Mac and Cheese

Everyday Mac & Cheese from Scratch

1. Make the quantity of elbow macaroni you need.
2. While this is boiling in salted water, make a pot of white sauce. When it thickens, season with salt and pepper and stir in 1/4 to 1 cup of grated or shredded cheese (depending on the quantity of sauce you make.) Better to make too much than to make too little, because excess sauce can be refrigerated to use on so many more things later.
3. Stir enough sauce into the hot drained pasta in the pot to coat the pasta, then serve.
4. Making this is easy and more delicious than the boxed kind.  The better the cheese you use, the better it will be.
5. To make ahead of time, pour the mixture in a greased casserole dish, top with a little more grated cheese and/or buttered bread crumbs, and bake at 350 degrees F until the cheese on top bubbles (or turns golden if you use parmesan), then turn down to keep warm.

Special Occasion Mac and Cheese

Use the substitutions in parentheses and the flavour will be a little different, but still good.

It's not very economical to make, but delicious for a special family occasion with kids (and adults) who really like macaroni and cheese.

• 1 lb. elbow macaroni, boiled and drained
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 Tbsp  butter
• 1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese (or Edam or Havarti)
• 1/2 cup shredded mild cheddar AND 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar (OR 1 cup total shredded medium cheddar)
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 cups half-and-half (OR 1 cup whole milk + 1 cup heavy cream)
• 8 oz Velveeta cheese OR cream cheese, cubed
• 2 lightly beaten large eggs
• 1 Tbsp cold butter

1. Shred the cheeses and combine in a bowl.
2. Butter the inside of a 2-1/2 quart casserole dish.
3. Boil the macaroni in salted water using package directions, drain.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
5. To the pot in which the macaroni was boiled, add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and 8 Tbsp butter, stir till the butter melts. (Note: For a spicier version add pinches of cumin and cayenne pepper.) Return the pasta to the pot and toss it in this butter mixture.
6. Stir the 2 beaten eggs into the half-and-half, add it to the pot along with 1-1/2 cups of the shredded cheese combined, toss to mix.
7. Transfer the pasta mixture to a buttered 2-1/2 quart baking dish.
8. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
9. Dot with 1 Tbsp cold butter.
10. Bake in 350 degree F oven 30-35 or until the pasta is bubbly and the edges are golden.
11. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Lobster Mac and Cheese

Serves 6-8. If you don't have lobster, substitute other diced, cooked meat, like chicken or cooked, drained Italian sausage meat, but of course then it won't be Lobster Mac and Cheese.

Brush a little vegetable oil on the grater and the cheese will come off more easily when you have to wash it. You can use a potato peeler to peel a little cheese on top before serving, for a garnish.

•  2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• kosher salt
• 1 lb. elbow macaroni
• 4 cups whole milk
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups grated Gruyere cheese
• 2 cups grated old Cheddar cheese (or extra-sharp)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1-1/2 lbs cooked diced lobster meat (1/2 inch diced)
• 1-1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

1. Add oil to a large pot of boiling salted water.
2. Add pasta and cook to al dente, according to package directions. Drain well.
3. Heat 4 cups milk to hot (not boiling).
4. In a saucepan, melt 6 Tbsp butter and whisk in 1/2 cup flour. Cook over low heat 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
5. Still whisking, add the hot milk, cook 1-2 minutes until thick and smooth.
6. Remove saucepan from heat. Add grated cheese, 1 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp each pepper and nutmeg, stir until cheese melts.
7. Stir in the cooked pasta and lobster.
8. Put in large greased casserole dish or separate into two-cup ovenproof dishes.
9. Melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter, combine with 1-1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs, sprinkle on top
10. Bake small dishes in preheated 375 degree F oven 30-35 minutes  until sauce bubbles and pasta is browned on top. For larger casserole dishes, reduce heat to 350 degrees F and cook longer until heated through, bubbly and browned.

Chicken Casserole

Allene's Casserole 

Allene Brodie worked in the cubicle beside mine in the advertising department of Simpsons department store in downtown Toronto. I was the newest fashion copywriter, Allene had written ads housewares for a long time. Friendly and generous with good advice, Allene typed out her favorite, quick "company's coming after work" recipe for me. She served it with rice, rolls, a lettuce salad with Green Goddess dressing, and a fruit salad for dessert.

• 1 whole chicken
• flour (enough to coat chicken parts)
• 1 can Campbells Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1/2 can water
• 3/4 can sour cream
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut raw chicken into pieces, skin and de-bone.

