There's just something about macaroni and cheese. I can't remember if I've written about this before, but it's worth writing again if I did. Macaroni and cheese was a staple of my childhood. When Mom worked at DuPont, she'd sometimes leave one made up in the fridge for Dad to bake. Or he'd make it out of the Blue Box (Kraft) if he didn't take me to Scotty's Drive In or up to Grandma's for dinner. Those are stories for another time.
Some children are spoiled with toys, but in my family, we were spoiled with food. Aunt Julie often fixed macaroni and cheese for family gatherings, and I loved her version. Aunt Bessie, my Grandma Green's sister-in-law, fixed wonderful macaroni and cheese. And my mom's mom made wonderful mac and cheese too. Hmm. I'm probably still carrying a lot of all of that on my hips 40+ years later.
Today was gray, rainy and cool. And I just wanted some home-baked comfort that wouldn't take the whole evening to prepare. So I made some mac & cheese for us. While Mom's recipe was good, one of her friends, Clara, had one better, so Mom convinced her to share it. I tarted it up a little, and I often take it to pot lucks. While I joked that it was a family secret, I'm going to share it here. Just if you're going to a pot luck where I'm going, please don't bring it. 'Cause I got dibs.
LGG's ribsticking, comfort-lovin' Macaroni and Cheese
6 oz dry pasta (can be macaroni, fusilli, whatever)
Velveeta (sad but true)
Evaporated milk -- about 4-5 oz.
about 1/2 stick butter
salt (for the water) @ 1/2 tsp
pepper
the superduper secret ingredient: about 1/2 tsp. Coleman's dry mustard
about 4-6 oz. shredded sharp cheddar
This makes enough to fill an 8x8 glass pan
turn oven to 400 degrees
spray pan with non-stick spray or you'll regret it deeply
Bring water in a large pot to boil, add salt, then add pasta and cook until pasta is done (and preferably beyond al dente, but not to bloated waterlogged tasteless blobs)
Drain off about 2/3 of the water (secret number one of this dish).
Add: butter, the evaporated milk, and about 1/4-1/3 block of large block of Velveeta
return to heat, stir, turn down heat to low/medium low and stir occasionally until Velveeta is melted. The more art-than-science part: it needs enough liquid (milk) to easily stir around in pot, but not so much that it's soupy. How do you know? You just do after making this many times.
After the Velveeta is melted, stir in about 1 tsp of pepper (less if you don't like pepper) and the dry mustard. Pour into pan, and sprinkle with the sharp cheddar.
If you're afraid of bubbling overflow, put a cookie sheet or other baking pan on the rack below the dish.
Put into oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cheddar is the desired shade of bubbling cheese crust.
Let set for about 5-9 minutes before serving.
Tips:
I have made this in huuuuge batches. However, I can tell you from experience that it's best to only make a batch involving 2 lbs. or less of dry pasta (no more than will involve a 9 x 13 pan) and no more than 1 big block of Velveeta at one time. Why? Because it's all too easy to scorch the milk/butter/Velveeta mixture in the pursuit of melted Velveeta. It's also difficult to get the mustard evenly distributed and who wants to bite into a small glob of mustard?
Why Velveeta? Because as Kraft advertises, it melts evenly and smoothly. I'm really not into cheese food, but Velveeta for this recipe is the exception. I do my cheddar thing on top, and I'm happy. Sometimes I'll add some Parmesan on top, but usually sharp cheddar makes me pretty happy.
I'd like to think all of those women relatives who shared their gifts with me would enjoy this version too.
