Here ya go....do die for guaranteed....and gruyere is a good sub for cheddar.

Mac and cheese

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
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.
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 melted and cheese is bubbley.
Alton Brown

Linda, I can't wait to try this. Thank you!

Here is another recipe for another time. It's our favorite.

Over-the-Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese
From Patti LaBelle's "Labelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About"

Ingredients
⢠1 tablespoon vegetable oil
⢠1 pound elbow macaroni
⢠8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
⢠1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Muenster cheese
⢠1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mild cheddar cheese
⢠1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
⢠1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
⢠2 cups half-and-half
⢠1 cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
⢠2 large eggs, lightly beaten
⢠1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
⢠1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a deep 2 and a half quart casserole.
2. Bring a large pot of slated water to a boil over high heat. Add the oil, then the elbow macaroni, . and cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the cooking pot.
3. In a small saucepan, melt 8 tablespoons of the butter. Stir into the macaroni. In a large bowl, mix the Muenster, mild and sharp cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses. To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 and a half cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta, and the eggs. Season with the salt and pepper.
4. Transfer to the buttered casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
5. Bake until it's bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Glad to have both of these. Thanks.

Made a couple batches of Cooks Illustrated favorite recipe a few years ago. It was a LOT of trouble for a simple dish....and not very good, actually. I know I didn't blow it because somebody else made one of them. Thinking these two look much more promising.

Glad to have both of these. Thanks.

Made a couple batches of Cooks Illustrated favorite recipe a few years ago. It was a LOT of trouble for a simple dish....and not very good, actually. I know I didn't blow it because somebody else made one of them. Thinking these two look much more promising.

Mustangs, thanks for this one as well!

Kframe posted this recipe awhile back. It's very good. You can sub the cheeses you have for the Cheddar.

Macaroni And Cheese - Alton Brown Via Kframe

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon of cayanne pepper
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cup milk
1/2 cup yellow onion -- finely diced
3 or 4 cloves of garlic -- smashed or dice
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg -- light beaten
12 ounces sharp cheddar -- shredded
6 to 8 strips of bacon -- fried crisp drained, and crumbled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping
3 tablespoon butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter and let it foam out.

Add the onion and garlic with a pinch of kosher salt and lightly sautee until they start to turn carmel colored and soft.

Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, cayanne pepper, and paprika.

Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese and the bacon.

Season with salt and pepper.

Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

I can't tell you how happy I am to get these. I usually have most or all these ingredients.

My teenage son is a finicky eater and a huge lover of mac and cheese. I usually just get the Stouffer's. I'll have to eventually try all of them and let him decide which he likes the best, but "easy" is key since he's the only one that eats this. Thank you!

I hope Jessy doesn;t mind my posting one she shared....

Cooks Illustrated Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
Posted by Jessy on the CF
Ingredients
12 oz Canned evaporated milk
2 lg Eggs
1/4 ts Hot red pepper sauce
2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Ground black pepper
1 ts Dry mustard, dissolved in:
1 ts Water
1/2 lb Elbow macaroni
4 TB or 1/4 cup Unsalted butter
12 oz Sharp Wisconsin cheddar*, (or any cheese - Monterey Jack, etc., or a mix)
Preparation
Mix eggs, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, pepper sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, pepper and mustard mixture in small bowl. Set aside.
Heat 2 quarts water to boil in large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven. Add 1-1/2 teaspoons of the salt and macaroni; cook until almost tender, but still a little firm to the bite. Drain and return to pan over low heat.
Add butter; toss to melt.
Pour egg mixture over buttered noodles along with three-quarters of the cheese; stir until thoroughly combined and cheese starts to melt. Gradually add remaining milk and cheese, stirring constantly until mixture is hot and creamy, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

*********************************************************

Fannie Farmer Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese

1 (8 ounce) packages macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk 1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered

Directions
Preheat oven to 400ðF.
Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
In a large saucepan melt butter.
Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended.
Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.

Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.
Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
Turn off flame.
Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.
Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
(You can also freeze this recipe in zip-lock bags for later use - once you have mixed the macaroni along with the cheese sauce allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your freezer - I generally pull it out the night before and allow macaroni and cheese to reach room temperature; I then add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling.

