Custard-Style Macaroni & Cheese

There are 2 schools of thought out there about Macaroni & Cheese. One is a custard-style mix that contains eggs. The other is made with a white sauce into which cheese is melted, then stirred into macaroni. It can then be baked or eaten as-is. Which one you like best depends upon the one you grew up eating, most likely. Since I grew up eating Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in the box, I can easily go between the two and which variety is my favorite depends upon which variety is sitting upon my fork at any given moment.

So I blogged about a Best-Ever Macaroni & Cheese in March of 2008 (http://serendipity2007.blogspot.com/2008/03/best-ever-macaroni-cheese.html). It is an awesome dish, to be sure. But it does take some time to prepare and it really does dirty up a lot of pots and pans!

So I ran across Taste of the South magazine, a relatively new food magazine to hit the market. It is so new, they only publish 6 a year, but that's up from 4 a year! Taste of the South reminds me of what the Southern Living's cooking section used to be, before they told you to buy gravy mix packets and use cake mixes as a base for a dessert. Every recipe is photographed, so you're not left wondering if you made the dish right. It's one of my new favorite magazines. Well, Taste of the South had a special feature on Macaroni & Cheese, and how it's a Southern comfort food, and featured 5 different recipes for M&C. I decided to try the basic custard-style M&C recipe. Turns out, DH loved it, and said it's better to him than the one I've been making (from link above). DS likes it better because it does not have bread crumbs on top, although I would usually leave them off one corner for him. Goodness knows the recipe below is easier and quicker to make! So I thought I'd share it with you. Make it and let me know what you think.

I have posted the recipe here the way it's published, but 2 sticks of butter seems far too much to me. I reduce it to one when I make it just so I can eat it in good conscience. I usually make one batch, divide it between two baking dishes, and bake one and freeze one. To bake the frozen one, I try to remember to thaw it in the refrigerator, but if I don't, I cover it tightly w/ foil and bake about 45-50 min. at 350ºF. I have also used shredded cheese on top (instead of slices) and it came out just as well.


Jerry’s Custard-Style Macaroni & Cheese

1 (16 oz.) pkg. elbow macaroni noodles, cooked according to package directions, hot
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 (8 oz) pkgs. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 (8 oz) block mild Cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

PREHEAT oven to 375ºF. Light grease a 13”x9” baking dish; set aside
IN A LARGE BOWL, combine hot macaroni, butter and shredded cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish.
IN A MEDIUM BOWL, combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over macaroni, stirring to combine.
COVER macaroni with sliced cheese.
BAKE for 1 hour or until cheese is lightly browned.

--Taste of the South, Oct./Nov. 2008