Kardea Brown's Super-Decadent Mac and Cheese _ Delicious Miss Brown _ Food Network

So , the first thing I'm making is my super decadent macaroni and cheese .

So I have a box of elbow pasta .

Now , this is traditional and southern macaroni and cheese you can use whatever pasta you have on hand .

But I like elbow because it just holds that cheese up really well .

And the little crevices it creates with the cheese and a little butter goes through the pockets .

You can't go wrong with elbow pasta .

I'm going to boil this for seven minutes until it's al Dente and I got some cheese to shred .

All right .

So I have sharp cheddar and extra sharp cheddar .

I'm ham shredding a pound of my sharp cheese and I'm going to cut my extra sharp cheddar cheese into blocks .

It's my grandmother's recipe .

But of course , it wouldn't be me if I didn't add my little flair to it .

Right .

Let me pause .

My pasta is ready .

Right .

So I rinsed it with some cold water to stop the cooking process and just set it back there .

I am making a cheese sauce .

The fancy term for it would be a which is a root .

It's basically gonna thicken up my cheese sauce .

So I have a half a stick of unsalted butter gonna add to this .

A few pinches of flour .

My grandmother never measured this .

She just put it in there .

OK .

I'm gonna break it down with a whisk .

So now I'm gonna add two cups of whole milk .

Right now , I'm gonna use a half a cup of heavy cream .

Bring this to a rolling boil .

It should slightly thicken up as the heat rises .

I'm gonna add my sharp cheddar cheese .

Now , I reserved a little bit because I like to top it right before I put it in the oven .

This is the consistency I want almost like a nacho cheese consistency .

OK ?

My grandmother does not use cream cheese but I like using cream cheese because I'm all about decadence .

This will also be a great time to add a pinch of salt pepper and garlic .

Just added my garlic powder .

Gonna add some freshly cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt because sharp cheddar is already salty .

You don't wanna over salt your macaroni and cheese .

Ain't nothing like a salty macaroni and cheese , honey .

Mm mm They'll talk about you .

You don't want that .

You want someone to walk in and say , oh she make a mean macaroni and cheese .

All right .

I wanna take it over here when I put my elbow pasta in my pot .

I'm gonna do all the mixing in this pot .

Grab my spoon back here .

You hear that ?

You hear that , that sound , you hear that ?

You know you got some good macaroni and cheese .

Oh , look at this y'all .

All right .

So last , but not least I'm gonna add in two eggs .

I'm gonna whisk it in there with my sour cream .

I find that sour cream just elevates that tanginess from the extra sharp cheddar .

So I like using that sour cream in there .

And this is what makes southern macaroni and cheese different from other macaroni and cheeses .

It's the egg .

It's what's gonna hold the macaroni and cheese together , poured into my pot .

Fold in the egg .

I have a nine by 13 casserole dish that I've put some melted butter in there just gonna pour that directly to the casserole dish .

So now it's the time to add the cube , extra sharp cheddar .

When you cut your macaroni and cheese out of your casserole dish , you'll see these pockets of melted cheddar last but not least the reserved sharp cheddar .

Alright , so I have my oven preheated to 3 50 .

I'm gonna bake this uncovered until it gets slightly golden brown on top and all the cheese has melted .

Once that happens , I'm gonna get some foil and loosely cover it with foil and bake it for an additional 15 minutes to cook the center .

I'm pulling out my macaroni and cheese .

Oh , I tell you , it smells delicious .

You wanna see it ?

Look , look at that .

It looks like my grandma's , it actually looks a little better .

It looks good .

Grandma .

You didn't hear that .

Yours is still good .