Caliloo, thanks!

Here's one more. I've made Patti LaBelle's recipe and also the one from ATK. Patti's is very good, but the one I use most is Ina's, probably because it's simple and I love the taste of Gruyere. (I don't exactly remember now, but I think the Whole Wheat Pasta in my personal addition, along with the breadcrumbs and butter in the food processor. It makes the topping process much easier!)

Mac and Cheese
From Barefoot Contessa Famly Style

Kosher Salt
Vegetable Oil

16 ounces whole wheat elbow macaroni (Barilla Plus is good Multigrain pasta)
1 quart milk
6 T. butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups Gruyere, grated (12 ounces)
2 cups extra sharp Cheddar, grated (8 ounces)
Salt & Pepper to taste

1-1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (5 slices; process crumbs in a food processor)
2-3 T. cold butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter one 3 quart casserole dish.

Pour a little oil into a large pot of boil salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6-8 minutes. Drain.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan (but donâÂÂt boil it). Melt the 6 T. butter in the empty pasta pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for two minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into baking dish.

Process some dry bread (5 slices) in a food processor with cold butter until crumbs are formed. Sprinkle the crumbs on top of the Mac and Cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned lightly on top.

Less ingredients and almost exactly the cheeses I already have, no substitutes??

I'm glad to have all of them but this may be the one to try. I'l have to let you know when I make it. Tyvm!

Thanks from me too for that recipe Claire. My daughter loves mac and cheese but says my recipe takes too long! LOL

I'll pass this on to her.

Oh Good. I'm glad to hear others might like this one. Ina has never let me down!

I love homemade mac and cheese. My husband would rather have Stouffers. Sigh. All these recipes look awesome.

It REALLY warms my heart to see my recipe (well, my adaptation of Alton Brown's recipe) keep showing up here.

So much so that I'm going to make Mac and Cheese for dinner tonight... out of a box...

I don't have time to make the real stuff tonight!

Michael, my girls LOVE your macaroni and cheese, it's even gotten the approval of The Princess, so now it's the only recipe I use.

Annie

Claire, I will be trying your mac and cheese recipe tomorrow. I pushed it back because I want to try your variation with the whole wheat pasta and needed to do some grocery shopping. I've never cooked with this, but thought it would be an interesting take on this dish. I will definitely let you know how it turns out.

Eventually I will try them all; thanks so much everyone!

Thanks Velamina for sharing that. I hope you like as much as we do.

I've taken this one many times to potlucks at work. It's always a huge success and no leftovers to take home! When at home, I bake it in the oven instead of in the crockpot.

CROCKPOT MACARONI AND CHEESE
8 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Place cooked macaroni in slow cooker that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray. Reserve 1 cup cheese; add rest of cheese and the other ingredients to the macaroni. Mix well. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Cook on HIGH at least 2-1/2 hours. Do not remove cover or stir until ready to serve.

Recipe courtesy of Mr. Food.

Do eggs really belong in M&C? Years ago, I make a recipe with eggs in it and did not care for the texture. Usually I just make the white sauce and dump in the shredded cheese -- good but not spectacular.

stir fryi, we don't care for M&C made with eggs either. What we do like though is the addition of some mascarpone. It just makes the sauce so creamy and reheats beautifully.

/tricia

The Mac and Cheese recipe that I came up with (posted above) does take one egg.

It adds a bit of richness, and also the protein binding power.

Properly integrating the egg into the mixture is key to achieving a silky smooth consistency...

You have to temper the egg mix slowly and VERY thoroughly to keep it from either getting grainy or, worse, to keep the egg from scrambling.

I think it all depends on your personal preference. Whether you like the creamy style (like Velveeta shells & cheese) or the custard-style (with the eggs). I happen to like both!

I do the white sauce and dump in cheese and agree, its ok but not spectacular. I do not feel like getting into the testing of recipe's with egg.
I would love a reliable simple on top of the stove recipe so I don't have to use the "box'. Baked is great but I don't like to take the time. Honestly I love the box, my taste buds were developed on processed food. But I would like to control the quality of ingredients and salt and fat.
So...how is this before it goes in the oven? How to ensure its really good? Extra sharp Cheddar? Sometimes I use cream cheese (I usally have that around vs. marscapone).

