The Macaroni and Cheese experiment

I've been trying to improve my basic cooking skills. Even though some people (not my kids) think I'm a good cook, really I just have a few recipes I rely on, following them exactly, and have never really internalized the principles of cooking. But I really want to be a truly good cook, as well as have the ability to create food from what I have on hand, and control the ingredients that my family eats. So I've been practicing on a few basic recipes.

I find Alton Brown to be a reliable source of good recipes, so I tried his mac and cheese and was surprised to find that it wasn't my favorite. So I decided to see if I could make it more to my taste. I remembered making mac and cheese with Mom, and I was just sure it involved making a cheese sauce, and so looked up a recipe for that. After a few times making that, taking notes, and tweaking, I felt I had worked out a workable technique: roux, white sauce, cheese sauce. I learned how to get the sauce thick enough, and how to keep the cheese from seizing (although it's true that maybe it wasn't seizing, but merely not melting). And it was pretty good. But flat. So I considered seasonings. Mustard is common, but Mom doesn't like mustard. I realize that she's only here once or twice a year, but I think it would be nice to have a recipe together that I can serve her. The kids aren't too fond of overly spicy food. And then, out of the blue, I had a thought: Worcestershire sauce. I don't know where that idea came from. But it was a good one. I made the following recipe last week, and it was a hit:

MACARONI AND CHEESE

Based loosely on Alton Brown’s Baked Macaroni and Cheese

½ lb elbow macaroni

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

3 C milk

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

12 oz sharp cheddar, shredded, divided approximately ¾ and ¼

1 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the topping:

3 Tbsp butter

1 C panko bread crumbs

1. Melt butter over low heat and start your pasta water (see step #2) while assembling mise en place. The 2-qt saucepan is best for this. Turn on broiler.

2. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta to al dente, per package instructions and altitude requirements (11 minutes for elbow macaroni at this altitude; 9 for rotini).

3. Whisk flour in butter, making roux. It’s a white roux, so only mix for ½ to 1 minute. Add milk and Worcestershire sauce, whisking, and simmer for 8 minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon. It’s now a white sauce, or it would be, if not for the Worcestershire.

4. Meanwhile, melt topping butter in microwave (or on stovetop if no microwave).

5. With burner on low, add ¾ of the cheese, by small handfuls and stirring thoroughly after each addition. It’s now a cheese sauce. Add salt and pepper.

6. Add panko to melted topping butter. Add cheese sauce to drained pasta, then place in casserole dish and sprinkle remaining ¼ of cheese and panko topping.. Broil till bread crumbs are golden brown and cheese topping is bubbling. The sauce will thicken on standing.

Possible substitutions: pasta, cheeses, bread crumbs

Flavors to try: bay leaf, Old Bay, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, cayenne

Now, it's not perfect. It's a little too saucy, so I will try 12 oz of pasta next time. Although it's yummy, it lacks depth of flavor, so I will continue to experiment with seasonings. I'm adding Old Bay next time, and I'll give you a report. Although I think the panko topping is best, the boys prefer that I use cornflakes. I've also used Ritz crackers, and I'll bet croutons would be excellent (I love Mrs. Cubbison's Seasoned croutons).