Curtis Stone has revealed his tips and tricks for making the ‘best ever mac and cheese’ – and it requires one highly unexpected ingredient.
‘These are the secrets to my best-ever mac and cheese,’ the celebrity chef revealed in a video shared to Coles‘ Instagram account.
Mac and cheese has long been a family favourite on account of it being quick, simple and tasty.
However, the long-standing Coles Australia ambassador has now revealed a number of clever tricks to level up the popular dish. The full recipe and steps are below.
The biggest revelation centred around the Aussie chef’s use of multiple varieties of cheese in the dish – including divisive blue cheese.
‘I’m going big on the cheese,’ Curtis said in the recipe video. ‘Add aged cheddar, Colby and blue cheese.’
The celebrity chef elaborated that the reason ‘to use blue [cheese] is because it has ‘a real punch’.
‘It gives absolutely wonderful flavour,’ the celebrity chef added.
Curtis Stone revealed his tips and tricks to level-up family favourite mac and cheese in a new recipe video shared to the Coles Instagram and YouTube accounts
Curtis recommended combining multiple cheese varieties into the mac and cheese mixture – including the divisive blue cheese
The mac and cheese upgrade hacks didn’t stop with the ingredients.
Curtis also demonstrated the often overlooked step of pre-preparing the baking dish, revealing it’s another opportunity to add flavour dimension.
Using a large baking dish, Curtis explained that he would first coat it with melted butter to prevent sticking.
But then,Curtistook a halved clove of garlic, stuck it on the end of a fork and rubbed it all along the greased bottom of the dish.
‘This way, we’re getting a hint of the flavour of the garlic without it being too strong,’ he explained.
As a final additional preparation step, Curtis then sprinkled grated parmesan cheese all over the bottom of the dish, causing it to ‘stick to the butter’.
A longer version of the recipe video shared to the Coles YouTube channel also saw Curtis provide some guidance on the trickiest step of making mac and cheese, which is when the combined butter and flour (known as a roux) are combined over heat with the cream and milk to make a bechamel sauce.
‘What we do is we slowly add our milk and cream to our roux (or butter and flour mixture). You’ll see how quickly it starts to thicken,’ he explained.
Curtis also shared his tricks for pre-preparing the baking dish as a way to bring added flavour to the mac and cheese, by rubbing garlic into the greased dish and then sprinkling on grated parmesan cheese
‘It’s important that you don’t just dump all that milk in. You just want to gently and slowly incorporate it.’
Curtis said you should continue to add in small amounts of milk and cream once thickening occurs – repeating the process over and over until all the liquid was fully combined.
Another common mac and cheese mistake Curtis highlighted was the act of overcooking the pasta before baking it.
The chef explained that you only need to boil your pasta in salted hot water until it’s softened, but still firm.
The reason? ‘[I]t’s going to keep cooking once you pop it into the oven.’
The celebrity chef also had two suggestions for perfecting the ‘crunchy golden top’ of a baked Mac and Cheese.
The first tip focused on oven positioning, while the second detailed the topping mixture for a crispy edge.
Curtis also shared his two tips for the perfect ‘crunchy golden top’, revealing that they involved oven positioning and the additional step of a topping mixture
Curtis said you’ll know the mac and cheese is ready when it looks ‘golden brown and crunchy on the top. Bubbly and fantastic on the side’
Regarding the oven, Curtis explained in the longer online recipe video that you should position the oven’s wire rack in its highest position and preheat to 230 degrees celsius. This ensures the dish is baking at the highest temperature point inside the oven.
Then, for that golden finish, the chef suggested making a topping mix comprised of panko breadcrumbs, a little melted butter and a bit of parmesan cheese and then sprinkling it over the mac and cheese mixture before baking.
Curtis added that you’ll know the mac and cheese is ready when it looks ‘golden brown and crunchy on the top. Bubbly and fantastic on the side.’
