking, but at this point it’s not as creamy or luxurious as it should be. It has just a little bit of graininess to it. The cure for that is to add in 225 grams of mascarpone cheese. This is essentially Italian cream cheese and it’s going to help make this sauce looser, lighter, and bring some bright cultured milk flavor. Making a Mornay with purely aged cheeses tends to be a little bit grainy.
Adding in some fresh cheese like this really helps bring a smoother body to the whole thing. Once that’s whisked in, I’ll move it over to my cutting board to finish. In goes 2 grams of black pepper, 5 grams of salt, and then a few rips of nutmeg. The warmth that this brings really helps round the sharp edges on this sauce and it complements the nutty gruyere famously. A quick whisk to get all that combined and there we go, a velvety creamy Mornay sauce that’s fit for a king. To stop a skin from forming while I cook the pasta, I’ll pop a lid on it.
Then head over to the stove and cook some pasta. That’ll be one pound of mac thrown into some salty water. I’ll cook it for five minutes. At that point, I’ll come back and taste it. It’s al dente so I’ll drain it off. Once it’s cooked, I’ll dump it into a large bowl and then in goes all of my Mornay. Oh, look how silky that is. Next, I’ll stir to combine and there we go. We’ve got noodles swimming in a luxurious sauce. This looks super different from round one where things were just sitting in cheese milk.
Next, I’ll pour this into a deep 9 by 13 just like before, and from there I’ll top it with grated gruyere and grated pecorino cheese. I always like having a roof of some sort of cheese right on top to catch some browning and bring a rounder darker flavor along with some added texture. A quick bird’s eye view to see how this looks pre-bake, it’s looking good so I’ll load it into a 375 F oven to bake it for 35 to 40 minutes. One more quick look at the time lapse, that looks great. Once this mac is looking bubbly and lightly golden brown, it’s time to pull it out and it looks gorgeous.
After 15 minutes of rest time, when I pull out a piece you can see again we’ve got a setup block of pasta that’s held together by a beautiful melty sauce. You guys, this version has all of the comfort and pleasure of the first one with just a little bit more R-rated flavors. It’s funky, sheepy, creamy, and deeply nutty all at the same time. One second it tastes like cacio e pepe, and the next it’s like Swiss fondue.
Whether you go with nuclear orange southern style or the more sophisticated funky version, you’re gonna be stoked. I hope you try this recipe soon. Let’s eat this thing!
Funky Cheese Mornay Baked Mac and Cheese
For the next baked mac and cheese, I’m going to use a slightly more fancy, flavorful cheese blend and use an alternative, slightly more professional method of holding things together.Let’s talk about the cast of cheeses I’m using for this mac. First up, I got some very sharp pecorino. I’m using this because its strong, dense, piquant sheepiness is going to punch through all that luxurious creaminess. Since this cheese is so dry though, it’s going to need to be very well broken down to melt properly into a sauce, so I’m going to grate it on the feather side of my box grater.
In total, I need 150 grams worth. Next, I’ve got some aged nutty gruyere cheese. I’ll grate this on the medium holes of my box grater and in total I need 250 grams worth. The last aged cheese that I’ve got here is Italian telegio. This one has a funky, buttery flavor to it and that’s thanks to this light pink wash rind during the aging process. This gets washed with a solution called brevobacterium linens, and that makes the outside of the cheese smell like a fungal diaper. Sounds rough, but it tastes super freaking good.
To prep this one for the sauce, I’m going to actually remove that rind because telegio tends to have paper stuck to it and that won’t melt into the sauce. In total, I’ll need 250 grams of telegio. If you want something less stinky here, I would say use brie or camembert. Those have more of a mellow mushroomy flavor instead of straight up funkiness.
Now, once all my cheeses are prepped, it’s time to make it into a cheese sauce, or more accurately in French cookery, a Mornay. To get started on that, I’ll drop 80 grams of butter into a 2 quart saucepan and give it a melt. Next in goes 60 grams of all-purpose flour, then a whisk and I’ll get everything stirred to combine.
I’ll cook this for about a minute over high heat to unify the butter and flour and remove the raw pasty flavor. Once the roux is just starting to turn golden like this, I’ll add in 1200 grams or about 5 cups of whole milk and I’ll stir that into the roux. From here, I’ll bring this up to a simmer and once this starts to thicken, make sure to stir it constantly because it will scorch. Flour and milk together can be quite sticky and burning will happen a lot easier than you’d think.
Next, the heat goes down to low so that I can add in my cheeses. First in is the most aged, that’s the pecorino. I find I get the creamiest, least grainy result when I work from oldest to youngest. Next in goes gruyere. I’ll stir that in and then in goes my chopped telegio. I’ll jump in and stir that again, and since this cheese is quite chunky, it’s going to take at least two to three minutes for it to melt evenly.
Once the telegio is all melted in, this sauce is going to be thickened and very cheesy looking, but at this point it’s not as creamy or luxurious as it should be. It has just a little bit of graininess to it. The cure for that is to add in 225 grams of mascarpone cheese. This is essentially Italian cream cheese and it’s going to help make this sauce looser, lighter, and bring some bright cultured milk flavor. Making a Mornay with purely aged cheeses tends to be a little bit grainy.
Adding in some fresh cheese like this really helps bring a smoother body to the whole thing. Once that’s whisked in, I’ll move it over to my cutting board to finish. In goes 2 grams of black pepper, 5 grams of salt, and then a few rips of nutmeg. The warmth that this brings really helps round the sharp edges on this sauce and it complements the nutty gruyere famously. A quick whisk to get all that combined and there we go, a velvety creamy Mornay sauce that’s fit for a king. To stop a skin from forming while I cook the pasta, I’ll pop a lid on it.
Then head over to the stove and cook some pasta. That’ll be one pound of mac thrown into some salty water. I’ll cook it for five minutes. At that point, I’ll come back and taste it. It’s al dente so I’ll drain it off. Once it’s cooked, I’ll dump it into a large bowl and then in goes all of my Mornay. Oh, look how silky that is. Next, I’ll stir to combine and there we go. We’ve got noodles swimming in a luxurious sauce. This looks super different from round one where things were just sitting in cheese milk.
Next, I’ll pour this into a deep 9 by 13 just like before, and from there I’ll top it with grated gruyere and grated pecorino cheese. I always like having a roof of some sort of cheese right on top to catch some browning and bring a rounder darker flavor along with some added texture. A quick bird’s eye view to see how this looks pre-bake, it’s looking good so I’ll load it into a 375 F oven to bake it for 35 to 40 minutes. One more quick look at the time lapse, that looks great. Once this mac is looking bubbly and lightly golden brown, it’s time to pull it out and it looks gorgeous.
After 15 minutes of rest time, when I pull out a piece you can see again we’ve got a setup block of pasta that’s held together by a beautiful melty sauce. You guys, this version has all of the comfort and pleasure of the first one with just a little bit more R-rated flavors. It’s funky, sheepy, creamy, and deeply nutty all at the same time. One second it tastes like cacio e pepe, and the next it’s like Swiss fondue.
Whether you go with nuclear orange southern style or the more sophisticated funky version, you’re gonna be stoked. I hope you try this recipe soon. Let’s eat this thing!