PSA: Macaroni noodles with shredded cheese is not "macaroni & cheese"

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Dr. Detroit

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2004
8,143
608
126
Either condensed milk is a different thing in the US, Macaroni cheese is a different thing in the US, or you have non functioning tastebuds. Condensed milk is insanely sweet, you can make fudge out of it without adding anything else to it!

You are correct, I stand corrected - our recipe uses Evaporated Milk.

Clearly I had homemade Fudge on my mind when writing this.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,205
28,223
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My wife is allergic to Gluten so she can't have real noodles anymore. Shredded cheese sometimes has additives in it that make her sick, so we typically get blocks of cheese and shred it these days.

I used to make the Paula Dean Recipe for macaroni casserole. It's pretty legit and is made with a lot of eggs, sour cream, butter, and shredded cheese. Because it's a baked casserole and has the eggs and cream, the shredded cheese holds up pretty well and mixes in with the heat/time.

I understand you can't compare that to Velveeta. It was designed to be softer with a lower melting point. It's just that the velveeta and similar types of products can have 1 dimensional flavor as a result. I'm fairly certain my wife can eat Velveeta without issues too, but finding a good pasta to go with it is always a challenge. The GF ones are pretty hit or miss on flavor and texture.
My wife is allergic, too. The Aldi boxed stuff is the best she's found:
LiveGFree-Gluten-Free-Deluxe-Macaroni-_-Cheese.jpg


Rice based pasta is pretty close as long as it's hot. Do not eat cold or even room temp.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,691
14,938
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My wife is allergic, too. The Aldi boxed stuff is the best she's found:
LiveGFree-Gluten-Free-Deluxe-Macaroni-_-Cheese.jpg


Rice based pasta is pretty close as long as it's hot. Do not eat cold or even room temp.

meanwhile I love gluten. like this. I have no idea why it says Thai... They are mich cheaper in your local Asian supermarket.
 
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Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,777
126
My wife is allergic, too. The Aldi boxed stuff is the best she's found:
LiveGFree-Gluten-Free-Deluxe-Macaroni-_-Cheese.jpg


Rice based pasta is pretty close as long as it's hot. Do not eat cold or even room temp.
We found she can do Velveeta ok...so normally she just makes some hearty noodles and melts the cheese over them. She's ok with Banza (chickpea noodles) too. They have a decent bite to them and aren't too soggy.

She's not been happy with any of the boxes we've tried, but we may hit up Aldi to check that one.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,205
28,223
136
We found she can do Velveeta ok...so normally she just makes some hearty noodles and melts the cheese over them. She's ok with Banza (chickpea noodles) too. They have a decent bite to them and aren't too soggy.

She's not been happy with any of the boxes we've tried, but we may hit up Aldi to check that one.
My wife didn't really like any of the other boxed ones she's tried. She does not like most of the other grain-free pasta options like chickpea. Some of the Barilla GF pasta is okay.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,039
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Box graters are shit when you're serious about grating cheese. You're not using your large muscles effectively, the force of the cheese pushed against the grater tends to move the base, and the interior is not very large, which necessitates frequent clearing stops.

A high-quality flat grater is much better. You jam one end into your belly, and hold it horizontally extending away from you. You use your bicep, a strong muscle, to pull the cheese towards your torso. The grater stays in place and does not move down when you press the cheese against it because it is held in one of the depressions between your rock-hard abs you developed from grating cheese and a healthy outdoors-based exercise lifestyle fueled by nutritious cheese. Your grater is over a plate or bowl on the counter, which provides ample volume to quickly grate 2 pounds of cheese without stopping.

Not surprisingly, it was difficult to find a decent flat grater to link with a quick Amazon search. Big Box Grater has a stranglehold on America. :x After a bit more searching, I found this one:

It's more pricey, but assuming it's quality, with strong metal and not some thin flexible POS, a good grater is worth it.

*Dirigible shakes fist at Big Box Grater in anger*
I like it. This looks similar and not so pricey:

 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,777
126
My wife didn't really like any of the other boxed ones she's tried. She does not like most of the other grain-free pasta options like chickpea. Some of the Barilla GF pasta is okay.
My wife usually thinks the Ronzoni brand is pretty good.

I don't like some of the starch that boils off that stuff, so I sometimes pour off the water mid-boil, rinse the pasta and pour more boiling water over the top. That tends to help, but takes longer to cook because the rinsing cold-shocks the pasta for a few seconds.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,039
136
I buy shredded cheese. Like the frog said, who gives a shit when you're putting it on some nuked tortilla chips or something. I used to always shred my own cheese for everything under the fallacy that it was cheaper than paying someone else to do it. It's pretty much exactly the same price, close enough in quality to commodity block cheese(cause why would you pay for superior texture when you're gonna shred it?), and doesn't require work from me.
I would think that a block of cheese would be superior to pre-shredded cheese simply because it's in a solid piece, not exposed to air, which would have deleterious effects, such as dryness, oxidation, fungal intrusion, general depreciation of quality, i.e. a hastening of the expiration of product. Therefore, shredding yourself is apt to give you a superior product... particularly if you're going to freeze it.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,055
12,245
136
And some people do both. I find that I enjoy my food more when I'm hungry.
I think that's fairly universal.
I would think that a block of cheese would be superior to pre-shredded cheese simply because it's in a solid piece, not exposed to air, which would have deleterious effects, such as dryness, oxidation, fungal intrusion, general depreciation of quality, i.e. a hastening of the expiration of product. Therefore, shredding yourself is apt to give you a superior product... particularly if you're going to freeze it.
I shredded my own cheese for a while, IMO the difference is minimal (but again, I basically only use it on tacos, so YMMV)
I wouldn't bother freezing it, because it goes on sale fairly regularly.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,039
136
I think that's fairly universal.

I shredded my own cheese for a while, IMO the difference is minimal (but again, I basically only use it on tacos, so YMMV)
I wouldn't bother freezing it, because it goes on sale fairly regularly.
I buy most of my cheese at Costco, I freeze quite a bit. I have not noticed a lessening of quality by virtue of having been frozen. I have bleu, Swiss, cheddar, Romano, Parmesan, Provolone, cream, probably others in my freezer, some, of course, in the fridge. Unfrozen, and unused for a few weeks, cheese is apt to get moldy. In my experience the mold doesn't affect me except for the fact that it can impart nasty flavors. I will chop off moldy portions and discard. I never buy shredded cheese.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,055
12,245
136
I buy most of my cheese at Costco, I freeze quite a bit. I have not noticed a lessening of quality by virtue of having been frozen. I have bleu, Swiss, cheddar, Romano, Parmesan, Provolone, cream, probably others in my freezer, some, of course, in the fridge. Unfrozen, and unused for a few weeks, cheese is apt to get moldy. In my experience the mold doesn't affect me except for the fact that it can impart nasty flavors. I will chop off moldy portions and discard. I never buy shredded cheese.
See, if you don't buy more cheese than you can reasonably eat in a given timespan, it doesn't have time to get moldy :D
It does take me longer to go through a wedge of asiago or parmesan, they seem to resist mold pretty well, so long as you keep them in the dark. I cover them with tinfoil.