Old White Cheddar Mac & Cheese or “White Noodles”

The best mac&cheese DOES NOT come from a box

Hands down, my family’s (like my whole family-nieces, sister -the works) favorite comfort food. I’ve made it for 4 people and I’ve made it for 34. It never fails if I pay attention. If I don’t pay attention, I scald the milk. And that is just no good. Start over before you waste that glorious cheese.

Let’s get to it. Your people are hungry.

Old White Cheddar Mac & Cheese

1/2 lb elbow macaroni
2 3/4 cups milk
4Tbsp flour
4Tbsp Butter plus more for pan
1 1/2 cup shredded old white cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp butter
4 slices of old bread, grated

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook macaroni in large pot of salted water until just done, drain and set aside.

While macaroni is cooking, grate bread crumbs. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a small bowl in microwave or on stovetop. Add bread crumbs to bowl and toss immediately. Set aside.

Microwave milk for 2 min or until warm (this helps prevent scalding of the milk while you are bringing it to a simmer). Set aside.

Melt 4Tbsp butter in large Dutch oven over med heat and stir in flour. Cook one minute until bubbly (this ensures your roux does not taste like flour)

Add milk. Whisk until smooth and watch carefully as you bring mixture to a simmer whisking constantly until thickened. You don’t want to scald the milk. Turn off heat. Stir in cheese and cayenne pepper.

Add cheese sauce to macaroni, stir and pour into a greased 10*13 baking pan.

Top with buttered bread crumbs and bake for 20 minutes uncovered, until bread crumbs are golden brown.

I always double this to make for a crowd or to freeze to cook later. You can also put into 2 8*8 pans for smaller families.