Mac and cheese is one of my husband’s favorite dishes. I always imagined it was too complicated to make at home, but we decided to try this recipe from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt: https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe. It ingeniously calls for 6 oz each uncooked elbow macaroni, evaporated milk, and freshly shredded cheddar cheese.
Our modifications: first, we doubled the recipe to 12 oz uncooked pasta, 12 oz evaporated milk (which is the standard can size), and 12 oz shredded cheese. Second, to cook the pasta, we used our medium All-Clad pot. We found that 3 to 3.5 cups cold water just covered the 12 oz pasta. We cooked for 6 mins, but may reduce to 5 mins the next time to ensure the pasta doesn’t overcook (it was soft at 6 mins, when we had been aiming for not quite al dente). Third, for the cheese, we used a 7 oz block of Somerset extra mature cheddar, which we hand-shredded into wide shreds and 5 oz Tillamook shredded Mexican cheese (see Note below). Finally, at the end of cooking, we lightly seasoned to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and 1/4 tsp dry mustard. This mac and cheese came together remarkably fast and tasted quite luxurious. (Nov. 2025)
Note: We highly recommend using a block of cheese instead of using store-bought shredded cheese. The latter had difficulty melting into the pasta mixture. Also, we found extra sharp cheddar too overpowering. So we may try this recipe again with mild or slightly sharp cheddar.
Cooking Adventures 