Been having this tangly urge for real macky cheese. The creamy, cheesy and just a little sparky roasted dish. You know the one, yup. I was perusing Kevin’s Seriously Good and read that he and Cookiecrumb of I’m Mad and I Eat had partnered up for some cooking. The dish? You guessed it, macky cheese. I was in and yesterday was the deadline. I’m a day late and 2 pounds fatter. Oh well, what can you do?
There was no question what I wanted in my cheesy love. There had to be lots of cheese, powdered mustard, paprika or cayenne, lots of butter and a crunchy topping. But I needed a recipe. Yes, even Biggles finds the need from time to time.
I remember Alton Brown and his show dedicated to nothing but. Oh shaddap, no I’m no Food Network junkie. I do love my tv though, more than a man should. In any case, AB is the only reason I tune over there to channel 221. I like him and I enjoy his ways, so there. Nyah.
Here’s a list of ingredients you’ll be wantin’.
1/2 pound elbow mac
3 TBS butter
3 TBS flour
1 TBS powdered mustard
3 cuppa milk (whole milk, foo)
1/2 cup yeller onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp paprika er cayenne
1 large eggy weggy
12 ounces sharp chedder, shredded
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground white pepper
Topping:
3 TBS butter
1 cup panko crumbs
Please make sure you read the size on your brick of cheese. I didn’t and wound up 4 ounces shy. “No big deal, I’ll just head out to my local Mexican grocery!” said the Biggles. I mean, what’s the chance of a Mexican grocery not having sharp cheddar cheese? None, apparently. I ended up with a healthy ball of Mozzarella, fine.
Preheat your oven to 350. I put the rack on the bottom. But, it took a little longer than suggested to get the top browned, so I would say move the rack up a notch.
Cook pasta in salted water to al dente.
While that’s happening, in a decent sized pot, melt the butter. Stir in the flour, mustard, onion and move that around for maybe five minutes. No lumps, foo.
Stir in milk, bay leaf and paprika/cayenne. Simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. It should really be getting nice and thickerer.
Temper in egg.
Stir in 3/4 of the cheese, add salt & pepper. Add mac, stir in all nice.
Ain’t that somethin’?
Pour in to casserole, top with remaining cheese.
Melt that last 3 TBS of butter and stir in bread crumbs. Top your masterpiece with said crumbs.
Install to oven for approximately 30 minutes. Mines took a little longer, see?
Let it cool for a few minutes.
Enjoy
Here’s Kevin’s
entry . I don’t know how to get a direct link to Cookie’s entry, feh.
Biggles
Yowza. That looks like a fine meal.
crap – now i am seriously craving mac and cheese. and i am supposed to sit at my desk for the rest of the day and work. what’s a girl to do?
Doc,
That last photo should have a warning about adult-content or something — serious porn!
BTW, the next time you make it, put in the oven in the middle position at 400F. Everything is already cooked, so the oven time is just to weld the flavors together and brwon the top.
Hey Kate,
Shaw, yeah. I had 2 and a half large hunks last night. Urp. My sister and husband stopped by in the evening. I set them up with a few squares. They said it was just how it was supposed to be and the panko crumbs laden with butter was the piece of resistance. Oh yes.
Biggles
Hey Jen,
Whull, that’s an easy one. Turn off the computer and go to the store. I was kinda surprised how easy and quick it went together.
Turn off the computer, that’s what I say.
Biggles
Biggles, you ought to be ashamed of making macky look so pretty. It makes all the other cheese-off entries look so sad and lonesome by comparison.
Hey Anita,
That’s odd, I had the same thought last night as I was eating and looking through my images. Tee hee.
Biggles
I don’t suppose there’s any leftovers…
When I saw the picture of the stuff in the pot, I thought: he’s got macky soup! But then later… when it came out of the oven… it had transformed into absolutely perfect m & c. Apparently you know something I don’t.
Funny you should say mac’n’cheese! My guest on next week’s Food Operator show will be making mac’n’cheese!
Ah yes Jennifer Jeffrey. I am he knows of the mac and cheese. I wander the land spreading health, wealth and wiseshness. I spare no moment with each, make sure they can make and share the cheesy goodness. Look for the red bearded man, the walking stick and a gleam in his eye.
Biggles
Sorry, I am late responding to this! The Mack-n’-cheese does look delicious! Add a nice mixed green salad, a glass of Chardonney or Pinot Noir and that is a complete meal!
The best part is “Cooking with Friends!”
It was the egg. The quichey, custardy egg. That done it.
Beautiful job, cut into normal squares instead of some nouvelle individual serving thing.
And one of the five finalists in the Best Food Blog “Theme” category is (drum roll please) MEATHENGE! Congratulations Dr. Biggles, well done. (Or should I say medium rare?) I personally thought you should have been nominated in some of the other categories as well. Here’s a link to the finalists, if anyone would like to take a gander.–http://clickblogappetit.blogspot.com/2007/01/nominees-are-live-links-for-food-blog.html
Hey Cookie,
What you talkin bout? Speak up!
The eggy weggy.
Meldy, quiverin’ magicness.
Nice Post Biggles.
But…
What about that knife in the first pic!? I am looking at that and getting some serious cutlery jealosy over here.
You got some specs on that baby?
Cordially,
t.
p.s. sorry if this sounds like an Andrew Sullivan post. Rest assured, my interests are purely culinary.
Hey Timothy,
You mean the one with the redish handle, big sucker? That’s a Michael Hemmer knife:
http://www.pioneer.net/~cutlery/
It was a gift from Chilebrown last xmas. He even had it inscribed with MEATHENGE on it.
The damned thing is exceptional at carving up meat. The blade rocks through cilantro like a sythe. Plus it looks GREAT on the kitchen wall.
I collect knives and cutlery, it’s my trip. I’ve got far more kitchen knives than I do old carbon butter knives and forks. Even so, it gives great fodder for meathenge posts, for sure.
Biggles
So.. I made this mac & cheese for Easter… there was a huge group, so I made two huge pans… WHAT A HIT!! I’m taking it tomorrow for Mother’s Day as a side dish, and everyone is sooooo excited to have it again 🙂
Yay! That’s great news! I have a friend that does the same, makes double batches, seems to be the way to go.
Biggles