Cougar Gold mac and cheese for 12: a full can of the WSU Creamery's sharp white cheddar melted into a creamy sauce, baked in 2 foil pans at home and kept hot on a propane grill in the lot. It takes about 1 hour 15 minutes at home, and it fits Martin Stadium, where charcoal is out under WSU's current burn ban (propane is fine).
Feeds: 12 · Hands-on: about 35 min · Total: about 1 hour 15 min at home, plus about 40 min at the lot
Home gear: a large stockpot, a heavy 5-quart pot for the sauce, a box grater and 2 deep half-size foil pans with lids
Pack for the lot
- 2 pans of mac and cheese, lidded (hot in a towel-lined cooler, or cold in the ice cooler)
- Bag of toasted panko
- Chives, if using
- Jar of milk (1 cup), in the cooler
- Propane grill and a full tank
- Big serving spoon and a stirring spoon
- Instant-read thermometer
- Heat-proof gloves or grill mitts
- Bowls and forks
Lot notes
- The Martin Stadium rule: charcoal is out under WSU's current burn ban (propane is fine). The guide's grill rule is propane barbecues, pellet grills and electric or pellet smokers, with no charcoal and no wood fires while the game-day burn ban is in effect. This recipe only needs a propane grill, so it works either way. A pellet grill at about 325°F does the same job.
- Holding hot: keep the pans over low heat at 140°F or above. Off the heat, eat it within 2 hours, or 1 hour when it's above 90°F.
- Stir in milk: cheese sauce tightens as it sits. A splash of milk and a stir brings it back every time you rewarm it.
- Where the cheese comes from: Cougar Gold is made by the WSU Creamery, and its shop, Ferdinand's, sits on Ferdinand's Lane right by the RV lots.
- Cleanup: scrape leftovers into a lidded container and get them on ice right away. The foil pans go home in a trash bag.
Can you make Cougar Gold mac and cheese ahead?
Yes. Build it the night before without baking it, keep it cold, then heat it covered on the grill at the lot until the center reads 165°F. Add the panko just before serving.
How do you keep mac and cheese hot at a tailgate?
Leave the covered foil pans on the unlit side of a propane grill with the other burner on low, and stir in a splash of milk now and then. Keep it at 140°F or above, or eat it within 2 hours of coming off the heat.
How much do you need for 20 people?
Make 1⅔ batches: about 3⅓ lb pasta (round up to 3½), 13 tbsp butter, about ¾ cup flour, 10 cups milk, 7 oz cream cheese and about 50 oz cheese, which is 2 cans of Cougar Gold with a few ounces left for snacking. It fills 3 deep half-size foil pans.
Can you grill at Martin Stadium?
Propane, yes. Charcoal is out under WSU's current burn ban, which allows propane barbecues, pellet grills and electric or pellet smokers and bans charcoal grills and wood fires. Check the Martin Stadium guide before each season, because the ban can lift.
Can you use regular cheddar instead of Cougar Gold?
Yes. Use 30 oz of an aged sharp white cheddar, shredded. It's still good mac and cheese, but in Pullman it's the Cougar Gold that people ask about.