[0 - 1] - I'm Lish Steiling.
[1 - 2] I'm a professional chef.
[2 - 3] And today I'm gonna show you how to make
[3 - 10] restaurant-style macaroni and cheese at home. [upbeat music]
[10 - 12] We'll be going over techniques pros use
[12 - 16] to make cheesy ooey gooey comforting mac and cheese.
[16 - 19] This is mac and cheese 101.
[19 - 20] The perfect mac and cheese [bright music]
[20 - 23] should have enough sauce to coat the pasta,
[23 - 26] plenty of cheese to make it ooey and gooey.
[26 - 27] And I like a little crunch on top.
[27 - 29] So now we're gonna move on to making our bechamel
[29 - 33] for the mac and cheese. [gentle music]
[33 - 37] A bechamel is basically a thickened cream sauce.
[37 - 38] And that's gonna be [bright upbeat music]
[38 - 40] the base of our cheese sauce for this mac and cheese.
[40 - 42] Let's start with the onion, shall we?
[42 - 45] I like to use onion in a mac and cheese
[45 - 47] because I think that it just gives it
[47 - 49] a little bit of character and backbone.
[49 - 50] It's a savory element.
[50 - 53] So we're just gonna dice these up.
[53 - 54] Any size is fine.
[54 - 57] Smaller the better because nobody wants to bite
[57 - 59] into a huge onion.
[59 - 61] This is a medium Cheddar cheese.
[61 - 65] The Cheddar adds a nice creamy richness to the dish.
[65 - 68] Pre-shredded cheese sometimes has anticaking agents on it,
[68 - 71] so it doesn't melt into the sauce as easily
[71 - 72] as if you take a block
[72 - 74] and just put some elbow grease into it.
[74 - 75] And we're also using Gruyere.
[75 - 78] Gruyere is like a Swiss-style cheese,
[78 - 81] so it has a little bit of tang, a little bit of nuttiness.
[81 - 83] Voila, look at that.
[83 - 85] Just like that, we have our cheeses.
[85 - 86] We're gonna butter our pan
[86 - 89] because you can never have enough butter, right?
[89 - 91] This also prevents the pasta
[91 - 93] from actually sticking to the pan.
[93 - 96] It lends itself to a nice golden edge.
[96 - 98] I'm gonna get to work on my bechamel.
[98 - 101] I'm starting with a heavy-bottom Dutch oven here.
[101 - 103] We're gonna add one whole stick of butter,
[103 - 104] which is 1/2 a cup.
[104 - 107] Unsalted butter because you want full control
[107 - 108] over the seasoning.
[108 - 110] It's fully melted at this point.
[110 - 112] It's starting to sizzle, which lets you know
[112 - 113] that it's ready for the next thing.
[113 - 116] So we are gonna add in our onion.
[116 - 117] We're gonna season it with a little bit of salt
[117 - 120] because season as you go, all the layers.
[120 - 123] That way, everything has the opportunity
[123 - 126] to become as flavorful as it can possibly become.
[126 - 128] When the onions become super fragrant
[128 - 131] and are beginning to turn a little translucent
[131 - 133] then you know it's ready to go.
[133 - 135] So right there, I'm gonna sprinkle in
[135 - 137] our 1/2 a cup of all-purpose flour.
[137 - 139] So the flour is going to absorb
[139 - 142] all of that flavorful fat now.
[142 - 144] And we're just gonna cook this out
[144 - 146] for about maybe two minutes.
[146 - 149] It's gonna thicken our sauce to a nice consistency
[149 - 151] but it also adds flavor.
[151 - 153] At this point, it's very important
[153 - 155] that you continue to stir constantly.
[155 - 157] And I think we are there.
[157 - 158] So next thing we're gonna do
[158 - 160] is we're gonna add the cayenne pepper.
[160 - 164] Cayenne pepper is just there to wake up the senses.
[164 - 165] It adds a little bit of warmth.
[165 - 169] We're gonna start adding 4 3/4 cup of milk.
[169 - 172] This is not for the faint of heart, or the dairy free.
[173 - 177] And once you have a nice smooth sauce in here,
[177 - 180] continue to add the rest of the milk.
[180 - 181] At this point, we're gonna season it
[181 - 182] with a little bit more salt.
[182 - 184] Keeping in mind that you're gonna be adding
[184 - 186] salty cheeses to this so you don't wanna
[186 - 189] over season at this point 'cause you can always adjust
[189 - 191] later on once the cheeses are in.
[191 - 195] And now we sit and wait and we let the roux do its magic.
[195 - 198] It's important to let it fully cook for those five minutes
[198 - 200] because you wanna cook out the raw flour taste.
[200 - 203] Sometimes if you rush it, you're left with that,
[203 - 207] everybody knows that like flour coating on their tongue.
