Foodie Friday: Baked Mac and Cheese

The ultimate comfort food. Can I get a heck yeah!?

Andrea and I are both big fans of cheese. It is rare that we run out of cheese in our house. (When we do ... I panic!) Our first foodie Friday in our house, we made homemade mac and cheese. At the time, I had been wanting to make homemade macaroni and cheese for ages. And I mean ages. I love my Kraft mac and cheese but there is something to be said about that baked homemade taste. And I have a tendency to want to order mac and cheese at fancy restaurants (or any restaurant or eatery really) if I see it on the menu. I mean it's delicious so why not right?

Last Thursday, when I was contemplating dinner and I mentioned Mac and Cheese, Andie squealed and screamed, "Foodie Friday!" And so... Baked and Mac lives again!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese (Adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

Ingredients:
8 oz (rough estimate) of macaroni noodles
2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of flour
1 1/2 cups of skim milk
1 3/4 cups of heavy whipping cream
a dash of nutmeg
a dash of paprika
1 small shallot minced
about a teaspoon of spicy mustard
CHEESE:
Fontina
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Garlic cheese by Beemmaster (I am seriously OBSESSED)

Topping: (Optional)
2 tbsp of butter
breadcrumbs (amount is your decision)

Directions to yumminess:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Warm water to a boil in a pot and then add noodles. Cook til almost completely cooked but still a bit al dente. Melt butter in saucepan on low heat. Add flour and whisk for about 3 minutes or until blended. Add shallots, coating them in butter/flour mixture. Then slowly add milk and cream while stirring. Add spices and simmer.


Dice or crumble up the cheese and after sauce has simmered for 5 minutes, add to sauce! Remember to save a little for later.

After cheese has melted and it feels cheesy enough for you, add the cheese to your pan of noodles and mix til all the noodles are coated. Add the cheese crumbles you saved.

Optional step:
If add breadcrumbs, melt butter via microwave or stove top. Then add breadcrumbs and mix. After you have add the cheesy sauce and extra cheese to your noodles, top with breadcrumbs. 


Bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the noodles/breadcrumbs are slightly brown.


Enjoy! We had ours with a delicious garlic kale salad Andie whipped up.


This is a wonderful stay-in Friday night meal perfect for watching a sweet romantic comedy... like "While You Were Sleeping." Which is what we did.

Happy Eating!
Deepika


P.S. Leftovers the next day are still delicious. Tip: Sprinkle some fresh cheese crumbles onto the noodles before you nuke them in the microwave. Trust me.