Boil it for too long and your baked macaroni will be mushy. Make sure your pasta is super al dente.Millie Peartree's baked mac & cheese is famous for a reason! Here are five major takeaways to help you nail it:

Word of the dish spread like wildfire and the cooking technique was passed orally through the enslaved community, creating a staple for the African-American and southern dinner table. Hemings learned of the dish during his travels to Europe with Jefferson and produced the cheesy, savory side we all know and love. Although the dish has European roots, the version Americans are familiar with today can be attributed to James Hemings, President Thomas Jefferson's highly skilled enslaved chef. You can change up the seasonings as you like! I've just included what I use in mine.Baked macaroni and cheese is a quintessential southern side dish. You probably won't use the whole pound of pasta, but it's good to cook the whole thing so you get the right sauce/pasta ratio. Sharp cheese is better! The flavor will be slightly diluted in the roux/milk mix. The more processed the cheese is, the greasier it will get. Use a high quality cheese - cheese that comes shredded and covered in cornstarch is bad. :) The additional butter also made it greasy. 4 tablespoons of each still make enough roux to thicken additional milk/cream. This recipe is easily doubled, but I've found that when I double it I don't increase the flour/butter. You can even do one cup of milk and one of cream if you're feeling crazy! I prefer to use whole milk - I've used lower fat milks in the past and it just tastes a little flat. 2 cups whole milk (room temp is best! - set it out a little before you begin)ġ pound cheese of choice - go for sharp and/or stinky.

Ingredients to make mac n cheese