[207 - 212] This baby is thickened, sexy, and begging for cheese.
[212 - 216] You can tell that it's done by the back of the spoon.
[216 - 218] If it holds its line, that means it's done.
[218 - 220] So we are going to reserve
[220 - 223] about 1/3 of our cheeses for our topping,
[223 - 226] but add in 2/3 of our cheeses into this beautiful bechamel.
[226 - 229] This is this Wisconsin girl's happy place right here.
[230 - 235] Just stir these guys in. Oh, yes.
[235 - 238] This is the kind of cheese sauce that dreams are made of.
[238 - 239] Let's give it a taste.
[241 - 247] Needs more salt, but holy cheesy goodness. [gentle music]
[247 - 248] My water is boiling [bright upbeat music]
[248 - 250] for our elbow macaroni.
[250 - 252] If we're gonna do mac and cheese,
[252 - 253] we might as well go classic, right?
[253 - 255] So you bring a pot of water to a boil
[255 - 258] and then you season it aggressively with salt.
[258 - 260] This is your only opportunity to season the pasta
[260 - 263] so you wanna make sure that it's seasoned properly.
[263 - 265] In goes our pasta.
[265 - 268] I often go by taste when cooking pasta,
[268 - 271] but in this situation because it's gonna cook longer
[271 - 274] in the sauce afterward, I normally reduce the cook time
[274 - 275] by like two to three minutes
[275 - 277] according to packaged directions.
[277 - 279] This one says five minutes,
[279 - 281] so we're gonna cook it for about three.
[281 - 283] My pasta is just before al dente,
[283 - 286] so I'm gonna grab my sauce so that I can add it
[286 - 289] directly from the pasta pot into the sauce.
[289 - 290] It's actually delightful
[290 - 292] if some of that pasta water gets in there.
[292 - 293] Don't be afraid of it.
[293 - 296] It has the starch from the pasta.
[296 - 297] It has seasoning.
[297 - 300] It's actually gonna be very helpful in this case.
[300 - 303] And now we are just gonna give this guy a stir.
[303 - 304] Now, here's the beauty of this dish.
[304 - 307] If you didn't wanna go the extra step and actually bake it,
[307 - 309] you could just finish the pasta at a perfect al dente
[309 - 313] in this creamy sauce right now and eat it just as is.
[313 - 315] We're gonna take this mac and cheese up a notch
[315 - 316] and we're gonna bake it
[316 - 319] so it gets crispy and golden and bubbly.
[319 - 322] It's gonna be good. [gentle music]
[322 - 323] It is time [bright upbeat music]
[323 - 325] to put this thing together.
[325 - 327] So I am going to take a ladle here.
[327 - 328] Because we're going the extra mile,
[328 - 331] we're just gonna ladle all of this cheesy goodness
[331 - 333] right into our baking dish.
[333 - 335] Maybe one more scoop.
[335 - 337] Then to double down on our cheese.
[337 - 339] I'm gonna take that leftover Gruyere
[339 - 341] and the leftover Cheddar.
[341 - 344] I'm just gonna sprinkle that right over the top
[344 - 346] all the way to the edges. Don't skimp.
[346 - 349] And then we're gonna make our crunchy topping.
[349 - 351] So I have some panko breadcrumbs here.
[351 - 354] About a cup of Parmigiano Reggiano.
[354 - 358] A little pinch of salt and just a little bit of olive oil.
[358 - 359] Stir that together.
[360 - 361] This is for texture.
[361 - 362] This is the crunch.
[362 - 364] And here we go, right over the top.
[364 - 368] Oh, hello, lover, yes.
[368 - 371] Now that the top is completely covered in our breadcrumbs,
[371 - 373] I'm gonna put it in our preheated 400 degree oven
[373 - 378] for about 20 minutes 'til it's golden brown and bubbly.
[378 - 382] Yes, golden and delicious.
[382 - 385] You can hear that It's nice and crispy on top.
[385 - 388] I know it's hard, but let it rest for five minutes.
[388 - 390] I did, I had to like put up with it
[390 - 394] but it's worth it because you get all of those good flavors.
[394 - 396] just kind of resting, settling down a little bit.
[396 - 400] Let's give it a taste, shall we? Mm, yes.
[403 - 406] I mean, you see the sauce is clinging to the noodles.
[406 - 408] There's the little crunchy bits on top.
[408 - 409] I need some of that.
[413 - 414] That is so good.
[414 - 415] The two cheeses.
[415 - 417] You get the tanginess, it's rich.
[417 - 418] Because of the acid of the cheeses,
[418 - 420] my mouth just wants more.
[420 - 421] Like, cuts through the richness.
[421 - 422] The crunchy topping.
[422 - 425] Few ingredients, but well thought out.
[425 - 428] Just take your time, be patient, and it pays off.