Two Wheel Cooking: Mac and Cheese

First and foremost, I must give credit where credit is due.  This recipe was given to me from Emily Cohen, my former Americorps cohort.  Emily and I spent a year working with students in a North Minneapolis Elementary School as well as discussing cooking and food issues over our breaks.  With this in mind, again, I emphasize that this recipe is from her and she probably had a larger influence on my cooking than anyone else.  That being said, this recipe is not only easy, but absolutely delicious.  Here's a link to her original post:

Ingredients


Pasta:  1 lb box of whatever noodles you want
Butter:  3 tablespoons
All-purpose flour: 3 tablespoons
Milk: 2 1/2 cups of 1% or 2% (or a little more)
Cheddar Cheese: 1 lb (grated)
Worcestershire Sauce: a dash!
Parmesan Cheese: a dash!
Bread Crumbs: 2 slices worth (not too important what kind... I used an English muffin because I had no bread)

Wine is like that obnoxious friend who always gets in your pictures.

Procedure

Quick Overview:

You're going to have two projects going simultaneously.  First, you'll be making your white sauce or "roux." This requires far more attention than your other project, which is simply boiling the pasta.  It's not difficult to do, but just be aware that you'll be juggling a couple pans at once.  Also, you may want to grease a 9"x 13" pan, but it's not necessary.

1.  The Roux

Start by melting the butter in your pan.  I would do this at medium heat since most of your meal will take place at that heat.  However, if you're impatient, be rebel and turn it up.

After it's melted, add the flour.  Once you put the flour in, you'll have to whisk/stir it quite fast to keep it from burning.  Do this for a couple minutes until your mixture looks golden (if it turns brown, that means your pan was dirty... this isn't the end of the world, just proceed).  Here's a pic:

Wooden Spoon= Amazing

Next, you'll be adding the milk.  I highly recommend measuring all the milk ahead of time, as you'll be pouring and stirring at the same time.  Here's the deal with this step.  Milk burns easily, so you'll want to watch it very closely.  Keep stirring and if you notice any sticking or burning, turn the burner down.  Remember, you can always increase the heat again, but once your milk is burned, you're out of luck.  Stir for about 10 to 15 minutes.  It should start to boil after a while and thicken up a little.  PRO TIP: Start boiling your noodles now.  My noodles took 11 minutes to cook and the roux and the noodles finished together.  More pics!

After adding the milk and stirring for a while.

Wow, you're so lucky!  The majority of your work is done.  Now you add about half of your cheese (you're saving some to sprinkle on the top later). Turn the heat off, add the cheese, and stir!

Thinking of captions is hard.

All mixed up.

2.  Boiling Noodles...

I'm just going to assume you know how to do this.  If you don't and you're in trouble, I'm sure About.com has some great tutorials on this.

3.  And Now Mix!

Pour your cooked noodles into your baking pan.

Honestly... so boring.

Pour your cheese sauce in and mix it up.

And so on...

Now sprinkle your cheese everywhere.  That's not sexual either.

Oh yeah baby.

This is when I added my breadcrumbs.  Toast some bread and smash it.  I've tried using store-bought bread crumbs in the past with terrible results.  Regular bread works great.

3.  And bake!  

15 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees.  I think I did mine at 350.  It's all good.

4.  The Aftermath

And wallah:

The brown things are English muffin...

Also, an Emily tip, the unbaked casserole will stay good in the fridge for a couple of days.  So if you so desire, you can prep a few days ahead of time and eat it later.

Wrap Up:

Ingredients:

Pasta:  1 lb box of whatever you want
Butter:  3 tablespoons
All-purpose flour: 3 tablespoons
Milk: 2 1/2 cups of 1% or 2% (or a little more)
Cheddar Cheese: 1 lb (grated)
Worcestershire Sauce: a dash!
Parmesan Cheese: a dash!
Bread Crumbs: 2 slices worth (not too important what kind... I used an english muffin because I had no bread)

Procedure:

1.  Make your roux (melt butter, add flour, add milk and mix, add cheese)

2.  Boil noodles

3.  Mix!

4.  Bake!

Enjoy!