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Macaroni & Cheese Bake

Source of Recipe

Michael Chu in Cook's Country Magazine, recommended by kbjesq at eGullet


Recipe Introduction

I found this recipe at cookingforengineers.com and it is the best macaroni and cheese that I've ever made. I did it for Easter 2008 and we all loved it - even Mike, who is not normally a mac and cheese fan. This says that it serves 12, but I would guess closer to 16 and if you were having it for a big meal with a lot of side dishes, I'm sure that it would serve 20. To make assembly a little easier, I did the topping and shredded the cheeses the day before and refrigerated them. The writer says of this dish, "I love a good Macaroni and Cheese. I am very particular about my Mac & Cheese. I like it creamy, but not soupy or goopy. It should be thick enough to stand up a fork in it, but not gritty or grainy. It's not easy to find a recipe that lives up to my expectations, but here's one that I finally found that is just amazing. The texture is simply amazing - smooth but not runny, cheesy but without clumping or separating. The recipe is more complicated than most, but in order to achieve the ultimate mac & cheese, that's what it takes. The recipe utilizes three different cheeses: American cheese (for stability - American cheese has stabilizing ingredients), Monterey Jack cheese (for creaminess), and sharp cheddar (for flavor). (A fourth cheese is actually used - Parmesan - to flavor the bread crumb topping!) To keep the cheeses from breaking, evaporated milk (which contains carrageen or other stabilizing ingredients) is used instead of milk or cream."

List of Ingredients

BREAD CRUMB TOPPING:
4 slices of white bread
4 T. melted butter
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

MACARONI:
1 lb. macaroni
1 T. salt
1/2 c. reserved pasta water
4 T. butter
5 T. flour
3 12-oz. cans evaporated milk
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1 t. ground mustard
2 t. salt
1 t. hot sauce
5 oz. American cheese, shredded [this makes a mush if you shred it, just cut it in julienne strips]
8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded



Recipe

BREAD CRUMB TOPPING:
Break the sandwich bread into chunks and pulse in a food processor with 4 T. melted butter and the Parmesan cheese until bread crumbs are formed. Set aside.

MACARONI:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook macaroni and 1 T. salt according to directions to al dente. When done, ladle out 1/2 c. of the pasta water to be used later in the recipe. Drain the macaroni and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. [Don't skip the rinsing in this recipe].

Prepare a light roux over medium heat with the rest of the butter and flour. Slowly add the evaporated milk. Stir in the hot sauce, nutmeg, mustard and salt. Cook this mixture for about 4 more minutes on medium heat. The bechamel should be thickened up now. Move the pot off the heat and stir in the grated cheeses and the 1/2 c. reserved pasta water. Mix until the cheese has completely melted. Stir in the cooked macaroni and mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with the bread crumb topping. Bake for 25 minutes (when the edges begin to bubble). Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 12.