Mac & Cheese

The recipe comes from a restaurant back in Louisville, Lynn's Paradise Cafe, and was featured in an episode of Oprah as one of the host's most favorite mac & cheese. It has since evolved with each new batch. I've made it with a variety of cheeses. The recipe calls for sharp cheddar [Vermont white, to be specific] but I've tried smoked gouda, salsa jack, pepper jack, and various cheddars all to good results. The best seems to be a blend of sharp cheddar, velveeta, and then a little something with more flavor...not enough to overpower, just enough to add a little something extra.

Another change that I have made from the original recipe is exchanging half & half for the evaporated milk. First of all, the recipe calls for a quart and it was impossible to buy evaporated milk at the grocery store and come up with an even 32 oz. I was always a little short or had too much. When I was short, I would use half & half to make up the difference. Lately, I haven't been happy with the flavor of the evapo milk and had started to use less and less with more cream instead. This last batch I made with half & half ONLY and it was the best yet. I assume you could even use the fat free half & half if you were so inclined.

Now, I do not like baked mac & cheese when the pasta is complete mush. Yuck. One pasta that I have found that holds up well and stays el dente is Barrilla's pasta plus. It's multi-grain and has an extra amount of protein and healthy stuff in it yet doesn't taste like cardboard. It comes in elbows, rotini, penne, and bow-ties, any of which would be suitable for this dish. And, if you convince yourself that the pasta is GOOD FOR YOU, you won't feel so bad about eating this decadently delicious dish. It is still important to undercook the pasta by several minutes. I used rotini this time and cooked it for 6 minutes of the recommended 10-11. When adding the noodles to the boiling water, make sure to add a generous amount of salt as this is the only time you'll get a chance to season the pasta. Strain the noodles and give them a cold water rinse to stop the cooking process and then set them aside.

As for the butter in the recipe...in one place it says you should melt 2 oz [half a stick] plus a little for the pan and then another 2 tbls. for the topping. I make it simple: melt a stick of butter in your baking dish. Just throw it into your oven as it's preheating. Small chunks will melt better and quicker...just don't overdo it. We want the butter creamy melted not oily. Swish it around in the dish to butter the edges then pour half in a small bowl for the topping and half can go into your mixing bowl.

Next, add the eggs [recipe says 4 - I used 3] and give them a whisk. If your eggs are cold out of the fridge, this may make the butter congeal. But that's OK...just whisk until you've got small bits throughout. This could be avoided by adding the butter last and if you want to dirty up another bowl, that's fine with me. Now, mix in the half & half...not all of it, but start with about 3/4 of the quart and whisk. To season the mix, I always add several dashes of worcestershire, a good squirt of yellow mustard, a dash of season salt [less salt if you are using a salty cheese such as smoked gouda], and then several cracks of fresh ground pepper. Whisk and set aside.

Now it's time to prep the cheese. If you have grated cheese, you are ready to move on to the next step. If not, we have to get the cheese into tiny bits. Velveeta is impossible to grate, so you'll have to cut it into small chunks unless you can find velveeta crumbles [with the refrigerated bags of cheese] in your grocery. I use about 1/2 of a 1 lb. block. I also had an 8 oz block of salsa jack cheese that was too crumbly to eat with crackers, so I crumbled it up and mixed with the velveeta. To this I added about 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar for a total of 3 cups of cheese...give or take.

Time to assemble. Layer approximately 1/3 of your pasta in the bottom of your buttered baking dish. [Lynn recommends a 9" X 13". I used a deep 10" round.] Now add approximately 1/3 of your cheese. Repeat. Repeat again ending with cheese as your top layer. Using your hands, give the top layer a little push to get everything all settled in your pan. Now pour the egg and cream mixture over your layers. The cream should come just about all the way to the top with just enough room for you to get it to the oven without slopping it over the sides. If it doesn't, add more half & half straight out of the carton until it does. Cover with foil and pop into a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Once it's in the oven, put the topping together. Remember that bowl of butter we set aside earlier? Add enough panko bread crumbs to it to soak it all up...about a cup, add a little more if you need to to absorb all the butter after giving it a good stir. Panko are japanese breadcrumbs and it's another place where the original recipe and I differ. I prefer panko in most recipes and they have become widely available even in mainstream grocery stores. To that, add aprx. a 1/2 a cup of parmesan cheese. I salt this mixture with a little season salt but that is optional. Add a few cracks of black pepper and stir and set aside until the 40 minutes is up.

Carefully remove the foil [dish will be very hot, and remember how heavy it was?] and evenly distribute the topping. I have to remove the entire dish from the oven to do this, but I suppose not everyone will have to do so...just be careful. Cook uncovered for an additional 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Yum.

If you are fortunate enough to have left-overs, reheat cold mac & cheese by cutting it into squares. Then dip the sides in a bit of panko and fry in a bit of butter or oil.

Decadent.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Barrilla Pasta Plus - elbows, rotini, penne, bow-ties

3 cups [+] of your favorite cheeses

Velveeta [part of the above mentioned 3 cups]

3 eggs

1 qt. half & half

1 stick butter

panko or other bread crumbs

parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, mustard [optional], worcestershire [optional]