Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Robin's Birthday Mac & Cheese

With Robin having a 50’s theme for her birthday, I thought back to my childhood days in the 50’s (OK a couple were in the 40’s) and remembered one of my favorite foods was macaroni and cheese. Of course, that was the “chedder only” version because, in the Midwest where I grew up, you didn’t ever do anything unusual or unique with food…mac and cheese was mandated by social law to be made from chedder cheese only.


When Robin and I were last in Disneyland we had some 4 cheese mac and cheese that was fantastic so I got on the internet and searched 4 cheese mac and cheese and came up with a very simple recipe that sounded like it was similar to the Disneyland version. I brought the ingredients to Robin’s and made it there. It went into the oven a soupy mess that I thought looked inedible but cooked up fine, and all the comments I got on it were great. It is not the creamy type that comes out of the Kraft box but more like the macaroni was coated with a very thick layer of dry cheese. Very unusual but very good. So if anyone wants to try it, here is the recipe as I made it.

Cook macaroni until just tender (I put the macaroni in the water before heating and timed it for 8 minutes after it began boiling). You definitely don’t want it mushy. Drain and set aside.

Heat 4 cups of cream (I used 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and 2 cups half and half because that is what I had) to scalding, remove from heat and stir in 4 ounces each of shredded chedder, jack, guyere and asiago cheese and mix until smooth. Mix with macaroni in an appropriate overproof casserole dish, top with bread crumbs and a small amount of grated parmesean. You can also add some Cajun seasoning to the bread crumbs…I added ½ teaspoon but would suggest more as the flavor was extremely mild…maybe 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until top is browned. I let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving to let it set up some.

What little left overs I had went great with some ham and homemade applesauce the next day.