Monday, December 12, 2011

Baked Mac and Cheese

This was a recipe I found that I really enjoyed.

Serves 8. Fits perfectly in my Rachel Ray pan!

  • 2 (8 ounce) packagemacaroni
  • 1 packet bacon
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 8 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cupmilk
  • 2 cup cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • fresh ground black pepper , to taste
  • 4 cups cheddar cheese , shredded good quality
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs , buttered (I put more)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

  2. Shred your cheese however you like. I bought a block of cheddar from jewel.
    I read tips that said the sharper the better.
    A 4oz. block was good enough for 4 cups.
  3. Cook half a bacon packet and set aside. Cut into small chunks for later. Keep bacon oil. (this can be removed)
  4. Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside and drizzle a little bit bacon oil to keep from sticking if you'd like. It separates fine if you leave it as is.

  5. In a large saucepan melt butter. Melt until a golden color.

  6. SLOWLY add flour into the butter a little at a time. If you do it too fast, the sauce will taste like flour. Stir well. I use a sifter so that there are not clumps and it mixes well. It will thicken into a golden brown (looks like coffee with cream). Add salt and pepper.

  7. Pour milk and cream in SLOWLY; stirring constantly.

  8. Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).

  9. Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.

  10. Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

  11. Turn off flame.

  12. Add macaroni and bacon to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.

  13. Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish.

  14. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. (I forgot to take a picture of this but throw a TON of breadcrumbs on top. It may look like a lot but trust me... it's awesome!)

  15. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with some crispy bacon.

  16. (You can also freeze this recipe in zip-lock bags for later use - once you have mixed the macaroni along with the cheese sauce allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your freezer - I generally pull it out the night before and allow macaroni and cheese to reach room temperature; I then add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling.

No comments:

Post a Comment