Baked Macaroni and Cheese
While most of the recipes I post are something I’ve made fairly recently, I do have some rather old pictures of things I made but have yet to put on the blog. This is one of those recipes – when I saw the picture sitting in my “food to blog” folder, I was thrown off by the blue tablecloth, which I haven’t seen in years. I think this was also probably the last time I made macaroni and cheese… all the way back in March 2010. Even though it’s only been four years, that seems like a lifetime ago. I was still in graduate school, living in DC. I’ve lived in two different places since this picture was taken; started a new job and moved to a new city. Over the past four years, we’ve eliminated most pasta from our diet, but suddenly I have a craving to bring back this old favorite. 
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from Alton Brown Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons powdered mustard
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 egg
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar, grated
- 6 ounces Monterrey Jack, grated
- 1 cup panko
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cook the pasta to al dente in a large pot of boiling, salted water.
- While the pasta is cooking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Whisk in the flour and mustard for several minutes, until smooth and thick. Stir in the milk, cream, onion, and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Temper in the egg, and stir in 4 ounces of each cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the sauce and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese.
- Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a saute pan and toss the panko to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs and bake for 30 minutes.
