Macaroni and Cheese

People can be picky about their macaroni and cheese. REALLY picky. So I'm always hesitant to try a new mac and cheese recipe and anyone other than my husband and I. I have a stack of recipes I wanted to try before I settled on calling one "my" recipe even though it seems odd to make variations of the same dish over and over. This version came from the book "Cooking in the South" with Johnnie Gabriel. Apparently she is great friends with Paula Deen which explains the massive amounts of butter!



4 quarts (16 cups) water
Pinch of Salt
1 (16 ounce) package macaroni
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon dry mustard
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
3 1/2 cups whole milk
16 ounces Colby cheese, shredded
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and Black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large stockpot bring water to boil, add a pinch of salt and cook the macaroni until it is al dente. Drain and set aside. Do NOT put the macaroni back into this pot.

In the same pot add the butter and melt it on medium heat. Add the dry mustard and flour, cooking and stirring constantly to make a golden colored roux. Whisk in the chicken broth and milk, simmering 5-6 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in both shredded cheeses. Stir until completely melted and add salt and pepper.

Add the pasta to the cheese mixture and stir to combine all together. Pour this mixture into the prepared baking dish. Cover with bread crumbs if you wish. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese melts.

Feedback: I made a few variations to this dish. I added garlic powder because I love it so much and I used boxed bread crumbs instead of making them from scratch as she recommended with Ritz crackers. I also didn't use ham which she offers as an option should you want this as a hearty main meal.

After having this dish I'm not even certain I will continue going through the stack of recipe's before deciding which will be my main "go-to" macaroni and cheese recipe. It was WONDERFUL. Everyone who ate it loved it - both adults and children (which was the real test with mac-n-cheese).