2021 WCBI Mac and Cheese Cook-Off
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The WCBI Anchors, Meteorologists, Reporters, and Staff came together to bring their very best Mac and Cheese recipes. With a panel of celebrity judges…we found out who has an award-winning mac and cheese.
Listed below are the recipes of each contestant. Let us know your favorite way to prepare mac and cheese!
Desmone Mathews Mac and Cheese Recipe
Brailla Elbow noodles
Cheese sauce- butter, heavy whipping cream 2cups, triple cheddar cheese 2.5 cups, cream cheese, season Salt, black pepper, onion powder, paprika
Add mozzarella cheese between layers of Mac and cheese sauce and top it with mozzarella and cheddar then place it in the oven
Eric Lampkin Mac and Cheese Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1/2 stick of Butter
12 oz pkg (or 1 lb pkg. depends on size of dish and # of people) Elbow Macaroni [note: 12 oz pkg of small macaroni is about 3 1/4 dry cups]
6-8 Eggs [note: 6 seems to be optimal in my experience]
2 1/2 – 2 2/3 C of Milk
1 PKG VELVEETA CHEESE ( 1 lb box should do) [note: I tend to use a bit more than 1 lb]
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat Oven to 425
Put macaroni in pot, add butter and salt, and cook until tender
While macaroni is cooking – grease cooking dish and cut up cheese in chunks [note: I come close to cubing it – this is the most time consuming part of the process]
Break Eggs into a separate bowl, and add about 2 1/2 to 2 2/3’s cups of Milk (Depending on size of cooking dish and amount of macaroni)
Beat until foamy and fluffy
Put Macaroni in baking dish with Cheese and stir, and add more Butter [note: it’s important that the noodles are still good and hot; it helps with the proper melting of the cheese]
Pour Eggs and Milk into dish and stir – COVERING MACARONI
Bake in Oven at 425 for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown. You know it’s done when you put in your fork, and it comes up clean.
[For the most part, this is the way I still make it, except that a few years ago, following the philosophy “Bacon makes everything better”, I decided to add that as the secret ingredient. ]
Optional:
5-10 slices of Bacon [note: I prefer about 6 slices of Applewood Smoked]
Cook the Bacon – Reserve the Grease – Chop or crumble the Bacon (depending on how crispy you get it).
Stir about 1 tsp of the grease and all of the chopped bacon into the dish after you pour in the milk and egg mixture.
Courtney Robb’s Mac and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients:
1 stick butter (unsalted + more to grease baking dish)
1 lb elbow macaroni noodles
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups of whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper (measured with your heart)
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3 cups shredded cheddar
2 cups shredded colby jack
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan, divided
1 cup panko crumbs
3 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
1 tsp dried parsley (if desired)
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375. Butter a 9″x13″ baking dish. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook macaroni until al dente. Drain and set aside. Shred your cheddar and colby jack. Set aside. (If you buy pre-shredded that’s fine but shredding it yourself is worth it. I buy pre-grated parmesan.)
2. Over medium-high heat, in another large pot, melt 1 stick of butter, sprinkle flour, and mix until slightly golden (about 3 minutes). SLOWLY pour in the milk and combine as you go. Whisk until combined. (You want to make sure this has a medium-thick consistency). Add in salt, pepper, mustard powder. Let simmer until thick for about 5 minutes.
3. Once thickened, lower heat to simmer level and ask in (slowly) cheddar, colby jack, and parmesan. Continue to mix until it’s melted and combined all together into a smooth cheesy sauce.
4. Once the sauce is done, add in cooked macaroni noodles and stir to combine. Add to prepared baking dish.
5. In a small bowl, combine remaining parmesan, panko, dried parsley and garlic-infused olive oil. Sprinkle and cover macaroni with the panko mixture. Season with more black pepper if you want.
