Really Good Basic Mac and Cheese:
4 Tbs butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups warm milk
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp salt
1 lb pasta shape of choice (I used penne)
1/2 pound cubed sharp cheddar (I love Cabot’s Seriously Sharp)
1/2 pound shredded mild cheddar
1. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour and cook over low heat about 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in warmed milk until smooth. Cook, stirring frequently, until thick and smooth, about 10 minutes. Add mustard, salt and a pinch of red pepper.
2. Cook pasta as directed and drain.
3. Combine the sauce, all of the sharp cheddar and 1 cup of the mild cheddar and the pasta. Transfer to a buttered 13 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining shredded mild cheddar. Bake at 350℉ until browned and bubbly, about 45 minutes.
Serves 6 to 8
And cheesy.
Now for the audible cheese.
So much cheese, so little bandwith.
In addition to the following songs, anything by Barry F. Manilow would work. Shaun Cassidy (Remember him? Lucky you I only have his stuff on vinyl). The Osmonds (Sweet and Innocent would go well with sharp cheddar). Those story songs are strong contenders, too. Think “The Night Chicago Died” and “Billy Don’t Be A Hero”. Yum…I am almost in a cheese coma.
Better get to the music.
John Travolta. Give me Tony or Vincent. Dancing, not singing.
John Travolta-Let Her In
Captain Kirk. Don’t say dick.
William Shatner-Has Been
I don’t even know what to say about Afternoon Delight. It continues to leave me speechless.
The Starland Vocal Band-Afternoon Delight
Cheese? Rodent Porn? “Nibblin’ on bacon, chewin’ on cheese”. Yes, there’s the proof in the lyrics. It’s major cheese. Oops. Sorry…Captain cheese.
The Captain & Tenille-Muskrat Love
In fact it was a little bit frightening. Still is.
Carl Douglas-Kung Fu Fighting
Last, but not least. This song is just plain……Cheesy. Now go make some dinner.
The Moldy Peaches-Cheese
You are seriously going to be the death of me. Macaroni and cheese is pretty much one of my favorite foods. We had it at our wedding.
This looks delicious. And such romantic music to accompany it! ;)
Love both kinds of cheese in this post!
i actually love “kung fu fighting,” cheese and all! and i also dig william shatner songs. his album with ben folds is pretty entertaining stuff.
mac and cheese is also one of about 4 dishes that i make that i would take to a gathering. my repertoir is severely limited!
‘Has Been’ kills me every time. So funny. I’ll have to check out the Ben Folds collaboration. You can’t go wrong with BF.
This Will Ferrell video is pretty hilarious, too. Oh, so cheesy!!
Lovely pic too. I’ve made the mistake sometimes of making it too dry – it needs to be really unctuous. Nice additions? Well, bacon, obviously. Sliced tomatoes, sliced zucchini. Breadcrumbs on top? I’d scatter finely grated parmesan on top, for sure.
I’m a fan of penne too, and really not of macaroni although it’s years since I’ve had any. Penne or linguine, on the whole – linguine with pesto in the summer (got a new pestle and mortar for christmas) and with fried breadcrumbs, bacon and chilli in winter. I like this although I acknowledge there is a very real risk that I’m just being a food snob.
Nat made this recipe with Lobster, which sounded absolutely divine. I love bacon, veg and all sort of scattered cheese and bread crumbs on my pasta casseroles. Yum. So cool that you have a M&P. Always wanted one. Final note…food snobs are the hope for the future. (well, of good food, that is).
Wow! The macaroni looks so delicious. Looks better than that Kraft powder. Keep up the awesome job, I can’t wait for your next post.
That cheesy music is the bees knees!
It tasted good too!
Yes, this is really, really good mac and cheese. And it is awesome with lobster added! If you can get the Cabot’s cheese, it’s perfect. Cabot has a nice selection of Cheddars, and the Seriously Sharp has just the right tang to keep the mac and cheese from tasting like paste (I have had the pasty stuff at someone’s house. Some of the other guests were raving about the homemade mac and cheese, so I was looking forward to it. The only thing that saved it was the burnt edges. Please, use some good, tangy cheese for flavor, even if it isn’t Cabot’s.)
Love the Mac and Cheese recipe and the cheesy song selections! I’m with mjrc, “kung fu fighting” is a great tune!
I had a smile on my face reading through all those “cheesy” songs! Hilarious! Thanks for sharing a great recipe to go along with the music. The farm families who own Cabot appreciate your Cabot support :)
~Jacquelyn
I think I’ll make this for dinner tonight (mmmm, mac n cheese, one of my favs). However, I’ll be spinning some “Carpenters” on vinyl – now how’s THAT for cheesy?!?!
The Carpenters are most definitely cheesy. Air Supply, too. Colby as opposed to sharp. You could also throw on Dan Fogelberg. I remember you used him to torture me in college. Ha!
Me?? Torture you??? Double “HA”!!! Where do I begin….well, perhaps with “The Doors” and the “Dead Kennedys” :) (ah, those were the days…)
Alright, I admit there was some (loud) hoarding of the stereo on my part. (a lot) :)
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