Cheap Eats :: Homemade Mac and Cheese

It's the ultimate comfort food. You love it even out of that little blue box, chock full of dyes and preservatives...I love it too (no judging). But really, for dinner, I can't abide by that box unless it's seriously all we have.
Making mac & cheese at home, like Grandma did, is a bit more cumbersome a task. It involves scary words like "roux", but really...it's crazy easy to make and so fully satisfying. Worth it!
I am still on the hunt for "my" recipe, but tonight, the one I tried was pretty good! I think I'll make some further adjustments to it the next time, but this was very good indeed.

Recipe I based mine on can be found here. I expect you'll see more variations on this dish in the future, so we'll number them.

Mac & Cheese I

Ingredients:

8oz of Elbow Macaroni

4oz Sharp Cheddar [shredded]

4oz Medium Cheddar [shredded]

1.5 cups milk

4 tbs butter [I used salted]

3 tbs flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs [seasoned or not]  

Directions: [Preheat to 400F]

1. Grate the cheese and set aside.
2. Cook macaroni as per manufacturers directions.
3. Melt 3 tbs butter in a medium sauce pan over medium low heat.
4. Slowly sprinkle flour over the melted butter and whisk into a thick paste, about 3 minutes.
5. Slowly pour 1/2 cup of milk into the flour and butter, whisking to break up any lumps. Add salt and pepper and mix.
6. Add remaining milk, continue to whisk. Turn heat up to medium.
7. Cook sauce, whisking to prevent scorching for about five minutes or until thickened. 
8. When pasta is done cooking drain well and set aside
9. Turn heat to low and add shredded cheese to sauce until melted.
10. When cheese is melted into sauce, remove from heat and stir in cooked macaroni
11. Pour the macaroni and cheese sauce into a 1.5 to 2 qt casserole dish
12. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir into the bread crumbs.[I added the butter to the pot I boiled the macaroni in and toasted up the bread crumbs with the butter a bit first]
13. Top with breadcrumbs and bake at 400 for 20 minutes, the macaroni and cheese is bubbling.
14. Cool about 5-10 minutes before serving. Makes about 3-4 servings.(you can easily double this recipe for larger groups...but I only make enough for my family to eat proper portions...cheap, right?)