Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Comfort food

One of my favorite comfort foods is homemade macaroni and cheese. Preferably with a giant side of crusty garlic bread. (Can you say carbs?)

This is the homemade macaroni and cheese I grew up with…

First, gather your ingredients, including some minced onion.

(Look closely, do you see what I did? Oops.)ingredientsAdd a healthy dollop of minced onion to 1 cup of milk, and warm in the microwave. (This is a micro-intensive recipe. That might be why it’s one of my favorites.)onion and milkAs the milk/onion was heating, I thought to myself, “Self, that onion sure does smell strong tonight. I must have used more than I thought!”

Cube up 8 ounces of Velveeta cheese.cheeseAlso in the microwave, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix in 2 tablespoons of AP flour, add a good amount of seasoned salt…seasoned salt…and a dose of paprika. (That Hungarian in me just loves some paprika!)paprikaIt was right about here that I noticed that I did not use onion to start this whole project, I used garlic. No, Chronic Sinus Congestion, you were not smelling strong onion. You were smelling lots of garlic.garlic oopsNo matter. Garlic goes great with pasta. I added some onion, too.

Back to the recipe!! Add the flour/butter/spices mixture to the milk/garlic/onion mixture. Stir well, and heat in the microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring between. When the sauce is nice and thick, add the cubed Velveeta, a little at a time, and continue the 30 second microwave intervals.add cheeseCook one pound of pasta (I usually use elbows, but all I had in the pantry this time was penne), drain, and put it in a casserole dish.

When the sauce is cheesy and melty, pour over the pasta, and stir to coat all the nooks and crannies. (Does penne have crannies?)cheesy goodnessMy favorite part (although this is totally optional), is the crumby topping. I take whatever boring cereal we have in the pantry, and crush a bunch with my big rolling pin.

This is one of the only times this rolling pin comes out. Except when I’m chasing Farmer Doc around with it. (Thanks, Laurinda!)make crumbsMix the crumbs with more melted butter, and please use a bigger bowl than I did.crumby messSpread the buttery crumbs over the top of the cheesy pasta.oven readyAnd bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-30 minutes.

This is when Farmer Doc walked in and said, “Something smells really garlicky!” Oh, sure, he has clear sinuses. So I chased him around with the rolling pin.

This baked for about 20 minutes. The dish was a little shallow, and I wish I had pulled it out of the oven after only 15. But I was distracted by the chase with the rolling pin. Oh well. It was still yummy.hot and bubblyPrintable recipe card:mac_and_cheese_recipeEnjoy!!

3 comments:

  1. Looks good and that's exactly the way I cook!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love mac n cheese!! And I love cooking in the microwave!! Did you see my chicken... haha!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're right mac & cheese is the ultimate comfort food.

    ReplyDelete

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