Happy Birthday Mac & Cheese
One of my my Jubilee goals is to organize my recipes and have them all on-line. I plan to share some of my favorites here with you.
Every year as a kid, my mom would make me mac and cheese for my birthday. My mom’s homemade mac and cheese is the absolute best. I’ve made it so many times for so many years that I don’t really bother to look at a recipe. This past Thanksgiving we were visiting a good friend in England. My kids told me afterward that Rebecca’s mac and cheese was much better than mine. Which was funny because she was using my mom’s recipe which I had given her. Maybe it was the English cheese that made hers so much better? But it could also be that not using a recipe I had strayed to far from the original. To find out. I had Rebecca send me the recipe I gave her when we both were young mothers in Dallas. I made mac and cheese for my birthday this year at my home in San Diego and it tasted just like my mom’s. So after 20 years and a circuitous trip across the Atlantic, I once again have found the ultimate comfort food. And now you can make it too.
Mac & Cheese
1 box elbow pasta (1lb.)
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 - 3 cups cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes or shredded. (cheddar or gouda)
Boil pasta in salted water for 2 minutes less than what the box recommends. (You don't want them mushy at all since you will be baking them later, also, add plenty of salt as the pasta needs flavor.) Drain and put in a 9x13 inch casserole pan.
Meanwhile combine butter and flour in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until butter is melted. Add the milk, stir continually until thickened (this takes a little bit of time).
Then add the parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.
Combine the pasta and cheese in the pan, pour the sauce over top and stir. Sprinkle with parmesan or grated cheddar, if desired.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and it looks yummy.
My friend Rebecca who returned this recipe to me says her family prefers it with cooked bacon crumbled on top.