mmmm, cheesy

I was so excited to see my new Fine Cooking magazine last weekend, even though I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet. The front cover showed a picture of macaroni and cheese, which I got hooked on and couldn't stop thinking about for a week. I had never So finally, I resigned to just try the recipe without my beloved magazine. I read through several recipes from the web and my roomie's new 'Cooking Light' magazine. So excuse the following recipe's lack of details, as it is my own. But trust that it comes from a blend of other reputable recipes (mostly Cooking Light, so you can feel better that this is pretty healthy) and it is utterly delicious. So much so that I have made this mac and cheese recipe two times in the past week. I also didn't realize how great this would be, so I didn't take a picture. I am sure I will be making it again soon, as it is one of my new favorite winter dishes-- toasty warm on a rainy day!

Mac and Cheese
adapted from a bunch of recipes
servings: 3-4 as main dish, 6-8 as side
time: 45 minutes

• 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
  
• 6-8 oz cheddar cheese (maybe 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• a good dash of paprika, salt and pepper and small dash of chili powder
• dollop of sour cream
• tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 slice of bread, in crumbs using the food processor (I use the butt of the bread that no one likes) -it should be about 1/2 if you want to substitute boxed bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp melted butter
  

Cook the macaroni in salted water, until it is al dente (it will soften in the baking process as it absorbs some of the milk). Meanwhile, grate the cheese and make the sauce. To make sauce, first create a rue by cooking the flour and milk together in a gentle simmer for 5 minutes until it is thickened (use a whisk to blend together). Add the cheese. Once the cheese is melted, turn off the fire and add spices, mustard and sour cream. The sauce should be runny enough to slide off the spoon as a liquid. Add more milk or sour cream to thin as necessary. Add macaroni. Put it all in a 8-9 inch casserole dish. Mix bread crumbs and butter, and add to macaroni as topping. Bake in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.
taster comments coming soon!