MMMMMac N' Cheese

Sunday's frigid temperatures inspired me to make an warming favorite, mac n' cheese. I've sort of made up some recipes now and then and made a version with my sister-in-law once but yesterday I tried my hand at the Alton Brown recipe I found. I did have to make some changes, of course. 1) No onion. I figure I'll try the onion step sometime on my own, maybe, but I thought the kids would be seriously less inclined to eat it if they saw I really messed with their favorite that much. 2) My dry mustard was pretty old and smelled a little sketchy so I threw in a bit of dijon mustard. I think it was a better choice. 3) I didn't use as much cheese on the topping as he did purely because I spaced out and forgot. 4) I altered up the topping by using only one slice of bread for crumbs and added in crushed Cheez-its into the mix. I thought that was pretty delicious and so did the kids. It's thicker than what Henry's used to from the box but once he understood that different can be good too he ate the whole brick! Add a glass of sweet tea into the mix and you've made me cozier than a bug in a rug.

The photo is from the re-heated sections we had again for dinner!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings


1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese.