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On this episode of My Kitchen Sink, we go inside the kitchen of Rachel Chen for some homemade mac and cheese. Recreating an upgraded version of a favorite dish from her youth, she shares her mac and cheese recipe for us. Press play on this week's My Kitchen Sink to see how she does it!

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Check out the full recipe here https://refinery29.com/how-to-make-mac-and-cheese

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My Kitchen Sink takes us on a culinary journey inside people’s kitchens where they tell us the story behind some of their most loved dishes. Join us in the kitchen for some unsolicited tips from an under-qualified cook.

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Transcript
00:00Wow, this is really heavy.
00:02Really, you could do your arm workout
00:04after you cooked, you know?
00:07Hi, I'm Rachel, welcome to my kitchen sink.
00:10Today we're gonna make the ultimate mac and cheese.
00:13If it's your first time here, click subscribe below.
00:16I got all my ingredients from Trader Joe's
00:19and I spent a total of $33.
00:21I actually have friends coming over later today,
00:24so this amount you can probably make good enough for six.
00:26I got my recipe from New York Times
00:29and all recipes.
00:30I just started to take bits and pieces
00:32from different recipes and made it my own now.
00:35So these are the ones that we would need to cut up.
00:37The block of extra sharp cheddar.
00:40I guess that was a dangerous move.
00:42People always tell me that when I cut stuff,
00:44it looks really scary.
00:46I don't really know why,
00:47but if you have a safe way of chopping things up,
00:51let me know in the comments.
00:52So the reason why we wanna cut these up into little cubes
00:55is because then it'll melt more evenly throughout.
00:59One of the things I would say is any recipe that tells you like,
01:02put this much cheese, just double it.
01:05I'm gonna cut up the spicy jalapeno sausage,
01:09also into like little chunks.
01:10The last time I made this was in Vancouver,
01:13when my family was visiting from Taiwan.
01:15I made a huge pot of mac and cheese,
01:17and it was my first time cooking for my niece and nephew,
01:20so I was really happy.
01:21I like to cut them up even smaller chunks,
01:23just cause I don't want it to be overpowering everything else.
01:27My cooking routine is that I always cook in these bunny slippers.
01:31I don't know if you can see,
01:33but I'm wearing them.
01:36I think because I didn't grow up with my parents cooking,
01:39I started to make a lot of things and want to make stew,
01:43make a lot of like comfort food.
01:44And I actually didn't start cooking till probably late last year.
01:48I'm using bacon and sausage.
01:50You can pan fry whatever meat you decide to use.
01:53I'll use three.
01:55Went to a restaurant for brunch.
01:56They had this mac and cheese breakfast dish on their menu,
01:59and I was like, oh wow,
02:01like I've never thought about adding bacon in there.
02:03Every time I went to any type of restaurant,
02:06whether it's like a diner to like a fancy restaurant,
02:10they always have mac and cheese on the side,
02:11and I'd always order it.
02:14And my friends are like,
02:15are you becoming like a mac and cheese critic?
02:17If you guys have a tip for me of what you like to add
02:20in your mac and cheese, definitely let me know.
02:22Now I'm going to make the macaroni
02:23and the cheese sauce at the same time.
02:26I'm going to tie my hair up
02:27because now it's about to get serious.
02:30While his hair ties tight.
02:32Okay, now I'm ready.
02:34And we'll just wait for that to boil.
02:36And then I'm going to turn the bacon into tiny little pieces,
02:40this tiny.
02:41I started really loving mac and cheese in college.
02:46It was one of the things that I made from like instant pot,
02:50like craft dinner.
02:52I never locked my dorm room door.
02:54And I came home one day,
02:57finding that my whole room smelled like mac and cheese.
03:00And I see that pot open, but I never made it that day.
03:03And then I found out it was my three friends
03:06that lived next door.
03:07They came in, made mac and cheese, ate it, and left.
03:12Justina, really why?
03:13I used to always just make it from the box.
03:16I got so into it and I'm like,
03:17I'm going to start actually making a gourmet mac and cheese.
03:20What makes this dish the ultimate mac and cheese is,
03:24a lot of times you'll find recipes that says three cheeses.
03:27This was four cheeses and then I'm going to add three cups of milk.
03:35It gets a little chunky if I'm not stirring it constantly.
03:39So this is a part where I have to keep watching this pot.
03:43Multi-task.
03:45The first time I was making this, I was thinking like,
03:47wow, this is a lot of liquid.
03:50But once the cheese goes in, everything becomes thick.
03:53So first time I was kind of worried that it's going to turn into
03:56a pot of hot milk.
03:58I'm going to add the macaroni.
04:01And we're going to get to the good part.
04:04We'll make it rain.
04:06Don't do it at home if it's not safe.
04:10Don't waste cheese.
04:12I just love watching cheese melt.
04:14It's so satisfying and it smells amazing.
04:18I just like to sprinkle here and there.
04:23Grated Parmesan cheese.
04:26My fourth cheese.
04:30Oh yeah.
04:32Give it a shake and you probably can drain more.
04:37I'm going to add the bacon, sausage, and the macaroni.
04:43So I'm going to set this aside and I'm going to make some breadcrumbs.
04:47I learned this little trick from Whole Foods and they add red chili pepper flakes into their
04:57breadcrumbs and it's so good.
04:59Can you see how it's getting a little golden brown?
05:01Now I'm going to transfer everything to this casserole dish.
05:06Wow, this is heavy.
05:08I think this is more than six people.
05:11What do you guys think?
05:12I'm going to pop this into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
05:17Aren't these the most intense oven gloves you've ever seen?
05:22Like what are they really for?
05:26And it's ready.
05:27Oh, it smells so cheesy.
05:30I had a little taste of it.
05:32I think I could have added more cheese.
05:34So my tip, always go more.
05:36So am I really cooking or am I gardening with these gloves?
05:39Garn the cheese with love.
05:41Check out the full recipe in the description below.
05:44Before I dig in, one last thing.
05:45Can't forget the ketchup.
05:48I just love eating mac and cheese with ketchup.
05:50Do you guys?
05:51Now we can dig in.
05:56Perfect.
05:57I love making mac and cheese and it's pretty easy to just make for six to ten people.
06:02I have such good memories of eating that dish with a bunch of people I love.
06:11To watch more videos click here and to subscribe click here.
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