My mother makes the type of Macaroni and Cheese that I love… It’s one of those childhood comfort foods (along with Meat Pie and Hashbrown Casserole) that cannot get enough of. With the fear of ruining a bunch of childhood memories in my head, I decided to venture out and try another recipe…
This one from Alton Brown with just slight changes.
All The Stuff
Needed:
Steps to throwing together this masterpiece.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Mix in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes.
Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Mix in 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.
Breadcrumbs going on...
Throw on the Cheese!
Remove from oven, let sit for ten minutes before serving.
Baked and Ready to go.
A very enjoyable dish, one that is the perfect comfort food… but it does not replace the childhood memories.
The paprika add a subtle flavor and panko breadcrumbs create a texture that I never would have associated with Mac and Cheese but really enjoy.
One last item with this dish – the longer the dish sits, the better it tastes. After having the Mac and Cheese hibernate in the fridge overnight I found even more pleasure in eating the leftovers the next day. It looks as the flavors permeate the dish and grow in intensity with time.
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#1 by Bob - February 9th, 2010 at 13:09
Awesome, I’ve been dying to make real mac and cheese lately. My girlfriend doesn’t like it though… I wonder how it freezes…
#2 by Van Santos - February 9th, 2010 at 21:04
Hi Bob!
I’ve been wanting to make this as well, but the sad thing is that I really had to push myself. It turned out very well. Just finished off a huge bowl.
Funny on the freezing question – I made two batches. One for dinner, one for freezing. I guess I’ll let you know how it turns out in a week or so when I pull some out.
#3 by Tina - February 10th, 2010 at 17:03
Total comfort food and this is just how I make it. Well…almost. I can’t abide the sight of the boxed orangely colored crap. This is great. Great counter tops, by the way.
#4 by Van Santos - February 15th, 2010 at 23:06
Hey Tina!
Yes, it is great comfort food…. that orangely colored crap just doesn’t seem to cut it, does it?
And thanks for picking up on the counter tops – they are uba tuba!
#5 by Eileen Devlin - February 16th, 2010 at 15:11
I made this last Sunday and it was fantastic! I haven’t made a backed macaroni and cheese in probably over 10 years. There was a favorite I had growing up but never bothered to emulate it on my own or tweak it to make it mine. Glad you inspired me to do this – thanks! And, yes, it does get better overnight – my husband made that comment yesterday
#6 by Tina - February 18th, 2010 at 05:28
I was going to get a small tile of marble just for pastry dough, pizza dough, etc.
Each time we plan a kitchen renovation something else comes up
#7 by Van Santos - February 22nd, 2010 at 00:38
@Eileen – I’m glad to hear the family enjoyed it! Really, there is something about it a day or so later that makes it oh so much better.
@Tina – You should go out and find a nice piece of marble specifically for pastry (as you noted). They really do make a difference!