It's been quite a while since I posted and I am sorry. I really haven't done much cooking during this horrible heat we've been having. The desire to work in the kitchen just hasn't been there. But, I threw this together last night and am so happy with the results after a few tweaks that I had to tell you about it.
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| Steph's Casserole |
That's how Steph's blog begins for this wonderfully easy mac n cheese recipe. Now, I don't know that it's the best I've ever had, but it's sure up there with the best!
I already blogged about this before, but now that I made it again with some adjustments, I can safely say it will be my primary mac n cheese recipe from now on!
The first time I made it, I used her directions other than the cream cheese - I didn't have any, so I used sour cream instead. Although it tasted wonderful, the macaronis just weren't fully cooked and it was a bit on the hard side. I attributed that in part to the fact that I had used two casserole dishes to make it. But this time, I used slightly more than 2 cups of chicken stock and more than a cup of milk as well as the sour cream instead of the cream cheese. Plus, I baked it in one of my dutch ovens instead of splitting it between two casserole dishes. I also downgraded the oven temp to 350 from 375 and cooked it for 40 minutes. It turned out fantastic.
Now, this comes out pretty solid, so if you want yours a bit looser, you might add even more liquid. I haven't tried that yet to guarantee it, but this recipe is good enough that it deserves several efforts to see how it turns out.
The other thing that's different about what I did than the recipe is that the chicken stock I used is simply salted water that chicken was poached in. I didn't want to see all that flavor tossed down the drain, so I packed it in containers and froze it. I am sure glad I did!!
Sounds amazing! I like recipes that are simple and packed with all the flavor of the long traditional methods of cooking.. seems this one accomplishes that pretty well.. I wonder how this would be in a crock pot on these hot sweltering days of summer?
ReplyDeleteI gotta try it! :) Thanks for sharing!