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. It freezes great, and makes quick work when you want a great mac & cheese for dinner.Baked macaroni and cheese is a quintessential southern side dish. I buy a large block of good quality cheddar, and we cut it into quarters, my husband grates it and puts it into 4 small zip lock bags. After cooking the macaroni or shells for about 6 minutes and then drain it, I then use the same pan to make my white sauce – only one pan to wash out.

I do this recipe from memory, I keep a supply of shredded sharp cheddar in the freezer, and you can put this together in about 15 minutes, start to finish. It does look creamer, although I did like the fact that the fat free milk is probably more healthy. Today I just put it together and I decided to use some half and half that I had in the frig, – about 3/4 cup – and the rest is the fat free. Since we only drink fat free milk in our house I have been using that to make my white sauce. It is true – the original recipe called for 2-1/2 cups of milk, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 2 tablespoons of butter. To the commenter above about the difference in the original recipe that was on the back of the box, and the newer version above. I have been making homemade mac & cheese for almost 50 years.

How to make mac n cheese homemade