Macaroni & Cheese in one of its purist forms. That’s cheesy love. Reminds me of the feeling I get while sitting in front of a fire during the coldest part of winter. You and the fire, you and the cheese. Eat half, it’s okay. How could love be so wrong?

Little Eddy asked me the other day if I had a nifty macaroni and cheese recipe, I knocked back the cobwebs and remembered my sister had one fromm an older Southern type cookbook. Another few moments passed and I remembered she’d done it for Meathenge back in October of 2003. "Louisiana’s Fabulous Foods, and how to cook them."
Good recipes for this are all over the place. In one day I saw Alton Brown had one similar and then Cook’s Illustrated (cough) did their version. These all varied a bit, my sister’s find had minced onion wheras others did not. Adds a nice action to the bite.
I was inspired and knew this would be mine within a day or two. That day finally arrived and here we go!

Grate that cheese. I used organic sharp cheddar with some parmasan grated over top
Here’s the ingredient list and a quick description:
16oz package of macaroni
3 quarts boiling water
1/4 cup of butter (recipe called for 1/2!!!)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups milk
2 tblsp minced onion
16oz grated sharp cheddar
Cook macaroni in boiling water until done. Drain. Melt butter in double boiler, add flour and cook until butter and flour bubble, then add milk. Cook slowly until it thickens. Then add rest of ingredients–Mix with with cooked macaroni and put in baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
See? It is easy huh? Sure you could add ham, add peas, add a crunchy topping. I didn’t want that. Nope, not this time.

I started off with the double boiler action, but it was going too darned slow for me, I needed to get this baby moving. It was a meal for during the week and it needed at least 30 minutes in the oven!

So I whipped out my solid copper 3 qt sauce pan and got it going, fast. The butter & flour came right together. I added the other ingredients and waited for the onions to go barely translucent. Add the milk, simmer until thickened.

See? Whisked it too! Get it thick and add yer cheese. Then add yer macaroni, YEAH !!! It’s coming together and you’re almost there.

At this point I added some good parmasan. The casserole asked me for it, showing its toothy macky grin.

Tee hee, just looking at the image makes me giggle. I did about 20 to 25 minutes in the oven, then maybe 10 in a 425 degree convection oven. Crisped the top and finished it off in fine style.
The result here was a slurpy good traditional Mack & Cheese casserole. Not all dry and chunky, the cheese sauce was juicy and rich. The pepper added along with the mustard added a tang bite, the one you’re looking for. I like the onion idea, good dimension. Shuna would have been proud, no finger cuts!
Xo Xo