Friday, March 6, 2009

Mac and Cheese, frakstyle

Submitted for your approval, a recipe very delicious

Ingredients list
2cups elbow noodles
12oz cheese, I use NY Chedder (1 and 1/4 standard packaging)
1cup Panko or japanese breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbs. mustard powder
1 tsp salt
a total of 7tbs butter (all but 1 section of a stick)
3 tbs AP flour
5 strips thick cut bacon cut into small pieces (optional)
3 cups milk
1 egg beaten
1 bay leaf

Render/cook bacon separately drain and set aside.

for the noodles:
boil water and cook the noodles for 6 mins drain and splash with cold water to keep them relatively firm

For the sauce:
melt 3 tbs of the butter in a pan over medium heat, let it cook till it stops bubbling then whisk in the flour thoroughly and cook over lowish heat till it darkens slightly
add the seasonings (paprika, mustard powder, salt) and mix till a pasty consistency
slowly add the milk whisking as you go, toss in the bay leaf and bacon now
slowly bring the mixture to a boil (medium low heat) whisking as often as possible
once the mixture thickens considerably temper the egg with a spoonful of the hot mixture at a time (this is the most complicated part) and then whisk into the sauce
dont forget to remove the bay leaf at this point
over very low heat, add 3/4s of the cheese, one handful at a time allowing it to fully mix in before adding the next
incorporate with the noodles and put the whole mess into a casserole dish covering it with the remaining cheese and then the panko topping which is the 4 tbs of butter melted and mixed with the breadcrumbs

bake for 1/2 hour in 350 oven, then broiled with the door slightly ajar for a min or two to brown the topping

id suggest giving it some time to rest but who can resist.

most of this recipe is attributed to Alton Brown, but I made some changes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I read the butter as 7lbs of butter. The letter t is way too close to the letter l.