Recipe/Method: Single-Serving Prepare-Ahead Macaroni and Cheese

[coraa]

The boy and I really like macaroni and cheese as a staple easy dinner—it's warm, filling, and comforting, and even if one or both of us is feeling ill or finicky it's usually on the list of things that are okay to eat. The problem is that while it's not hard to make from scratch, it's not the fastest thing in the world.

A few days ago, I was planning to make it for dinner, and it occurred to me to make extra and freeze it, since it's no harder to make twelve servings of macaroni and cheese than it is to make four. I was trying to figure out the best way to do it (make a big batch in a pan and then slice it up? freeze it in a big block and then chisel off pieces? what?) when it occurred to me that I could make it in a muffin tin and have individual macaroni and cheese servings ready for whenever, that I could warm up for a quickie dinner or the boy could warm up on his own when I'm not around.

This worked far better than I would have expected! I decanted the frozen blobs from their muffin tins today, and they're now in the freezer. I'm including the method I used under the cut, in case you want to try this yourself.

Single-Serving Prepare-Ahead Macaroni and Cheese

1. Find your favorite macaroni and cheese recipe. I use this one by Alton Brown, with the following changes: I add a diced carrot along with the chopped onions to the milk mixture, I add half a pound of frozen peas to the dish after combining the sauce with the pasta, and I include a quarter of a cup of grated parmesan to the panko bread crumb topping. Oh, and if I don't have elbow macaroni on hand, I use whatever pasta shape I do have. But really, any macaroni and cheese recipe that you like will do. (Actually, I also doubled the recipe, which made enough for two twelve-muffin tins, plus a loaf pan extra for mac n cheese to make that night. But if you don't have enough vessels to bake all that macaroni and cheese in, or you just don't feel like making a double batch, don't bother.)
   
2. Make the macaroni and cheese according to the directions, but don't put it in the pan, and also don't top it with the topping yet (if your recipe has a topping).
   
3. If your macaroni and cheese recipe doesn't call for an egg, temper one into the sauce. (Temper = beat the egg in a small bowl, add a little of the hot sauce and stir, add a little more of the hot sauce and stir, add a little more of the hot sauce and stir, and then dump the eggy mixture into the sauce.) This will help your individual macaroni and cheese blobs hold shape. If the recipe already calls for egg, though, you don't need to double it.
   
4. Locate your muffin tin or tins. I found that a doubled recipe made enough for two tins (that's 24 individual portions), plus a loaf pan's worth of extra macaroni and cheese, which we ate fresh for dinner. If you're only making one batch, you will probably need only one muffin tin, plus a vessel to bake any extra pasta in.
   
5. Prepare the muffin tins by greasing them. This will help you get the mac-n-cheese out later.
   
6. Ladle the macaroni and sauce into the tins. Make sure you get a good mixture of pasta and sauce into each one. Put whatever pasta is left over into your extra vessel. (A loaf pan is a good size for this.)
   
7. Sprinkle with your topping mixture over each individual portion, then sprinkle the extra over the loaf pan (or whatever).
   
8. Bake according to the directions in your recipe.
   
9. When you pull the muffin tins out, they should be nicely browned on top. Let them cool completely at room temperature. (Meanwhile, eat the macaroni and cheese in the loaf pan.)
   
10. When the macaroni and cheese-es are cool, run a knife around the perimeter to loosen the pasta from the sides, but don't attempt to remove it yet. It'd just fall apart. Instead, wrap the muffin tray with aluminum foil and place in your freezer. You want to freeze them solid in the trays.
    
11. When the trays are frozen solid, pull them out, invert them so the foil is down on the counter, and let defrost about ten minutes. Then flip them over again and use a knife to gently pry the macaroni and cheese out of the tins.
    
12. Store in a ziplock bag in the freezer.
    
13. When you're ready to eat, remove as many of the macaroni and cheese blobs from the freezer as you want. (1-2 per person for a side dish, 2-3 for lunch, 3-4 for a main course.) Place face-up in a microwave-safe dish, and use the defrost function to start them defrosting. Then microwave on full power until piping hot, and serve.

I'm also experimenting with making steel-cut oatmeal in the rice cooker. If it comes out nicely, that will solve my steel-cut oatmeal dilemma. (The dilemma, in short: it takes longer to make than I want to spend in the morning. But if I can use the delay function on my rice cooker to get it to start my oatmeal automatically at 7am....) Will report back on how that works!

EDIT: The oats cooked up with a beautiful texture, but an odd, bitter flavor. On a hunch, I sniffed the can of uncooked oats; same odd aroma. I think I've had these too long and they've started to go rancid. Oh well. Will call the cooking method a success and buy a new tin of oats!

Comments

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Hm, yes! I want to try both blobby mac and cheese muffins, and rice-cooked oats!

[dancambull.livejournal.com]

How long do you have to put it in the rice cooker (total cook time)? AB talks about making it in a slow cooker.

Mac n' cheese makes me sad right now since my recipe wasn't chosen, but once the wounds have healed, I will have to try this.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid my rice cooker has three buttons: white rice, brown rice, and quick cook. I just put it on and selected 'white rice.'

I've tried in a slow cooker, but I've found that, even on low, it sticks and starts to scorch.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

The whole egg, not just the yolk?

[coraa.livejournal.com]

The whole egg, yes.

[ceph.livejournal.com]

You're welcome to some of the quick-cooking steel-cut oats I have stashed somewhere in the pantry.

[cwendy41.livejournal.com]

What is "steel-cut" oatmeal?

[coraa.livejournal.com]

It's a kind of oatmeal (also sometimes called Irish or Scottish oatmeal) where the grains are coarsely cut into pieces instead of being pressed flat by rollers. It tends to have more flavor and texture than rolled oats, but takes a lot longer to cook.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Genius!