This isn’t health food. It’s good food. Crispy, cheesy, and a little spicy (a little cayenne is always welcome) this is almost better than the original dish. After having this, I’m now pretty tempted to take my next batch of Mac and Cheese directly from the oven to the fridge to be able to fry the whole batch after it cools.

Fried Mac and Cheese. It's not healthy, it's good.

Granted, the still-hot-from-the-oven mac and cheese is fantastic and deserves to be eaten as is, but if you do have leftovers this is the best thing you can do to it. Oh, before you try this, know that it seems to work better with the baked versions. Stove top styles tend to have a more runny, loose cheese that can get a bit messy in the oil. You can make it work, but it is much easier if you stick to baked macaroni and cheese which tends to set stiffer when chilled.

I just wish I had some Popsicle sticks available… How awesome would it be to serve fried mac & cheese on a stick! Oh, well, maybe next time…

Fried Mac & Cheese
Scale the ingredients as needed. I like a little heat, so I always add in some cayenne pepper.
Ingredients
leftover mac and cheese, cut into slices or squares
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
oil for deep frying

Directions
1. Combine the flour, salt, pepper and cayenne in a shallow bowl. Beat the egg in another small bowl. Put the bread crumbs in a third bowl.
2. Press each piece of mac & cheese into the flour and shake off any excess. Then dip into the egg wash. Then coat with bread crumbs. Let the coated mac & cheese set for about 5 minutes on a wire rack.
3. Fry each piece in 350F-375F oil (no more than a couple at a time) until golden brown.

Stovetop mac n' cheese (with breadcrumbs!)

Whatever happened to opening up a box with a powder cheese packet and making a meal? Or even better, putting something in the microwave and pressing start? There had to be a way to make this dish easier. After mourning the fact that I would probably never have the energy to make baked mac n’ cheese again, I found a solution that takes half the time and has just as much taste. Granted, compared to the boxed version, this recipe takes a tiny bit more energy and a few more minutes than a microwave, but the taste of this stove top mac n’ cheese is 100 times better. Also, as an added bonus, in order to retain that old style baked mac n’ cheese texture, you can glam up the dish with some bread crumbs on the top. This recipe is so simple that the most complicated step requires opening a can of condensed milk. There is no reason this can’t become your new pantry staple, replacing the old boxed mac n’ cheese mix. This version is definitely comfort food for the cook: easy, quick and cheap. Starchy, cheesy, and warm are mere bonuses.

Stovetop mac n' cheese

This recipe is inspired both by Cook’s Illustrated and Alton Brown. Their recipes are nearly identical and work so well that I don’t change much. What I do offer you is a few tips to making this dish self-correcting. It’s easy to adapt the recipe on-the-fly to make the sauce thicker or thinner.

Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk (12 oz if you like more sauce)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (use 1/4 if you like less bite)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 tsp Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded (if using 12 oz evaporated milk, use up to 14 oz of cheese)

Toasted Bread Crumbs (optional)
1 cup breadcrumbs
Pinch table salt
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. 

   Toasted breadcumbs

   For the optional toasted bread crumbs: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix bread crumbs, melted butter and a pinch of table salt on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes; set aside.

2. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente (under-cooking slightly is preferred to over-cooking, they’ll have enough time to cook through in the cheese sauce.) Drain and return to the pan. Add the butter and toss to melt.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, 6 ounces of the evaporated milk, hot sauce, saltpepper, and mustard in small bowl and set aside.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the buttered noodles. Add the cheese (up to 10 ounces) and stir. If the sauce looks too thick, add evaporated milk until it reaches the desired consistency. I normally add about 2 ounces more (I just eye-ball it until it looks good). If the sauce looks too thin, add more shredded cheddar.
5. Serve immediately and top with toasted bread crumbs, if using.

Also, you don’t have to toast the bread-crumbs, but it does make them crispier.

Stovetop mac n' cheese (with breadcrumbs)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I’m not discounting stove-top mac and cheese here, but the really good stuff is the baked mac and cheese. That thicker consistency with the browned bread crumbs on top is soooo much better than the more liquidy stove-top version. Don’t get me wrong, the stove-top version has it’s place; It’s easier and faster than going to all this trouble. But for a plate of comfort food that really hits home, this is the way to go.

Plate of baked mac & cheese

Click through for the recipe and more pics.

Baked Mac & Cheese

This recipe comes almost directly from Alton Brown. I have made this a couple times before and always enjoyed it. I have changed it slightly, but the essence remains true to his style. Omit the onion or use less if you are not a fan. I’d go ahead and say err on the side of putting in too little onion if you are not sure. I add a bit of cayenne to it for some heat. It doesn’t so much make it spicy as add some depth to it. Use your favorite hot sauce if you don’t have cayenne around. Use any combination of cheddar cheeses you like. I’m a fan of the sharpest I can find, but I have used a combination of different cheddars in the past.

Plated mac & cheese

Also, as a final note, make sure you temper the egg well. Adding egg directly to a hot liquid will result in scrambled eggs. Tempering an egg into a hot liquid will result in a thickened liquid that can bake up stronger. In short: scrambled egg in mac&cheese = bad.

Ingredients
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 /2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cook the pasta according the the directions on the box for al dente. It’s OK if it is a little more firm than you would normally make it, remember you will be baking it surrounded by a cheesy liquid later, it’ll cook more.
3. Melt 3 tbsps of unsalted butter in a small pot. Whisk in the 3 tbsps flour and 1 tbsp of mustard. Raise the heat to medium and keep whisking for five minutes. You are going for a roux here, so the butter and flour mixture needs to be just about to simmer, but not quite.
4. Once the roux is prepared, slowly stir in the three cups of milk while whisking. Then add the onion, bay leaf, cayenne pepper and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
5. Temper in the egg. See Kyle’s technique post about how to do this.
6. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese.
7. Taste it! Adjust with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you want.
8. Add the macaroni and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
9. In a medium saute pan, melt the butter. Toss in the bread crumbs to coat with butter. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs.
10. Bake for 30 minutes. (If the top isn’t as golden and crusty as you like, move it to the top rack and broil for 30 seconds or until it looks good. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.