Macaroni and Cheese!

YES. I love macaroni and cheese. I just love it. Love love love. And this recipe was great. I loved the subtle spicy undertone of the dry mustard in the sauce, the whole thing was just delicious. Next time I might half the recipe though so I don't have delicious tempting mac in the fridge for days.

Oh but first.

 This is a spring roll from one of my favorite vietnamese restaurants. In it is amazing bbq pork, lettuce, a little mint, lots of rice noodles and some peanuts. Oh and the creepy looking skin is rice paper, it's a little chewy but has no flavor. Mmm.

The sauce they serve with many of the dishes is amazing. I could drink it, it's so delicious. Salty, sweet, a little spicy..

I, of course, got them to go that day.

There are lots of dishes that don't contain any weeeird ingredients. I'm thankful for Matt for taking me to places and broadening my horizons.

I'm so hungry right now, you have no idea.

Anyway, on with the macaroni!

Here's what you'll need. Noodles, milk, flour, salt, pepper, butter, dry mustard, seasoning salt, one egg and a pound of cheese. This feeds a lot, don't be afraid.

I used up a lot of extra shredded cheese I had for superbowl but I had to grate a little more too. Also, whole milk is preferred for the fat content to make the sauce creamier but all I ever have is Sean's mutant lactose free milk which, in my opinion, is AMAZINGLY delicious and totally creamy and I can't understand how it has no dairy when it is insanely creamy. Also it has this hilarious logo on it. Always makes me giggle.

Wheeee!
Okay anyway, melt your butter.

Add your flour when it's melted and whisk together for about 5 minutes on medium low heat. Don't burn your roux or leave it alone! BREAKING NEWS: I figured out why any roux I made never looked the same. It's because I was using margarine! Look at the one using butter! It's so smooth. It's gonna be hard to stop using butter after this breakthrough.

Once your roux has cooked for awhile, pour in your milk, whisking the whole time to get any lumps out.

Helper monkey, check!

Whisk in your dry mustard and let it cook for 5 minutes or so to thicken up. And it will thicken up closer to the end.

Once it's nice and thick, take a small amount in a measuring cup and into your beaten egg, drizzle it slowly, whisking the whole time. This is to bring the egg to a higher temperature without the insane amount of heat that would cause it to scramble instantly.

SUPER ACTION SHOT.

Once your egg and sauce are mixed together, add the egg mixture back to the sauce and whisk it in.

Now, toss all your cheese in in a few batches, mixing it to melt and incorporate. Add your salt, pepper and check your seasoning. Now, mine wound up being kind of thick. I don't know if it was supposed to be that thick but I wanted more of a creamy sauce so as I mixed and after I added my noodles to the sauce, I would splash in some milk until it had the desired consistency I wanted.

So. Good.

Add your noodles in and mix up.

Truly an ultra creamy love fest, just as Ree (Pioneer Woman) said it would be. Now, the next step is to bake it in the oven but I didn't want to dirty a casserole dish and I was hungry and it was JUST FINE THE WAY IT WAS. Oh it was just delicious.

I grew up eating mac and cheese and I will eat it until I die.

Woo. Make some today! Pioneer Woman's stuff is great.

Here's the recipe!

Macaroni and Cheese (original recipe from Pioneer Woman, here)

• 4 cups Dried Macaroni
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• ¼ cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2-½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
• 1 pound Cheese, Grated
• ½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain. (note: I was not planning to bake it in the oven so I cooked my macaroni for the full amount)

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.

Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.