Friday, January 1, 2010

Sweetie Pie's Mac and Cheese

I haven't had much luck with homemade macaroni and cheese...
Attempt 1, 3 Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese was the first recipe I ever posted on my blog (the picture makes me laugh, you can see my shadow... we've learned a lot about taking pictures these last 3 years). This is a great stove-top macaroni and cheese but it's not that wholesome macaroni and cheese casserole old ladies bring to pot-lucks.
Attempt 2, The Lady's Cheesy Mac was dry and tasteless.
Attempt 3, Betty Crocker's Macaroni and Cheese was the best so far but it tastes EXACTLY like Stouffer's macaroni and cheese which you can buy in the freezer section of the supermarket for $2.

Sweetie Pie's was my 4th attempt and hallelujah, I've met perfection! It was featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives... It was terrific! It was creamy with the right amount of gooeyness but the flavor is what sets this macaroni and cheese apart. It's got a hint of sour cream and sweetness but full of stringy cheese! My only complaint is that my 9x13 pan overflowed in the oven, so next time I am going to try using only 1 can of evaporated milk, I will adjust my blog recipe if it goes well! Ingredients
1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
1 cup whole milk (I didn't have whole milk so I used heavy cream... don't judge me)
2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 sticks butter, cut into small pieces
1 pound Colby-Jack cheese, shred it yourself (the pre-shredded cheese in bags is covered with flour and can make your macaroni oily)
1/2 pound Cheddar cheese, shred it yourself
1 pound Velveeta cheese, cut into small chunks
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Now, Sweetie Pie's mixes everything in the casserole pan but our 9x13 pans aren't big enough, so I used a LARGE bowl. In a large bowl combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, sour cream, and eggs. Mix with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the butter, Colby-Jack, Cheddar, and Velveeta cheeses to the pasta. RESERVE A CUP OF CHEESE to sprinkle on the top. Pour the cooked pasta noodles into the cheese mixture and season with salt, pepper and sugar and toss. Now transfer the noodle cheese mixture to a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the top of the pasta with the remaining cup of cheese.Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.

20 comments:

Katy ~ said...

OK, so I'm only going to leave ONE comment and tell you just how delicious this looks, and then I'm not going to think about this for a while (yeah, right!). I can tell that this is GOOD!! Oh my. There's only Ole Sweetie-Pi and I and we certainly can't eat that large a pan of all that cheesy goodness. Doggone I'm going to have to make me some friends to share this so I can have some.

Heidi said...

I've never been a fan of homemade mac and cheese(the kind you bake). I grew up eating the blue box stuff or noodles with velveeta and a little milk (which I prefer). This looks really good. I need to give it a try :)

Peggy Clyde said...

This sounds so good. Did you cut down the canned milk? We have been looking for a good recipe for this. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That looks so good! I have been on a quest for the perfect mac & cheese, and thought that I had made it last week. . .now I'm going to have to make yours to compare. I have a food blog, and if I make it, I'll link back.

Donna-FFW said...

Oh this looks fantastic. I so love mac and cheese, one of those comfort foods you cant live without!

ann low said...

Oh...my kids at home love to eat this delicious macaroni and cheese a lot. Thanks for sharing.

The Old White Barn said...

I've also been looking for a good "Grown Up" mac and cheese recipe and this looks like the one to try. My kids grew up on the blue box kind also (much to my shame) and every attempt I made to try to change them was a disaster -dry, chalky, no flavor recipes. I couldn't hardly blame them for being skeptical about giving up the blue box - I liked it better, too! Thanks for sharing this one - I'm going to give it a try.
Susan

Anonymous said...

That's a lotta mac and cheese. Can you cut the recipe down a little for us?

Marge said...

Oh yum....shame on you for posting this! But, yum....I'll have to make this soon....and invite lots of people to dinner!

teresa said...

oh drooooooool. this looks fantastic!

Rachel said...

I absolutely love your blog! My kids are huge mac and cheese fans and would go crazy for this!

Carrie said...

I haven't cut the evaporated milk down to 1 can yet, but I will next time I make it and if it works then I will adjust the recipe on my blog ,-)

Viagra Online said...

Greetings Carrie and readers!
I just dropped by in order to let you know how much I really appreciate when you share such a healthy and delightful recipes.
You are so sweet honey!
By the way, Sweetie Pie's Mac and Cheese has such a marvelous flavor!

Anonymous said...

Ok so now I'm a bit confused. On Guy Fieri's show, Sweetie Pie's chef did not add evaporated milk...why do you? Just curious...no harm.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous: I was also in question about the evaporated milk. If you watch the you tube video of the show she pours some milk type substance from a container and then pours regular milk from the actual gallon. I am assuming that the milk substance in the clear kitchen container was the evaporated milk. I have actaully gotten her recipe from a newspaper and it had the 2 cans of evaporated milk. Hope this helps.

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Anonymous said...

Made this tonight and am eating it as I write. It is curdled! I am unsure why, but I think, it is the pre-shredded cheese. Reading the back of the ingredient bag, now I am , as the added ingredients are: potato starch, cellulose powder and calcium sulfate "added to prevent caking". Will try this again, but I think the recipe needs to make this clear.

Anonymous said...

I have been drooling over this mac and cheese since I saw it on the Food Network. Made it exactly as written, but it came out very oily. Was OK eaten hot (even though the oil just oozed out of it) but forget about left overs. Was like eating a block of Crisco. Next time I would cut back dramatically on the butter and leave off the cheese topping. Substitute Panko. I am so surprised no one else has had this problem. In the video clip on FN I see that she also added mass quantities of sour cream. Maybe that would help. Bummer. Really wanted to love this.

Anonymous said...

I made this recipe as part of our Memorial Day menu and it is absolutely fabulous! We will definitely be making this again!

Judy said...

She did make it clear, when she said to shed the cheese yourself, because pre-shredded cheese has a flour coating on it..........