Macaroni & Cheese

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

Tonight, I announced that I was making a frittata for dinner but while on my nightly snowshoe, I had a craving for mac and cheese. When I announced that dinner was ready, Marty was quite surprised to find macaroni and cheese.

I created a version similar to that of Zingerman's Road House in Ann Arbor, voted one of the nation's best.  I have a couple of versions of mac and cheese that I like, one baked and one stove top. This is the stove top version--very creamy--and uses a seasoned cast iron skillet to finish off the pasta and cheese sauce. This one is hard to beat for taste and speed. You can have the sauce made while the macaroni cooks and it takes 4-5 minutes to blend them. Easy and tasty.

To a large pot of boiling water, add:
2 T salt
1 pound macaroni

Cook until al dente and drain the pasta.

While the macaroni is cooking, in a saucepan, saute:
1 small onion, chopped,
2 T butter
2 bay leaves

When the onions are soft, 3-4 minutes, remove the bay leaves and add:
1/4 c flour

Stir the flour into the butter for several minutes until the flour is golden.

Slowly add:
1 3/4 c milk

Stir until the mixture is creamy and begins to bubble.  Then add:
1/4 c sour cream

Stir until the sour cream is completely mixed in and it begins to bubble. Then add:
2 c grated cheddar--I used 1/2 yellow and 1/2 white cheddar
1 t dijon mustard
1 t salt
pepper to taste

Blend the sauce until all of the cheese is melted and simmer for 4-5 min.

In a cast iron skillet, heat 2 T olive oil until it just begins to smoke. Add the sauce and stir quickly. Then fold in the macaroni and stir for 3-4 minutes until all of the macaroni is coated with cheese sauce and the sauce pulls away from the side of the skillet. Serve hot.

With a salad and some hot bread, this is a perfect dinner on a cold winter night.