Mac & Cheese, finally...

Ok, so as I noted in my last post, I had originally intended to post this recipe last Monday. But now I am. So yay for a recipe and not an essay! Anywho, this recipe really started as a mistake. I had bought some steak on mangers special that I was cooking up to make a cheesesteak, but when I looked in my fridge I saw I didn't have any Cheese-Wiz left. (Side note, the true Philly was to do a cheesesteak is with the Wiz.) So, having a big block of cheddar and a basic knowledge of french sauce making, I set out to make a Wiz replacement. That failed miserably (too thin), so I put it in a container and froze it till I could think of what to do. (Another side note, I was forced to use straight cheddar for my cheesesteak, boo...) Eventually, I figured out that if I bought some macaroni, I could probably use my cheese sauce as part of a mac and cheese. So how did it turn out? Considering that it started as a mistake, pretty darn well. I'd probably switch straight cheddar with a mix of cheeses, but I would make it again as given below any time.

Mac and Cheese
1 lb macaroni
2 cup pankos bread crumbs, divided
4 roma tomatoes, sliced
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1.5 cups milk
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 tsp. salt (the cheese carries a lot with it, so you don't need much more)
1 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. mustard powder
1 tsp. coriander

1. Heat your oven to 350F. Cook the macaroni till just cooked, drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid with the pasta to keep it from drying out.
2. Put the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When completely melted, add the flour and stir continuously till slightly browned. Slowly add in the milk and stir till lump free. Add most of the cheese in multiple batches, stirring till creamy (reserve some cheese to sprinkle on the top before baking). Add the spices and remove from heat.
3. Mix the macaroni, panko, and cheese sauce in a 9x13 baking pan. Add the tomatoes to the top and sprinkle on the remaining panko and cheese.
4. Bake till the cheese and panko topping is nice and brown, ~30-45 minutes (I didn't time it, my apologies)

Whole grain macaroni

Pre-Oven shot

Post-oven shot

This recipe keep and re-heats pretty well. The cheese I used, however, was more oily than what proper cheese should be, so subsequent meals were a little greasy after visiting the microwave. As I said above, replacing the cheddar with a mix of other cheeses, such as some fontina, gruyere, jarlsberg, etc. would give a different, possibly spectacular results. But since I was able to turn a mistake into pretty good, I'll take it.

I'll be back with another recipe this weekend, so stay tuned!