This past Sunday, December 21st, was my extended family get together for Christmas. I volunteered to make the macaroni and cheese for our group of 43 adults and children. This recipe has been viewed more than 117,000 times on this blog! Isn't that amazing? The recipe is fantastic and one that I have always been proud to serve, HOWEVER, not this time. I made changes and they weren't good changes.
First off, I quadrupled the recipe since we had so many people coming. Our family get together was about 15 minutes away from my house, so I cooked and baked the macaroni and cheese just like the recipe said. Then I spooned it all into two crock pots, transported them to the party spot and plugged the crock pots in. We ate about half hour later.
The macaroni and cheese, instead of being creamy like shown above in the photo was starting to dry out, the macaroni was absorbing the delicious sauce but not in a good way. Also, the cheese sauce did not have the touch of spice taste that makes it so special. I assume in quadrupling the recipe, something was off with the amount of spices added. I should have tasted the cheese sauce more before adding it to the drained macaroni. I was rushed for time and making a batch four times as big as usual, I did not allow myself enough extra time to make the cheese sauce as good and tasty as it normally is.
So the moral of the story is, not everything can handle being kept warm in a crock pot. And when you quadruple a recipe be sure to sample everything as you go to get the taste right. Finally, when making this macaroni and cheese recipe, be sure to serve it straight from the oven or straight from the pot if not topping with buttered panko crumbs. Then I guarentee your family or guests will rave over this very best macaroni and cheese!
I have served baked mac and cheese successfully in a crock pot. Check to see if you have an oven safe crockery insert for your crock pot. Many inserts are oven safe now a days. If so, make about half again as much sauce, combine, and bake directly in the insert, including the panko topping.
ReplyDeleteIt will look a bit runny when you first remove it from the oven, but the extra sauce helps with keeping it moist while it sits on the buffet table.
I hope you give it a try.
Gator Pam, what a great idea to make more cheese sauce, that makes perfect sense. You are a genius! Thanks for helping out my blog readers and me.
Delete