Fannie Farmer Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese

1 (8 ounce) packages macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk 1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered

Directions
Preheat oven to 400ðF.
Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
In a large saucepan melt butter.
Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended.
Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.

Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.
Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
Turn off flame.
Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.

I do the white sauce and dump in cheese and agree, its ok but not spectacular. I do not feel like getting into the testing of recipe's with egg.
I would love a reliable simple on top of the stove recipe so I don't have to use the "box'. Baked is great but I don't like to take the time. Honestly I love the box, my taste buds were developed on processed food. But I would like to control the quality of ingredients and salt and fat.
So...how is this before it goes in the oven? How to ensure its really good? Extra sharp Cheddar? Sometimes I use cream cheese (I usally have that around vs. marscapone).

Fannie Farmer Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese

1 (8 ounce) packages macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk 1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered

Directions
Preheat oven to 400ðF.
Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
In a large saucepan melt butter.
Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended.
Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.

Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.
Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
Turn off flame.
Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.

My recipe definitely does NOT get a "custard" consistency to it.

There's not enough egg and too much flour and other starches for that to happen.

It maintains a creamy texture (if I do my job correctly).

Mine is really really simple, and requires really good cheese (I buy Granville extra sharp cheddar).

About 1 pound of cheddar
butter and flour to make a roux
milk, preferably whole and not chilled
1 pound short cut pasta
salt, pepper

boil water for pasta, grate cheese.
Salt the boiling water. When pasta goes in to cook, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter, stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour, allow to thicken and very lightly carmelize. Add milk (probably about 1/2 cup at a time) and stir, allow to thicken. Add more milk if it becomes overly thick. Mix in grated cheddar a bit at a time, allowing each batch to melt before adding more. Stir very frequently, and keep the flame low.

Put the drained pasta into a casserole, and pour the cheese bechamel over, carefully incorporate.

Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how crusty you like it.

I make a combination of Alton Brown's & the Cook's Illustated versions. They're both made on top of the stove, no oven baking. Here's my combined recipe with notes about differing quantities. I use a lot less cheese because of my husband's low sodium diet. And I often use just one egg and a combination of sharp cheddar & Swiss (Swiss is naturally lower in sodium content). But, all in all, the recipe satisfies our mac & cheese hankerings and is quite easy.

CookâÂÂs Illustrated & Alton Brown
Serves 4 as a main course or 6-8 as a side dish

Toasted Bread Crumbs (Cook's Illustrated):
1cup fresh breadcrumbs from French or Italian bread
Pinch table salt
1 ý tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese:
2 large eggs
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk (AltonâÂÂs recipe calls for only 6 oz. milk)
ü teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 teaspoons table salt, divided use (I omit)
ü teaspoon ground black/white pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard, dissolved in 1 teaspoon water (or prepared mustard)
ý pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces (about 3 cups) sharp cheddar cheese, grated (AltonâÂÂs recipe calls for 10 oz. of cheese; I use only 8 oz.)

Instructions:
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bread crumbs and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl.

Meanwhile, mix eggs, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, pepper sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, and mustard mixture in small bowl; set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 2 quarts water to boil in large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and macaroni; cook until almost tender, but still a little firm to the bite (I cook the macaroni a bit more). Drain and return to pan over low heat. Add butter; toss to melt.

Pour egg mixture over buttered noodles along with three-quarters of the cheese; stir until thoroughly combined and cheese starts to melt. Gradually add remaining milk (DonâÂÂt let it get too soupy) and cheese, stirring constantly, until mixture is hot and creamy, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately topped with toasted bread crumbs.

First, thanks so much for your responses. It'll be a while before I go thru most of these.

I made Claire's recipe by Contessa and it was really delicious. My son was thrilled and it was my first homemade mac and cheese, very simple. I would recommend this recipe to anyone.

Shambo, I noticed your recipe (for Kourabiedes) which I make every year. I will be paying attention to your recipes; I have a passion for authentic Greek cooking that you cannot imagine, especially sweets!

Michael, I agree, your mac and cheese is creamy, not custardy, the girls love the stuff.

Annie