I finally got to try out one of the crock pot recipes I have been posting about. The Crock Pot Mac N Cheese, to be specific. As I am want to do, I just had to fiddle with it, double it, and see how it came out.
Crock Pot Mac & Cheese
Serves: 4-6 hungry people as a main dish, or 8-10 as a side scoop
Prep-Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 min on High then 3 hours on Low
Ingredients:
3 cups milk
24 ounces evaporated milk
1 cup melted and cooled butter
3 eggs
1/2 tsp each powdered garlic, powdered onion, and dried dill
6 cups shredded cheese
1 pound dry macaroni
8 ounces sliced ham
Directions:
Thoroughly spray your crock with cooking spray. If you use a liner, as I did, spray it anyway.
In a large bowl, whisk together the first group of ingredients and spices. Make sure the eggs are integrated well. Pour into your crock.
Add cheese, macaroni and ham. Stir gently to combine.
Cook on High for 30 minutes, stir gently, then reduce the heat to Low and continue cooking for 2 more hours.
Do not overcook or you may wind up with a cheesy glutinous mass like I did the first time.
If you half this recipe, do not half the eggs. I doubled everything in the original recipe except for the eggs.
Some things I noticed when pulling this together are that the wet mixture is rather thick feeling when whisked. This gave me high hopes as to the creaminess of the end product.
Just before you put the lid onto your pot, the contents look somewhat like a cream of cheese soup.
The aroma that starts wafting out of your kitchen at about 45 minutes is amazingly rich. I’m surprised that alone didn’t make me gain a couple of pounds.
When it’s all done, there should be a nice crusty look to the top of the dish when you open the pot.
The results came back fast. This mac-n-cheese is definitely a creamy, cheesy, melty sort of comfort food. It didn’t last long enough for leftovers to get to the fridge. The ham added a bit of flavor, an extra texture, and some extra protein. Next time I need to double the ham!
A nice crusty baguette, sliced and toasted, makes an excellent accompaniment.
— Ann Cathey
thewanderingtexans 