Lay chicken pieces in a shallow casserole dish.

Put a pat of butter on each chicken piece.

Combine soup, water, sour cream, white wine.

Pour over chicken pieces in casserole dish.

Lift edges of chicken to make sure some sauce goes underneath.

Cook at 350 degrees for total 1-1/2 hours, but set timer for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, turn chicken pieces, spooning sauce over.

Continue cooking for final 45 minutes, adding a little milk if sauce needs it.

Cooked casserole freezes well. Just add a little milk and reheat.

Creamed Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

• 6 chicken breasts
• 1 bunch fresh broccoli
• 2 cans cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup (or substitute white sauce)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup breadcrumbs

1. Bone-in chicken: Boil the breasts in a pot of water until tender. Skin and de-bone the chicken and return the bones to the water to make stock for soup.
2. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: bake the chicken in a flat baking dish lined and covered with sheets of water-moistened parchment paper at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes until tender and almost done. Remove the parchment paper and chicken from the baking dish, drain the juices. (Lightly oil the baking dish before returning chicken to the dish.)
3. While chicken is cooking, wash, cut up and steam the broccoli until almost tender.
4. Arrange cooked chicken meat and steamed broccoli in a flat baking dish.
5. Blend the soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry and pour over the chicken and broccoli.
6. Top with the cheese and buttered breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Marilyn's Ham and Potato Casserole

In a large pot, make a cream sauce using:
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups milk

Fold in:
1 large chopped onion
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
5 cups peeled and thinly sliced raw potatoes
3 cups cubed ham

Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch greased pan.
Cover with foil.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for thirty minutes, then remove foil and cook 1 hour more.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Roy Romanow's Ukranian-Canadian Pierogi Pie

Marilyn copied this recipe for Pierogi Pie from the Toronto Star newspaper years ago.

The recipe was contributed by Roy Romanow, Premier of Saskatchewan from 1999-2001.

Instructions have been abbreviated.

Serves eight.

• 2 cups mashed potato
• 1 cup grated medium or old cheddar cheese
• 12 cooked lasagna noodles
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 1 beaten egg 
• 1/4 tsp onion salt
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup butter
• sour cream 

Wash and peel potatoes (2 big or 4 medium makes about 2 cups mashed.)

Cook in boiling, salted water till soft.

Mash with 3 tbsp. milk, salt and pepper. Mix in grated cheese.

Cook noodles in boiling, salted water till firm but tender. Drain.

In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, egg, onion salt. 

In a pan, melt butter and then sautee chopped onion 10 minutes.

Line bottom of greased 9 x 13" pan with 4 cooked noodles.

Spread cottage cheese mixture on top. Add layer of 4 noodles.

Spread with mashed potato mixture. Add 4 noodles.

Top with sauteed onions.

Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven 30 minutes or until heated through.

Let stand 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream. 

Baked Ham

Baked Ham

An 8-10 lb fully-cooked boneless ham will make 16-20 three oz. slices with some leftovers. Heating the ham will take 2-1/4 to 2-3/4 hours in a 325 degree F oven to reach 140 degrees F. on a rack in a roasting pan.

A bone-in ham will take 15-20 minutes per 454 grams (1 lb) at 325 degrees F. Bake the ham fat side up so it self-bastes. Tent the ham with foil so it doesn't dry out. In the last 30 minutes of baking, take the ham from the oven, remove the foil, and baste it with Dijon mustard, or honey mustard, or regular yellow mustard with some brown sugar mixed in, or any other glaze you like. You can coat with mustard at the start of cooking but the fat will carry the mustard to the bottom of the pan where the juices will blacken. When carving, save the bone to make ham bone broth for soup.

Baked Boneless Ham with Ginger Glaze

Serves 8. This recipe is for one:

• 3-4 lb. fully cooked boneless ham

In a saucepan combine:

• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2-1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp molasses
• pinch cayenne pepper

Heat to a simmer then continue to simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes.

Stir in:

• 2 cups ginger ale 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Pour glaze over cold ham on rack in roasting pan.

Bake 1 hour.

Increase heat to 325 degrees F and bake 1 hour more, basting ham every 15 minutes.

Brush ham with:

• 2 Tbsp honey

Bake 15 minutes more.

