Baked Mac & Cheese

In the "Comfort Food" thread, I posted my recipe for baked mac & cheese. It is truly delicious. Tonight, I added a couple of slices of American to the cheddar sauce, and it turned out majestic.

http://www.markszabo.net/images/macncheese.jpg

Baked Mac & Cheese. It's awesome, and the leftovers are great.

Ingredients

* 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

Directions

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.

fried macaroni and cheese?

sounds like a bad mofo recipe

Sure. Just dump some of the leftovers in a pan on medium high, let it warm up and release some of the oils, fry for a while and instant YUM.

Sure. Just dump some of the leftovers in a pan on medium high, let it warm up and release some of the oils, fry for a while and instant YUM.

AB cuts them into chunks then rolls in panko before frying

sounds like a bad mofo recipe

you're right, this has so much in common with crab beurre blanc doesn't it?

Yep, you can roll in panko, or just egg/flour it and deep fry it, if you want a heart attack.

Yep, you can roll in panko, or just egg/flour it and deep fry it, if you want a heart attack.

LOL I see your point. the bread crumbs would just nudge this dish over into the unhealthy category

looks good. im hungry.

I make pretty much this exact recipe all the time with a few variations. I like to make a classic cheese sauce on its own (milk, butter, flour...no egg). I also use more onion and slow cook it until its basically mush. my favorite difference is the bread crumbs i use. I can't for the life of me remember the brand, but they are "spicy" and have some seasoning mixture that basically makes adding any other seasoning to the dish unnecessary. I like to add mushrooms and frozen peas sometimes as well.