Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Chef Boy of Dee's's Note:

This is in reply to a request for mac and cheese. I copied this from Alton Brown "Good Eats" from the food network. Does take a bit of work, but well worth it. You can add tuna, hot dogs or any other kinds of additions you want.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• ½ lb elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 3 cups milk
• ½ cup yellow onion , finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh black pepper

Topping

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
2. 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 making sure it's free of lumps.
3. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
4. Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
6. For the topping, melt the butter in a sauté pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Reviews

[520830]

I made this just as directed except I didn't butter the panko bread crumbs. Excellent flavor and texture. I will keep this recipe handy for this very good treat.

[iloverabbits]

I cut the fat and calories a bit by subbing 1.5 cups of veggie stock for 1.5 cups of milk. I used 1 lb whole wheat shells. That's twice the amount of pasta it called for but my family and I still found it to be cheesy enough to be really yummy.

Don't preheat the oven. You're not baking a cake. Only baked goods need a preheated oven. Save time and money (i.e. electricity) by putting the Mac in the oven while its still cold, setting the temp and then set the timer for 35-40 min. As the oven is heating up it'll heat your Mac so you won't have to wait for it to preheat and then wait another 30 min after that.

[muffinlady]

This is really good and creamy though I only made 1/2 a recipe I used 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese as I don't like too much cheese. I like mixed cheese in my mac & cheese. I pretty much halved everything except I only cooked butter and flour 3 minutes as I had halved recipe but I went for the full 10 minutes on the other simmer, stir time..

Forgot something I used less mustard as someone mentioned that had too strong a mustard flavor. Though I used all the onion.