Leftover Ham and Potato Casserole

Serves 6

• 2 cups cubed cooked ham
• 6 cups thinly sliced, peeled potatoes (about 6-8 medium potatoes)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tbsp fine dry bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp melted butter or margarine
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese or finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Grease a 2-quart casserole
2. Place a cup of ham in the casserole dish
3. Cover with 3 cups potatoes and half of the onions.
4. Sift half of the flour on top.
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Layer the rest of the ham, potatoes and onions in the dish.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Sift the rest of the flour on top.
9. Pour in the 2 cups milk.
10. Stir bread crumbs in the melted butter and sprinkle on top.
11. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese or parley.
12. Cover and bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven about 75-90 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Leftover Ham Meatballs 

Grind leftover ham in a food processor, you'll need 1-1/2 cups ground.

Use 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce.

In a bowl, combine:

• 2 large beaten eggs
• 1-1/2 cups bread crumbs (2 slices)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Mix in:

• 12 oz (1-1/2 cups) ground cooked ham
• 12 oz. ground pork or ground beef

Using about 1/3 cup mixture for each, shape meat mixture into 12 meatballs.

Place meatballs in a lightly greased 2-quart rectangular baking dish.

Over meatballs, pour:

• 1 cup (8 oz) BBQ sauce

Bake, uncovered, in preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes or until instant-read thermometer inserted into meatballs shows 160 degrees F.

Enchilada Bake

Adapted from an American Heart Association Cookbook. Use 8 store-bought, soft corn tortillas or make your own.

In a non-stick fry pan, brown in 1 tbsp oil:

• 1 chopped onion
• 1 clove chopped garlic

Add:

• 1 seeded, chopped green pepper
• 6 sliced mushrooms
• 19 oz can drained red kidney beans
• 14 oz. tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red wine or beef stock/broth
• pinch of salt (omit if beef broth is salted)
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin

Cook with lid on for 30 minutes.

Make cornmeal tortillas:

• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1-1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbsp corn oil
• 1 cup water
• flour for rolling

Combine cornmeal, flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the flour mixture. Put in oil and a cup of boiling water. Stir thoroughly till it forms a ball. When dough is cool, divide into 8 portions and form into rounds. Roll each round thinly on well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cook each tortilla on a pre-heated non-stick crepe pan in a little hot oil. Flip to cook other side.


Prepare cheese mixture:

• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella (grate and reserve an additional 1/2 cup for topping)
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

1. Line a greased baking dish with 4 of the corn tortillas.
2. Spread half the bean mixture on top, then half the cheese mixture.
3. Put 4 more tortillas on top, then the rest of the bean mixture and cheese mixtures
4. Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated mozzarella on top.
5. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven 25 minutes.
6. Serve with salad and crusty bread.

Easy-Morning Egg Casserole to Make the Night Before

Have something ready to pop in the oven in the morning when you have overnight guests. Leave out croissants, muffins, bread near the toaster and coffee-maker for early risers. Serve the casserole a little later, for brunch or lunch, with a salad and crusty French bread.

Assemble this the night before--especially easy if you've served a ham for the evening's dinner. Mince the ham in a food processor or use leftover slices.

To serve this the morning of a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, buy an extra roll of the pork sausage meat used in the turkey stuffing, cook both rolls, drain the fat from the meat and use 1 cup of the cooked meat in this breakfast casserole. (See the sausage stuffing recipe on this site under "Turkey Dinner.")

To use frozen sausages, defrost them, slit the casing, remove the meat and cook, crumbling the sausage with a fork. Use chorizo if you want a spicy breakfast brunch casserole.

If you don't have fresh sliced mushrooms on hand or do not like them, omit them and double the amount of meat to 2 cups. If you are fond of other vegetables, like green pepper or zucchini, you could chop and sauté these with the onion or use a mixture of cooked vegetables that add up to 2 cups.

• 1 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 small chopped onion
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped ham, cooked sausage meat, or 8 strips bacon cooked and chopped
• 8 eggs
• 1+3/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, or a mixture of what you have left-over)

1. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
2. In a frying pan melt the butter, then add onion and mushrooms, cook only until onions are soft.  Stir in the meat. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk together eggs, milk, flour and salt.
4. Shred a cup of cheese over the bottom of the well-greased baking dish. Over this, spread the onion/butter/mushroom/meat mixture. Shred 2 cups of cheese on top. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and put in the fridge overnight. In the morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and cook uncovered for 40 minutes.
5. If you are making this in the morning and want to cook it right away, place uncovered in a preheated 375 degree oven and cook about 35 minutes. Check it around 30 minutes, you want it to cook until it looks golden and the eggs are cooked in the middle. If you have to leave it in the oven a few extra minutes, cover with foil and turn off the oven so it doesn't dry out. Serve as soon as your guests are at the table.

