Face Melting Mac and Cheese

Yes, it's that good. It will melt your face off, so be prepared. If you have 30 minutes to make this, you will never, ever eat anything powdered or Velveeta related again. Ever. The only person I know who doesn't like Mac and Cheese is my Dad, and that's because he doesn't like cheese, but between me and you...one bite of this and he would convert.

Here's what you will need for this amazing and not-so-low-fat heavenly dish:
2.5 cups of milk (I use 1% because that's what I drink)
1 lb shredded cheddar (I like sharp)
2 tsp. ground mustard (Don't ask me why, that's just how I learned it)
1 egg (also, don't question my madness)
1 lb pasta (I know that's not technically macaroni but I like the corkscrew better)
1/4 cup butter (yes, I call that butter but I would recommend using real butter)
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper

Not too bad right? OK, here goes! Get some water boiling and preheat the oven to 350.
When your water is boiling, add the pasta. Now listen up, this is important: Do not let the pasta get overcooked!!! Cook it under al dente. If the package says 9 minutes for al dente, cook it only 6 or 7. Is it weird that I love this photo? I totally do! You should enlarge it and appreciate it's awesomeness.

Back to business. If you have 2 big pots, you can go ahead and start your sauce. If you are a minimalist like me, and have only one big pot, wait for your pasta to finish....Drain it and enjoy the pasta facial, because that's the only kind you'll be getting this year. We're in a recession you know.

Now that you have your big pot back...
Put your 1/4 cup of butter (or 1/2 stick) in the big ol' pot.


Add the 1/4 cup of flour to the butter and be prepared to WHISK like your life depended on it. This will be the roux and if you don't whisk it good, you'll wind up with little bread balls.


This is a hard phase of roux-ness for me to define, I think it works better with real butter, not margarine but the taste is the same. Keep whisking for about five minutes.


When you can't stand it anymore, add your 2.5 cups of milk and keep on whisking.


After a few minutes it's going to start getting reeeeal thick. Almost like gravy.


Add your 2 tsp of ground mustard. This will not make your mac and cheese taste like mustard, I promise. I wish my camera had a "food" setting. Once again...keep on whisking.

Now turn your attention to my nemesis, the egg.
Beat the egg in a separate bowl. I hate eggs with a passion and I don't know why it has to go in there, but it just does, I'm told.



Now you have to temper your egg. You do this by taking a little scoop of the hot gravy stuff and pouring it into the beaten egg and...you guessed it...Whisking! Do not be tempted to pour the egg straight into the hot gravy stuff...this will result in little pieces of scrambled egg in your mac and cheese and you being a bad pupil. Don't say I didn't warn you. If there are pieces of egg in your mac and cheese, don't say you got the recipe from me because everyone and their mom knows I don't eat eggs.

Now that that's out of the way...
Pour your tempered egg mixture back into the sauce and stir. I'm going with stir because I'm tired of saying whisk. Now would be a good time to salt and pepper too. I totally forgot to do it this time and we all lived....just sayin'

Refrain from eating this as is....we haven't even added the cheese yet!Now...start adding your best friend cheese. This bag has a pound and I added almost the whole bag. I saved a handful to go on top.

Oh dear. Mix that together...


Add the pasta that's been hanging out in the colander in your sink.

When it's all mixed together good, you have some choices. You can take the whole pot and a spoon and lock yourself in the bathroom if you'd like...but I don't recommend it. This is NOT a low fat dish, but I don't devote my life to counting calories, instead, I eat very modest portions of the things I love such as this face-melting mac and cheese. Bear in mind I didn't exactly hit the genetic jackpot in terms of health, so I enjoy my comfort foods conservatively. Here's what I do with this mountain of mac. This amount equates to sixteen Rachel-sized servings. I know...you don't trust the math of the English major, but I figure there are 3 of us eating and a leftover portion for Jason's lunch...makes four portions....multiply that by....carry the two....anyway, here is my solution for not bingeing on this glorious stuff:Three portions go directly into foodsaver bags and the last portion goes into a baking dish to be covered with more cheese and baked. If you don't have a food saver, go ahead and plan on buying one....I'll wait....

They are great if you buy in bulk like I do, but if you don't have one, you can freeze your portions in freezer bags. When you want mac and cheese, just take out a bag and put it in the sink in the morning. By dinner time, it will be thawed and ready to go into the oven to give it a bubbly, cheesy crust.

As for the portion you're going to eat now:Put it in a baking dish and sprinkle some cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Yes, that is 4 Rachel-sized portions. I just can't allow myself to eat this with reckless abandon. If you were blessed with rabbit-fast metabolism and blissfully lubricated arteries, go for it.

Serve with a protein and a vegetable to make you feel better about yourself...
Those are my "grilled" chicken tenderloins, made without the grill. If you're sweet and compliment my mac and cheese, I'll post the recipe for them too. ENJOY!