Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Awesome Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe I found in a local church cookbook, contributed by The Farmer's Wife, an awesome lady and friend of mine. Enjoy!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese


Ingredients:

-1 pound elbow macaroni
-salt
-6 TBS butter
-6 TBS flour
-2 TBS mustard
-1 clove minced garlic
-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
-1 3/4 cup water
-1 cube of vegetarian bouillon
-3 1/2 cups whole milk
-1 1/2 pounds grated cheese
-ground pepper, to taste
-4 slices whole wheat bread
-2 TBS butter

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Step 2: Bring water and salt to a boil. Cook macaroni about 5 minutes, leaving it firm.

Step 3: In a large pot, melt butter, then add garlic, mustard and cayenne and cook until fragrant.

Step 4: Slowly whisk in the flour until a paste is formed, then add the water, veggie bouillon cube, and milk, and bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened.

Step 5: Remove from heat and stir in cheese, then mix in macaroni. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish.

Step 6: In a food processor, process bread and butter together and top the macaroni with it.

Here's the min-processor we used for this purpose...


I love this mini-chopper for jobs like this. I keep this in the corner of my island at all times, and it is so small that no one ever notices it. We use it for things like processing baby food and small tasks, like mincing garlic, chopping up a few tomatoes, chile, and cilantro for salsa or blending herbs. Look at how finely this processed the bread and butter...


If you want one, just go here...


(Oh, and P.S., as per the new FTC blogging regs, I need to let you know that if you click on the icon above and order anything at all from Amazon.com, you will be helping to send my 9.75 kids to college, so thanks!)

Step 7: Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Here is the Mac 'n' Cheese Bake right out of the oven...


I have to tell you, it was heavenly and all ten of us LOVED it! Thanks for the inspiration, Farmer's Wife!

14 comments:

alessandra said...

Mmmm, you made me hungry, here it's almost noon.
And I have a small processor like yours, it works great for small quantities...and for pesto...for few people :-)

Rhonda said...

looks delish Jen!

The Farmer's Wife said...

love....love....love this mac and cheese....and I did hear through the Darlings that your kids enjoyed it. Especially that teenage boy of yours...I thought that was a pretty great endorsement...haha...glad you love it! It's a keeper!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Yes, Farmer's Wife, the kids LOVED it! Especially the 17-year-old boy! I made a whole 9x13 pan of it for lunch and by the time dinner rolled around, there was only one small piece left in the corner!

Unknown said...

Looks delicious. I will have to share with you a vegan mac&cheese recipe a friend shared with me.
--Mari

Sammy said...

Looks so good! You always have the best recipes, I'm gonna have to try this one soon.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Well, thanks, Sammy! You are so sweet!

Stefany said...

YUM - I totally know what I am making for dinner!

Anonymous said...

I love it because it an easy make....thanks for sharing

Cheryl B. said...

Mac. and Cheese is just one of those dishes that by far the mass majority of kids, and even adults, like!!! Whether you make it vegetarian, or with ham or bacon in it. Whether you make it with one cheese, or five. Sure, most people have their preferance of styles, but mac. and cheese it still basiclly is - and they always want more!!!

For something like Mac & Cheese, you might want to move up to a 15 x 12 (I think they are) pan. (could go check my cupboard ... but you get the idea, right? o;-p)

Have you ever made it in your crockpot instead of the oven? Boil your noodles until they barely start cooking. Then rinse them EXTREMELY well, even putting some ice cubes on them, while you mix everything else together. Then combine the noodles and sauce in crockpot, turn to low, cover and walk away. Four to six hours later - enjoy!

Adrian said...

Wow! i love cheese. Thanks for sharing this great recipe. Its really mouth watering. I am trying out today

Brandie said...

This is a popular topic in some communities. Everyone wants mac and cheese. I better get on the bandwagon!! Sorry I have been absent around here. I do think of you often. Did you see I am finally going to a blogging conference because it is here by my house and Lolli is speaking? I am so excited. Hope you are feeling okay.

Coralee said...

I'm excited to try this receipe. One question - I noticed in Step 3 it said to add "garlic", but I didn't see garlic in the list of ingredients - how much do you use?
Thanks!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Coralee, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. It's fixed now, with the garlic added into the ingredients list, so good luck with it!