Uncle Clint's Mac & Cheese

Brad's birthday was last week and I asked him what he wanted for dinner. He said fruit salad, a ricotta cake, and Uncle Clint's macaroni and cheese.

I spent a long time trying to come up with a mac and cheese everyone could agree on. I cooked my way through lots of different recipes: stovetop, oven, béchamel, no béchamel. You always said the same thing: "too cheesy." So I finally came up with a not-too-cheesy recipe that uses only two tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of flour, and two cups of milk for the béchamel sauce, and 8 to 10 ounces of cheese for a whole pound of macaroni. I made that for years and you all really liked it.

But Brad wanted Uncle Clint's mac and cheese for his birthday dinner, so we got the recipe for that. And it's just about the same as mine . . . except that it uses about 50% more sauce and twice as much cheese. Go figure. (It is good mac and cheese though.)

Uncle Clint's Mac & Cheese

Time: 1:10 (35 minutes to make it, 35 minutes to bake it)

The recipe we got was more just guidelines, with quantities and a few steps, so this is my take on it. Auntie Leener said to use warm milk. You can warm the milk some by nuking it on 30% power for about a minute and a half in the microwave in a glass measuring cup. Or you can just use cold milk straight out of the fridge. It works either way.

1 to 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
1 pound cavatappi or macaroni
2 slices good white or wheat bread (such as Arnold Country White), crusts removed
1 pound (454 grams) Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons (½ stick; 57 grams) unsalted butter
¼ cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour
3 cups (725 grams) warm milk (see note)
1 tablespoon (15 grams) Dijon mustard
Freshly ground white pepper

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large stockpot. Add the salt and stir to dissolve. Add the pasta and stir a few times during the first minute or two to keep it from sticking. Cook until al dente (~6 minutes for De Cecco cavatappi no. 87). Drain in a colander and set aside.
    2. While the water is coming to a boil, heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch casserole dish. Tear the bread into small pieces, then grind it into crumbs in a food processor or blender. Empty the crumbs into a small bowl. Grate the cheese in the food processor or on a hand grater. Mix one third of the cheese (about 150 grams) with the bread crumbs. Set the rest of the cheese aside.
    3. In a large saucepan or saucier pan, heat the butter over medium heat until foamy. Add the flour and whisk until it turns golden. Whisk the milk in slowly. Whisk in the mustard and white pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and let the sauce thicken a little bit, whisking frequently so it doesn't scorch on the bottom. Stir in the two-thirds pound of cheese, and remove from the heat. Fold in the cooked pasta with a rubber spatula.
    4. Scrape into the casserole dish with the spatula. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb/cheese mixture. Bake until browned on top and bubbling, about 35 minutes.