Macaroni and Cheese--Not from a Box

On Boxing Day we have left-overs, sometimes supplemented with macaroni and cheese. The kids love it any night of the week.  To make your mac 'n cheese richer, use cream instead of milk or use homogenized milk, up your quantity of butter to 1/4-1/3 of a cup, and add more cheese.

• large pot of salted, boiling water
• 900 grams elbow macaroni
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine
• 2-3 Tbsp flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 to 3 cups grated cheese (cheddar, parmesan, marble, or any combination of hard cheese that you have on hand and can grate.)

1. Cook the macaroni in the boiling, salted water according to package directions.
2. Drain macaroni in a strainer.
3. Add a little butter or oil to the bottom of the pot in which you cooked the macaroni, and return the macaroni to the pot; cover to keep warm.
4. If making this in advance to serve later, make the 3-cup version of the sauce.
5. In a medium-size pot, melt the butter, turn the heat to very low. Whisk in the flour to make a paste. Whisk in the milk, whisk till thickened. Add grated cheese, stir till it melts. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Note: f you have only a little cheese and a lot of milk, make the sauce using 3 cups milk, 3 tbsp butter, 3-4 tbsp flour, and when the sauce thickens, stir it into the macaroni. Then grate the cheese on top of the bowl of macaroni.)
6. Stir the sauce into the cooked macaroni. Serve at once OR spoon into a greased casserole dish.
7. To keep the casserole from drying out, toss fresh bread crumbs in melted butter with some grated parmesan cheese if you have it, and spread on top. Bake until the crumbs brown, then keep the dish warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Optional Herbed Bread Crumb Topping for Mac 'n Cheese

In Home Ec class we topped cream sauce casseroles with crushed stale potato chips. You can also used crushed seasoned croutons. To make enough bread crumb topping for a casserole, mix:

• 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2/3 cup parmesan cheese

Cabbage Roll Casserole

My mom, Marilyn, wrote out this recipe for me in 1992, on the back of a church donation envelope.

The quantities she gave are for the smaller, meatier casserole at the end of this recipe. I adapted it so it has more rice and cabbage. Scroll down if you want the original.

This casserole tastes like cabbage rolls, without the work involved in steaming a head of cabbage to remove the leaves, and rolling the individual cabbage rolls.

Start two hours before you need to serve dinner, or make a day ahead, refrigerate and reheat.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a very large casserole dish, place:

• 6 cups coarsely chopped washed, raw cabbage

Cabbage should half-fill the casserole dish.

In a large pot or deep frying pan, heat:

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 lb. medium (regular) ground beef or a combination of lean ground beef and pork.

Cook, stirring with a fork, until the meat loses its reddish color. Stir in:

• 1 medium-size onion, chopped
• 3 grinds of the black pepper grinder
• 12 Tbsp. (about 1 cup) uncooked white rice

Cook the meat mixture 3-5 minutes more, stirring often. Next, mix in:

• 2 10-oz. cans Campbells condensed tomato soup 
• 2 10-oz. cans of water

Heat through.

Don't go do something else at this stage because if you leave the mixture on the stove too long the rice will stick to the bottom and the mixture will dry out. If it's not burned, you can "save" it by mixing in another can of tomato soup and another can of water.

Spoon the hot meat and rice mixture over the raw cabbage in the casserole dish. Do not stir.

Cover the casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 1-1/2 hours. 

If dinner is delayed, keep it covered in the oven at 200 degrees till you are ready to serve.

Marilyn's Original Meatier Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 lb. medium ground beef
• 1 medium-size onion chopped,
• pinch of black pepper
• 3 Tbsp white rice
• 1 10 oz. can condensed Campbells tomato soup AND 1 can of water
• 3 cups coarsely chopped raw cabbage

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Heat oil in pan. Add meat.

Cook, stirring with fork until it loses its red colour.

Stir in onion, pepper and rice.

Cook 3-5 minutes. Stir often.

Mix in soup and water and heat through.

Place cabbage in casserole and pour meat mixture over it. Don't stir.

Cover, bake 1-1/2 hours.

Makes 4 generous servings.