Friday, April 25, 2008

Mac and Cheese, Take 2

So I'm making another attempt at a mac and cheese Lee will like. This was the final recipe I had to make for April's recipe swap. It turned out pretty good, but a bit grainy (although I wonder if that was because I used my enameled cast iron dutch oven for baking since I didn't have a big enough casserole dish, I'll have to get a bigger casserole dish and try again sometime) . Lee can't stand Velveeta and didn't believe me that there was Velveeta in the recipe even though he saw me take out the Velveeta for it! He was actually taking little bites of it and complaining that he's starting to like mac and cheese. Must. find. more. recipes!

I like baked mac and cheese with bread crumbs on top, so I might do that if I make this again. I would also leave out the salt. I added it to be true to the recipe since I was rating the recipe as is for a game, but I think Velveeta has a salty enough taste without adding more. As usual, I'm posting the recipe as I would make it next time with a link to the original.

Oh, and I didn't get to eat this at home. I've been bugging Lee about getting his driver's license. He never got it in England because he didn't really need it much at Uni and when he was with his parents he just made do with them driving him places. He needs a license in the States, but was nervous about it. I ate the mac and cheese on the way to bring him to his license test. He was shocked, but then ecstatic when he passed! He's driving himself to work this weekend and had to take a little driver yesterday afternoon to Radio Shack just because he could. Turns out he was just worried about the test, not the actual act of driving.

Classic Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ white onion, diced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
pepper
4 cups milk
2 lbs. Velveeta, diced
1 lb. elbow macaroni
1½-2 cups breadcrumbs

  1. Melt butter over medium-low heat in a large pan (I used a 6 qt. pan.)
  2. Add onion and cook until soft.
  3. Add flour and cook for a minute or two.
  4. Meanwhile, cook macaroni according to package directions and preheat oven to 350°F.
  5. Add milk and pepper and cook for a few minutes until thickened and bubbly.
  6. Add diced Velveeta and cook until melted.
  7. Drain macaroni and mix cheese sauce and macaroni in a large 5 qt. casserole dish.
  8. Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 45 minutes.

 

Made by Lena